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Salt Point |
Salt Point • (Jenner PO 95450)
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What is called Salt Point is not exactly a community on the Redwood Coast, but rather comprises the 6,000 acres of Salt Point State Park, with twenty miles of hiking trails, over six miles of rugged coastline, and an underwater Marine Reserve.
Salt Point State Park provides the visitor spectacular vistas of the ocean, with rugged offshore rocks and steep sea cliffs that take the full impact of the waves. The rocks are sculpted into an infinite variety of forms and
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shapes. Tafoni, an Italian word meaning "cavern" is a natural phenomenon common along the sandstone near the ocean's edge in the park at Gerstle Cove and Fisk Mill Cove. The exact process of formation of tafoni is not entirely understood. Waves and salt spray leave salt crystals on the sandstone, which then interact with the cement between the sand grains, and in minute fractures in the rock alternately hardens portions and loosens others, creating the lacy, box-like patterns...a honeycomb type network carved into the rocks forming pits, knobs, ribs, and ridges as shown in these photos.
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Visitors to the park can enjoy a variety of activities including picnicking, hiking, horseback riding, fishing, skin and SCUBA diving, and camping. Habitats within the park change from coastal grassland to forests of Bishop pine, madrone, tanoak, and redwoods. There is also a large open "prairie" filled with wildflowers in the spring and a pygmy forest of stunted cypress, pine and even redwoods.
Two main campgrounds are available at Salt Point State Park Gerstle Cove and Woodside. Gerstle Cove campground is situated atop the coastal bluffs on the ocean side of Highway One and offers 30 family campsites. There is also a large
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Group Camp located on the ocean side of Highway One that can accommodate a maximum of 40 people and ten cars. Woodside Campground, with 79 sites, is located on the east side of Highway One, and includes sites available to campers on foot or bicycles. Dogs are not allowed in the walk-in or group sites.
Fisk Mill Cove is a day use area that provides picnickers with paved parking, picnic tables, barbecues, restrooms and drinking water. Additionally, the bishop pines in this area provide protection from the spring and summer winds. You can take a short walk from the north lot for a dramatic view of the Pacific Ocean from Sentinel Rock's wooden deck.
Stump Beach is another picnic area that offers one of the few sandy beaches. There are a few picnic tables near the parking lot and a primitive toilet with no running water. A 1/4 mile trail leads down to the beach. South Gerstle Cove also has picnic tables, a primitive toilet, and a beautiful, exposed view of the ocean.
The park includes one of the first underwater parks in California, Gerstle Cove Marine Reserve, where marine life is completely protected. The cove affords shelter for the hand launching of small boats and divers come to the cove to explore the wonders of the undersea world. Marine life can be experienced on land during low tide in the rocky intertidal zone through tide pool exploration.
Fishing is permitted throughout the area with a valid fishing license, with the exception of Gerstle Cove Marine Reserve.
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Adjacent to Salt Point State Park is Kruse Rhododendron State Reserve. This pristine reserve contains 317 acres of second-growth redwood, Douglas fir, grand firs, tanoaks, and a plethora of rhododendrons whose spectacular flowers burst into bloom and color the deep green of the forest with brilliant pink blossoms in April with their most glorious show in May.
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There are five miles of hiking trails through the quiet forest with a short loop trail that leads through clusters of rhododendrons. Ferns carpet the canyons where seasonal streams abound. In addition to the rhododendrons, other understory plants include salals, pacific wax myrtle, and California Huckleberry.
