![Kortum_Trail_viewed_from_Peaked_Hill](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Kortum_Trail_viewed_from_Peaked_Hill.jpg)
Sonoma Coast State Park is a State of
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
property in
Sonoma County
Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...
consisting of public access use on lands adjoining the
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
. This extent of beach runs from a coastal point about north of
Jenner and continues for approximately to the south to terminate at
Bodega Head
Bodega Head is a small promontory on the Pacific coast of northern California in the United States. It is located in Sonoma County at , approximately northwest of San Francisco and approximately west of Santa Rosa.
The peninsula, which is ap ...
. The property lies along
State Route 1 and consists of a number of named beaches including
Arched Rock Beach
An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it.
Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...
, Gleason Beach and
Goat Rock Beach
Goat Rock Beach is a sand beach in northwestern Sonoma County, California, United States.
This landform is a sub-unit of Sonoma Coast State Beach, owned and managed by the State of California. At the northern terminus of Goat Rock Beach is the mou ...
. The ecosystem consists of alternating sandy beaches and
rocky shore
A rocky shore is an intertidal area of seacoasts where solid rock predominates. Rocky shores are biologically rich environments, and are a useful "natural laboratory" for studying intertidal ecology and other biological processes. Due to their ...
line, with a
marine terrace
A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin,P ...
extending above the entire extent with an upland
California coastal prairie
California coastal prairie, also known as northern coastal grassland, is a grassland plant community of California and Oregon in the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome. It is found along the Pacific Coast, from as far south as L ...
habitat.
Geology
![Sunset Boulders](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Sunset_Boulders.jpg)
This strip of
coast
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
al property is subject to continuing marine
erosion
Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...
as well as windborne erosion, thus creating a situation where an average of one to three feet (30 to 90 cm) per year of land mass is lost. Obviously in years of heavy storms this value can be higher, whereas, in a less stormy year the land erosion can be lower. Over the last
geologic
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...
epoch the land has been subject to uplift, a process which has created a
marine terrace
A raised beach, coastal terrace,Pinter, N (2010): 'Coastal Terraces, Sealevel, and Active Tectonics' (educational exercise), from 2/04/2011/ref> or perched coastline is a relatively flat, horizontal or gently inclined surface of marine origin,P ...
of the entire extent of the property. This marine terrace is elevated approximately 50 to 100 feet (15 to 30 meters) above
mean sea level
There are several kinds of mean in mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. ...
, which results in a steep
bluff
Bluff or The Bluff may refer to:
Places Australia
* Bluff, Queensland, Australia, a town
* The Bluff, Queensland (Ipswich), a rural locality in the city of Ipswich
* The Bluff, Queensland (Toowoomba Region), a rural locality
* Bluff River (New So ...
directly above the
littoral
The littoral zone or nearshore is the part of a sea, lake, or river that is close to the shore. In coastal ecology, the littoral zone includes the intertidal zone extending from the high water mark (which is rarely inundated), to coastal areas ...
zone.
Vertical rock formations are a geological hallmark of this site, and have weathered far less than the bulk of the soils. These features are known as
sea stack
A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorphology. ...
s, and they appear standing out of the water or on the
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
as though as sculptures placed decoratively along the shoreline. Occasionally these stacks appear as adornments on the marine terrace, indicating their ancient origin on the sea floor prior to uplift. These rock formations are composed of
sandstone
Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks.
Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
with layers of
quartz
Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...
.
![CA 1 north of Jenner](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/CA_1_north_of_Jenner.jpg)
The active
San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonics, tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is Fault (geology)#Strike-slip fau ...
runs roughly parallel and near to the coastline of Sonoma Coast State Park. Soils within the site are classified as coastal beach sands (where rocky shoreline is not evident) and marine
escarpment
An escarpment is a steep slope or long cliff that forms as a result of faulting or erosion and separates two relatively level areas having different elevations.
The terms ''scarp'' and ''scarp face'' are often used interchangeably with ''escar ...
group soils on the marine terrace; typically soils above the marine terrace are in the Rohnerville loam group. Most of the beach sands consist of a medium coarse brown to gray sandy materials, reflecting the high rate of erosion of escarpment soils into the ocean; however, there are patches of smooth pebble beach such as the approximately one hundred meter stretch lying immediately north of Goat Rock.
Ecology
The habitats include marine, littoral and
coastal prairie. In the marine environment are found
gray whale
The gray whale (''Eschrichtius robustus''), also known as the grey whale,Britannica Micro.: v. IV, p. 693. gray back whale, Pacific gray whale, Korean gray whale, or California gray whale, is a baleen whale that migrates between feeding and bree ...
s,
harbor seal
The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...
s and
California sea lion
The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...
s as well as a multitude of fish
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
and other marine organisms. There are also modest
kelp bed
Kelp forests are underwater areas with a high density of kelp, which covers a large part of the world's coastlines. Smaller areas of anchored kelp are called kelp beds. They are recognized as one of the most productive and dynamic ecosystems on Ea ...
s and other marine vegetation. The littoral beach environment has fewer organisms than more southerly zones, because of the colder temperatures; however, there are
tidepool
A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide.
Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...
s which are abundant with marine
flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
and
fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
.
and
protect area resources. Like underwater parks, these marine protected areas help conserve ocean and freshwater wildlife and marine ecosystems.
The coastal prairie soils are moderately well drained and granular in nature with moderate soil permeability; these features lead to slight erosion potential and moderately high bio-productivity. Acidity of these loamy soils is medium to high, and thus some
vegetative stunting and hospitality to
rare plants is offered. The upland environment on the coastal prairie offers a variety of
grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns an ...
es and
wildflower
A wildflower (or wild flower) is a flower that grows in the wild, meaning it was not intentionally seeded or planted. The term implies that the plant probably is neither a hybrid nor a selected cultivar that is in any way different from the w ...
s including varieties of
lupine,
thistle
Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterised by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles can also occur all over the planton the stem and on the flat parts of the leaves. ...
and
wild oat
''Avena'' is a genus of Eurasian and African plants in the grass family. Collectively known as the oats, they include some species which have been cultivated for thousands of years as a food source for humans and livestock. They are widespread ...
s. The typical annual plant productivity is approximately per acre (3700 kg/ha) of air-dried yield per annum in an abundant moisture year, and about half that amount in a very dry year. A variety of birds and mammals thrive on the coastal prairie including numerous
California Mule Deer
The California mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus californicus'') is a subspecies of mule deer whose range covers much of the state of California.
Anatomy
One of the principal means of distinguishing the closely related black-tailed deer and whit ...
, ''Odocoileus hemionus californicus''.
History
![Furlong Gulch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Furlong_Gulch.jpg)
Some of the oldest
natural history of this area related to
mammal
Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s are a
blueschist
Blueschist (), also called glaucophane schist, is a metavolcanic rock that forms by the metamorphism of basalt and rocks with similar composition at high pressures and low temperatures (), approximately corresponding to a depth of . The blue co ...
rock formation about one mile (1.6 km) south of the Russian River. There is found a sea stack formation with prominent rubbing marks about two to four meters in elevation, a height too high to have been caused by modern bovids.
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus'', one of the many genera that make up the order of trunked mammals called proboscideans. The various species of mammoth were commonly equipped with long, curved tusks and, ...
s are believed to have roamed here as recently as 40,000 years ago, and they are thought to have created these severe rubbing marks. Mammoth fossil remains have been found at
Bodega Head
Bodega Head is a small promontory on the Pacific coast of northern California in the United States. It is located in Sonoma County at , approximately northwest of San Francisco and approximately west of Santa Rosa.
The peninsula, which is ap ...
at the south end of Sonoma Coast State Park.
Earliest known human settlement of this site was by the
Native American Coast Miwok
Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Point ...
and
Pomo
The Pomo are an Indigenous people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to Clear Lake, and mainly between Cleone and Duncans Point. One small grou ...
tribes. As early as 1849 archaeological finds were recorded on this property, and to date dozens of prehistorical kitchen
midden
A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecofact ...
s and other types of tribal habitation finds have been made. The property is part of the
Mexican land grant
The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...
Rancho Bodega
Rancho Bodega was a Ranchos of California, Mexican land grant in present day Sonoma County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Stephen Smith. Bodega takes its name from the Peruvian explorer Juan Francisco de la Bodega y ...
. The
Russians
, native_name_lang = ru
, image =
, caption =
, population =
, popplace =
118 million Russians in the Russian Federation (2002 ''Winkler Prins'' estimate)
, region1 =
, pop1 ...
are thought to have begun logging the
old-growth forest
An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological featur ...
s directly above the coastal prairie in the early 19th century.
![DuncansPoint3265](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/DuncansPoint3265.jpg)
The underwater delineation of the property is considered to extend to from the
shore
A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...
line. While no
shipwreck
A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...
s have been discovered, the literature indicates that there are 17 vessels which may have been lost in these waters. There are remains of numerous historic barns and other
agricultural
Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...
buildings on the coastal prairie indicating 19th century settlement by
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
ans; at
Duncans Point
Duncans Point is a cape on the Pacific Coast of northern California in the United States. It is located in Sonoma County at , approximately northwest of San Francisco and approximately west of Santa Rosa.
The point lies about halfway between ...
there are iron pins embedded in the sandstone bluffs as evidence of the active shipping industry here in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Kortum Trail
![Kortum_Trail_Wooden_Walkway](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Kortum_Trail_Wooden_Walkway.jpg)
Although some parts of the park are too steep for easy access between Route 1 and the ocean, Kortum Trail is convenient for hiking between highway access points at Goat Rock, Shell Beach, and Wright's Beach. Total trail length is approximately . The well-maintained trail includes wooden walkways across wetlands and bridges over streams. Side trails offer access to the beach and to
bouldering
Bouldering is a form of free climbing that is performed on small rock formations or artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers use climbing shoes to help sec ...
opportunities at Sunset Boulders. Trail users may observe whales offshore and wildflowers, birds, and deer within the coastal park.
This portion of the
California Coastal Trail
The California Coastal Trail, or CCT, is an environmental project by the California Coastal Conservancy, an organization developed to enhance coastal resources and promote access to the shore in 2001.
The trail is designed to connect the enti ...
was named for Sonoma County environmentalist Bill Kortum (1927-2014). Bill's mother was a descendant of the
Donner Party
The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...
and his father's parents were early
California wine
California wine production has a rich viticulture history since 1680 when
Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted ''Vitis vinifera'' vines native to the Mediterranean region in their established missions to produce wine for religious services. I ...
makers in the upper
Napa Valley
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...
. After spending his youth on a
Petaluma
Petaluma (Miwok: ''Péta Lúuma'') is a city in Sonoma County, California, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Its population was 59,776 according to the 2020 census.
Petaluma's name comes from the Miwok village nam ...
poultry and dairy farm, Bill studied
veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
at
Santa Rosa Junior College
Santa Rosa Junior College (SRJC) is a public community college in Santa Rosa, California with an additional campus in Petaluma and centers in surrounding Sonoma County. Santa Rosa Junior College was modeled as a feeder school for the University ...
and the
University of California, Davis
The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...
. His travels as a
bovine
Bovines (subfamily Bovinae) comprise a diverse group of 10 genera of medium to large-sized ungulates, including cattle, bison, African buffalo, water buffalos, and the four-horned and spiral-horned antelopes. The evolutionary relationship betwee ...
veterinarian gave him an appreciation for California's disappearing rural landscape, and encouraged his environmental activism for formation of the
California Coastal Commission
The California Coastal Commission (CCC) is a state agency within the California Natural Resources Agency with quasi-judicial control of land and public access along the state's coastline. Its mission as defined in the California Coastal Act is " ...
.
See also
*
Doran Regional Park
Doran Regional Park is a regional park south of Bodega Bay, California, U.S.A. that is maintained by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department. It covers an area of .Sonoma County Regional Parks Map and Guide, Rev. 12/06. It is located at on th ...
*
Goat Rock Beach
Goat Rock Beach is a sand beach in northwestern Sonoma County, California, United States.
This landform is a sub-unit of Sonoma Coast State Beach, owned and managed by the State of California. At the northern terminus of Goat Rock Beach is the mou ...
*
Miwok
The Miwok (also spelled Miwuk, Mi-Wuk, or Me-Wuk) are members of four linguistically related Native American groups indigenous to what is now Northern California, who traditionally spoke one of the Miwok languages in the Utian family. The word ' ...
*
Salmon Creek, California
*
Sonoma Coast State Marine Conservation Area
*
List of beaches in Sonoma County, California
This is a list of beaches in Sonoma County, California. Numbers in parentheses are Geographic Names Information System feature ids.
Ocean beaches
Coastal beaches, listed from north to south:
* Gualala Point Regional Park ()
* Sea Ranch, Califor ...
*
List of California state parks
This is a list of parks, historic resources, reserves and recreation areas in the California State Parks system.
List of parks
See also
*California State Beaches
*List of California State Historic Parks
* Parks in California
* California Depa ...
*
List of Sonoma County Regional Parks facilities
Sonoma County, California, U.S.A. has numerous regional parks, beaches, trails, and other facilities that are maintained by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department.
Sonoma County regional parks typically provide facilities for hiking, picnic ...
References
External links
California State Parks official site for Sonoma Coast State Park
{{authority control
State parks of California
Parks in Sonoma County, California
San Francisco Bay Area beaches
Beaches of Sonoma County, California
Beaches of Northern California