Trinidad State Beach

Trinidad State Beach is free, which for a California coastal park is worth saying first. No entrance fee, no parking fee, about two miles of trail dropping through spruce forest and open bluff to sand.

The main beach looks out at Pewetole Island, the tree-topped sea stack sitting just offshore, and the tidepools work best at low tide — which is really the only time to plan this visit if tidepooling is the point. North of the main beach, the Elk Head trail system leads to College Cove. Check the park advisory before counting on that loop: State Parks currently has the College Cove access trail closed from the Elkhead Loop junction, along with the far western end of the Elkhead Bluff Trail.

Dogs are allowed here on beaches, trails and picnic areas on a six-foot leash. That is the opposite of the rule at Sue-meg a few miles north, and it catches people out constantly. If you're travelling with a dog, this is the coastal stop that works.

Offshore, Green and Flatiron Rocks host up to 60,000 nesting common murres each spring and summer, part of the California Coastal National Monument. Gray whales pass northbound March through June and southbound September into January. Harbor seals and sea lions haul out on the rocks year round.

The land is Ner'-er-nerh — Coastal Yurok — territory, and the village of Tsurai stood above Trinidad Bay just south of here until 1916.

Don't swim. State Parks is blunt about it: the water is cold and dangerous, sneaker waves are a real hazard, and rising tides can trap you against the cliffs.