World Class Point Arena?

We recently took a trip up the coast to Mendocino. As with many vacations, you miss important news. The day we left Elk for home, we heard that Pt Arena was number ‘3’ on someone’s best places in the world to visit. In the world? Huh? Good thing we were stopping in Pt Arena on the way home.

Things still looked rough in the block or two of downtown Pt Arena. Our favorite restaurant was gone. How was this place going to sustain world travellers?

We turned off to go out to the wharf. It was bustling. The Wharf Master’s Inn looked in good shape. But?

As it turns out the reason the area was lauded so highly was the opening of the Stornetta Public Lands. That area is north of town, before the lighthouse and  Manchester State Beach. Since we were headed home, we didn’t backtrack – (we’ll find it on another trip). We did not see signs. Maybe from the Pt Arena Lighthouse?

Point Arena looked like this one April –

What’s terrific about the area – not just Pt Arena then – it is the Mendocino coast. And it is ‘world-class’ worthy.

For links to our other trips up the coast, please click on the bold and underlined words.  Many Mendocino stops. A few more Mendocino stops (including the Point Arena Lighthouse.And from our latest trip: Mendocino Stroll and Point Cabrillo.

(Here’s what the New York Times said in their list – after Cape Town, South Africa Christchurch, New Zealand and at #3 North Coast, California)

See you on the trail!

Words by Lynn Millar, photos by Mike Millar – available upon request

And still no WHALES.