Known primarily for its world class wine, Sonoma County in the far north of the Bay Area also has some fantastic oceanside hiking! On a weekend trip primarily to taste wine, we decided that a hike would be fun too! The hike we decided on was a coastal loop at Sonoma Coast State Park! This short 5 mile loop promised big time ocean views and Redwood groves, and the weather looked good during our visit, so we hit the trail!
Miles/Elevation:
5 miles
1,030 feet vertical gain
About Sonoma Coast State Park:
Composed of numerous beaches, hills, forests, and grasslands stretching 17 miles along the Sonoma County coastline, Sonoma Coast State Park is a great North Bay park. Far enough to get away from the worst of the Bay Area crowds but near enough for a day trip, this is a great place to enjoy a beach, or go for a hike.
Sonoma Coast doesn’t really feel like a single park. As you drive along highway 1 up the Sonoma Coastline, you’ll notice lots of discrete, isolated, park areas. As opposed to the solid block of land typical of most parks, this one is scattered across the coast. Most use areas have their own parking areas, all of which I’ve seen have been free.
There are 4 campgrounds in the park ranging from RV ready to hike-in required.
Getting To The Trailhead:
The trailhead for this hike is the Kortum Trail Parking Lot at Shell Beach on highway 1. From the north, take highway 1 south towards the Russian River. Once over the river, the trailhead is a couple of miles on 1 on the ocean side of the highway.
From the south, take highway 1 north. The parking lot will be on your left before descending towards the Russian River.
From inland Sonoma County, follow highway 116 until it reaches highway 1. Turn left to continue on 1 south, and follow the highway a couple of miles until reaching the parking lot on your right.
Red Hill via the Pomo Canyon Trail:
Pomo Canyon Trail:
From the parking area along highway 1, cross the road and begin hiking up the wide gravel trail. This initial section of trail is a fairly steep double wide gravel trail that will have you ascending about 300 vertical feet in just under half a mile. The climb isn’t anything crazy, but you don’t get an easy break-in period on this hike either!
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
Very quickly, you will have big panoramic views. You can see the ocean right from the get go, but as you climb to panoramas obviously get bigger and bigger. The first half mile takes you straight up a chaparral covered coastal hill, so looking back you will have unobstructed views of the sea!
Once you complete the initial climb, you will have another cool view. To the north, the Russian River empties into the Pacific, and once you crest the initial climb of the day, you’ll get clear looks at it!
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
The trail flattens out after the first half mile, and over the course of the next 2 miles you’ll have very little sustained climbing. Instead, the trail undulates, climbing and descending small amounts at a time. Rarely will you be walking on totally flat ground, but in 2 miles you will only be about 100 feet higher!
The trail continues its inland heading. The ocean behind you will soon be out of sight, and while the loss of the ocean view is sad, you won’t be totally lacking for views! To your left, multiple viewpoints provide dramatic vistas looking north over the Russian River. Directly in front of you, the hills of Sonoma County gently roll into the distance!
A surprise on this hike was the appearance of a few different Redwood groves! I know Redwoods grow throughout the northern California coast, but I wasn’t expecting to see them on this specific loop!
For more awesome coastal hikes, check out our list of the best hikes in Big Sur!
There is a stunningly beautiful Redwood grove off the Pomo Canyon Trail about 1.7 miles from the trailhead. A small use trail branches off to the right, and within seconds you will enter a bucolic grove of soaring Redwoods! This small use trail doesn’t go far, but it is pretty. A babbling brook trickles along the forest floor, wind rustles the upper limbs of the trees, and the sunlight filters down forming a soft, gentle, blanket of light!
The Redwood grove is a nice side note on an already excellent hike, and once done with it, you’ll have another half mile on the Pomo Canyon Trail. After that half mile is complete, you will hit an intersection. The Pomo Canyon Trail continues straight and descends into Pomo Canyon itself, but you want to turn right to begin the Red Hill Trail!
Red Hill Trail:
Upon turning right and beginning on the Red Hill Trail, the entire character of the hike changes. Undulating though gentle walking is replaced by sustained climbing. Chaparral and forest is largely replaced by open grasses and blowing wind.
The best Redwood hike in California is even further up north in Humboldt Redwoods State Park!
The trail almost immediately begins climbing, and from the intersection you have around 450 vertical feet to cover until the summit. That climb is done in just under a mile, so the trail really isn’t all that steep, but it is sustained and you will not have any significant breaks.
After an initial ascent straight up the hill, you will again enter a Redwood grove. This one was maybe even more surprising than the first one, being so high up on the hillside and relatively exposed and unprotected from the battering coastal winds, but the trees seemed to be doing just fine!
Check out Montara Mountain for another great coastal summit!
The trail takes a couple of turns through the grove and then hits another intersection. Take a left at the intersection to continue to the summit of Red Hill, though you could stay right to cut off the remainder of the climb and return back towards the ocean. It’s basically a shortcut back to the trailhead.
Once out of the Redwood grove you have a bit under 200 vertical feet left to the summit. Take it slow, or run the final stretch (depends on your personality!) and before long you will be atop Red Hill!
For the best Bay Area hike, check out this route form Muir Woods to the summit of Mt Tamalpais!
Red Hill is definitely not a mountain. At just over 1,000 feet high, it just isn’t big enough, but that 1,000 feet is all clearly visible as you look over the ocean just a mile or so away! Most of the summit is covered in grass, and there was a single picnic table at the summit when we were there. Looking north most views are obstructed by the nearby Redwood grove, but the ocean view is great and looking south and east you will have clear looks at the rolling Sonoma countryside!
Hiking Down:
After enjoying the views and having a snack, we eventually headed down. The descent is much steeper than the climb up, so if you have shaky knees you may want to consider descending via the route up. The trail didn’t feel dangerous at any points though, so I think it would be fine for the majority of hikers.
Dropping off the coastal face of Red Hill, the hike down will provide you with constant looks out over the Pacific. If you can avoid staring at your feet on the steep trail that is!
While steep, the descent goes quickly, probably in part because of the continuous nice views you’ll have of the Pacific! Before long, you’ll end up back at your car along 1, but if you want, there is another short addition you could make to your hike.
The parking area is also for accessing Shell Beach, so after returning to the trailhead, we decided to continue on for a quick visit to the beach. Highway 1 is about 170 feet above sea level, so to get to the beach you’re looking at roughly that much descending.
The trail accessing the beach is down a steep set of steps from the parking lot, and is a pretty standard northern California beach. It’s certainly not a place you would want to swim, and the sand and rocks are very dark: not quite a black sand beach but getting there. It was a decent little addition to the hike but nothing special!
Anyway, after that short add-on we were done! We followed this hike up with a nice lunch in Bodega Bay and some wine tasting for dessert! The Sonoma Coast is definitely a great multi-activity destination!
Verdict: 9/10
This is a really great hike that gets you some fantastic ocean views, Redwood forests, and looks at the Russian River. At only 5 miles, you get all of that, and the trail quality for the most part is excellent.
This hike probably could be a 10/10, but for me the scenery just isn’t quite as extraordinary as you can find on other 5 mile hikes. I think the most obvious comparison is Big Sur. When you compare this 5 mile hike to a 5 mile hike in Big Sur, I think Big Sur generally is going to win in terms of scenery and views, and for that reason, I can’t quite give this a 10/10, though it is a phenomenal hike!
Pros:
- Great views
- Diverse landscapes
- Ocean access
Cons:
- None
Alternative Hikes:
Bodega Head Trail – California | AllTrails
Islands in the Sky Vista Loop – California | AllTrails
Kortum Trail – California | AllTrails
When To Hike:
The Sonoma Coast is a place you can visit all year long, and you could get great weather any day of the year, or you could get rough weather any day of the year! That’s kind of the great thing about the northern California Coast, and the terrible thing! You’ll get amazing days in winter, and you’ll get nasty days in summer!
I would mostly say the best time to visit is a day calling for clear weather in Bodega Bay, but to be more general, spring or fall are probably the best times of year to visit. Summer generally brings lots of fog, and winter brings rain and storms. Fall especially is a beautiful time to visit, but anytime of year, check the weather, and look for sunshine! June through September are the driest months of the year, but fog is certainly possible!
Links For Further Reading:
Red Hill via Pomo Canyon Trail – California | AllTrails
Pomo Canyon + Red Hill Loop | Outdoor Project
