Hiking the Sonoma coastline and enjoying sweeping views of sea stacks: Kortum Trail

Splashing waves off the oceanfront cliffs

The Kortum Trail in the Sonoma Coast State Park in northern California parallels the Pacific Ocean from Wright's Beach to Blind Beach, from where you can—while being aware of danger zones and sleeper waves—continue to Goat Rock and beyond to the mouth of the Russian River. The trail is mainly winding across open coastal prairie along oceanside cliffs, offering stunning views of sandy coves and craggy, wave-breaking outcroppings [1-6].

Year-round, Kortum Trail lets you watch and enjoy the rhythm and drama of the rocky Sonoma Coast. Curious about earth movements or slides? Well, the San Andreas fault follows along offshore—making this coastline indeed unique and special.

Kortum Trail is named for the Petaluma veterinarian and environmentalist Bill Kortum (1927-2014), who fought to keep coastline access open to the public. Many are regarding Bill Kortum as the father of the Sonoma County environmental movement. He helped defeat a proposed power plant at Bodega Bay [2-4]. 

Herein, I am following the Kortum Trail from its south-end trailhead at Wright's Beach via Shell Beach and over the Peaked Hill to Blind Beach.

Downstairs to Shell Beach

At the Wright's Beach trailhead, you will find an informative board with a trail map and the warning that the rugged shoreline with its jagged rocks and hazardous surf is not for swimming. Actually, if you are just  following the well-marked hiking path, you will not reach the shore or surf level before reaching the Blind Beach/Goat Rock area. Kortum Trail mainly meanders through coastal bluffs from where you will experience sweeping views of the offshore sea stacks and the ocean surf from a safe distance.

About halfway between Wright's Beach and Blind Beach is Shell Beach. It takes five to ten minutes to take the stairs downhill to the beach—actually a small, scenic cove with not much beach left to scatter around at high tide.  

Shell Beach surf

Board walk through coastal prairie: northbound to the Gull Rock vista point

North of Shell Beach, rocks on both sides of the oceanfront cliffs will attract your attention: offshore Gull Rock as well as Mammoth Rock and the Sunset Boulders [5,6].

White bird droppings covering sea stacks (Gull Rock in the upper left quarter)

Gull Rock is the farthest offshore rock. This sea stack is “painted” white with bird droppings and serves as a nesting site for gulls and cormorants [2,3]. 

Mammoth Rock

On the coastal prairie side there are several outcroppings of archaeological and recreational interest. Collectively, they are called Mammoth Rocks or Rubbing Rocks. Archaeologist Breck Parkman thinks of these rocks as mammoth and bison grooming sites [5]. He wrote:

In 2001, I discovered what I believe to be Rancholabrean rubbing rocks on California's North Coast. These are features that I believe were used for grooming by now-extinct Ice Age megafauna such as Mammuth columbi and Bison antiquus. [...] The Mammoth Rocks site consists of four loci of rubbing rocks, separated by about 300 m. Two of the loci consist of very large blueschist seastacks (20 and 30 m tall). The other two loci are smaller blueschist boulders (4 and 5 m tall). The four loci surround an enigmatic wetland that I believe may represent a relic animal wallow. 

Sunset Boulders

During my late-October visit of the Mammoth Rocks this year, I saw people climbing to the top the Sunset Boulders, the northernmost rock formation of the “Rubbing site.”

Past the Sunset Boulders, Kortum Trail continues— over wooden steps—uphill over a saddle east of Peaked Hill and then downhill to Blind Beach. Arched Rock, Goat Rock and the Russian River State Marine Conservation Area are now coming in view. Here, I began my return hike and took my car to get to Goat Rock Beach and the sand spit between the final stretch of the Russian River and the open sea. 

Goat Rock

Getting to Kortum trailheads

From Bodega Bay, go north on Highway 1 for six to ten miles and select one of the multiple access points. The Kortum Trail stretches nearly four miles from Wright's Beach to Goat Rock.

Direction from Shell Beach

The trail is accessible from different road ends and parking lots including the few lots near the Wright's Beach campground and picnic area, the Carlevaro Way dead-end, the Shell Beach parking area, the Pacific View Drive dead-end, and from various sites along Goat Road including the Blind Beach parking area. 

From the Shell Beach lots, favored by many visitors, you have multiple hiking options: walking the easy southbound trail, hike northbound towards Gull Rock viewpoints, Mammoth Rock, Sunset Boulders, The Peaked Hill and Blind Beach, or take the short path down the stairs to Shell Beach.   

Map

The map, accessible by the following link, shows the trail section and sites between Shell Beach and Blind Beach including Peaked Hill, Mammoth Rock and the Sunset Boulders: https://www.google.com/maps/dir//Sunset+Boulders,+Kortum+Trail,+Jenner,+CA/@38.428139,-123.1197201,15z/data=!4m9!4m8!1m0!1m5!1m1!1s0x80869fac2db18237:0xcbf227d683480426!2m2!1d-123.1157319!2d38.4292347!3e0

References & further reading 

[1] Sonoma Coast State Park. PDF version: https://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/451/files/SonomaCoastSPFinalWebLayout2017.pdf.

[2] David Weintraub: North Bay Trails. Wilderness Press, Berkeley, 1999. See Chapter 46 - Kortum Trail; pp 244-247. 

[3] Robert Stone: Trail of the Week: Kortum Trail. Sonoma Magazine, June 2016. Website: https://www.sonomamag.com/trail-of-the-week-4/ (accessed on November 12, 2022).

[4] Bill Kortum 1927-2014. Sonoma County Conservation Action. Website: https://www.conservationaction.org/bill-kortum/ (accessed on November 12, 2022).

[5] E. Breck Parkman: Mammoth Rocks. California Department of Parks and Recreation.   Website: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23566 (accessed on November 12, 2022).

[6] Patty Ginochio: Fragile Beauty - Sunset Rocks | Mammoth Rub on Kortum Trail at Goat Rock State Beach. Sonoma County Gazette, August 3, 2019. Website: https://www.sonomacountygazette.com/sonoma-county-news/fragile-beauty-sunset-rocks-mammoth-rub-on-kortum-trail-at-goat-rock-st/ (accessed on November 13, 2022).