Manchester State Beach is a fabulous, miles-long white sand beach. At the north end of the beach at Alder Creek, the San Andreas fault (yes, that fault!) goes out to sea for the final time — pay attention when you drive by here, and you’ll definitely see the fault. The main entrance is from Kinney Road off Highway One. You can see the Point Arena lighthouse from the entire length of the beach.
You used to be able to park at the end of Alder Creek Road at the north end of Manchester Beach, but the hillside collapsed on the road. Don’t expect it to be fixed any time soon….
This beach is about 30 miles south of Mendocino, and only a couple of miles north of Point Arena. Camping and fishing. 707-882-2463.
Mendocino Outdoors, the premier guidebook for outdoor fun and adventure on the Mendocino Coast, has been updated in 2017 as an ebook for the 5th Edition. You can buy a copy at Smashwords.com, the Apple iBooks Bookstore, Amazon’s Kindle Books, and Barnes & Noble's online store.