This glittering California beach has a dirty little secret that goes back to 1906

Waves pounded broken glass into smooth frosty stones

Over the following decades, the Pacific hammered that glass against rocks and sand.

It ground sharp edges into soft curves, turned jagged shards into frosty rounded pieces you can roll between your fingers. The most common colors are white, dark brown and green, all from everyday bottles.

But keep your eyes open for rare ones. Ruby red pieces came from old car taillights.

Deep blue glass traces back to apothecary and medicine bottles. Some pieces even contain trace amounts of uranium and glow under a blacklight.

There are actually three glass beaches, not one

Most people think of one beach, but Fort Bragg has three separate glass sites, each tied to a different dumping period. The original dump ran from 1906 to 1943.

A second site took over from 1943 to 1949. The third, used from 1949 to 1967, is the one everyone knows as "Glass Beach.

" Sites one and two sit outside the state park boundary, near city park land.

Site three sits next to MacKerricher State Park, which bought the 38-acre property around it in 2002.

Wear sturdy shoes and time your visit to low tide

You get to Glass Beach from a parking lot at the end of Glass Beach Drive, off West Elm Street in Fort Bragg. A short trail leads down to the shore, but the terrain is rocky and uneven, so skip the sandals.

Low tide is when you see the most glass scattered across the sand and rocks. One rule to know: collecting sea glass is not allowed in the state park section.

They want to keep the beach intact for the people who come after you.

Nine miles of coast, seals and 90 species of birds

Glass Beach sits inside MacKerricher State Park, which stretches about nine miles along the coast north of Fort Bragg.

Rocky headlands, sandy beaches, dunes, forests, wetlands and tide pools full of marine life fill the park.

A boardwalk at Laguna Point leads to a seal-watching station where you can spot harbor seals lounging on the rocks. More than 90 species of birds live near or visit Cleone Lake, a freshwater lagoon inside the park.

Day use is free, and the park stays open from sunrise to 10 p. m.

Walk bluffs that were locked behind mill gates for a century

The Noyo Headlands Coastal Trail runs along Fort Bragg’s ocean bluffs on a paved path connecting Glass Beach on the north end to Pomo Bluffs Park on the south.

This land sat behind lumber mill gates for over a century and only opened to the public between 2015 and 2017.

Along the way, you pass benches handcrafted by local artists, interpretive panels and wildflower-covered bluffs. The trail is flat and wheelchair accessible, open from dawn to dusk.

It connects north to the MacKerricher Haul Road Trail via the Pudding Creek Trestle, a bridge spanning over 500 feet across a beach.

Smell the Skunk Train before you see it

The Skunk Train has been running through Mendocino County’s redwood forests since 1885. It got its name from the gas-powered motorcars that showed up in the 1920s.

Locals said they could smell the fumes before they could see the train coming. Today, the Pudding Creek Express takes you on a one-hour, seven-mile round trip out of Fort Bragg.

You cross trestle bridges, pass through tunnels and wind into the Noyo River Canyon with towering redwoods on both sides.

If you want something different, two-person electric-assist railbikes let you pedal the tracks through the forest yourself.

47 acres of gardens that end at the Pacific Ocean

The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens cover 47 acres between Highway 1 and the ocean, just south of Fort Bragg. Trails wind through flower-filled meadows, coastal bluffs and dense forest.

You walk past colorful displays of rhododendrons, dahlias and a large heath and heather collection. The mild maritime climate keeps something blooming in every season.

Follow the paths far enough and they lead you all the way to the ocean, where the coastline opens up in front of you.

A working lighthouse with its original 6,800-pound lens

Point Cabrillo Light Station sits on a headland between Fort Bragg and Mendocino. Crews built it between 1908 and 1909, and it still works as an active aid to navigation.

Inside, you find the original third-order Fresnel lens, made by Chance Brothers in England, weighing 6,800 pounds and built from 90 lead glass prisms.

Three restored lightkeeper homes sit on the grounds, with one serving as a museum showing life in the 1930s. The lighthouse and grounds are open 365 days a year with no admission fee.

A half-mile walk from the parking area takes you out to the headland.

Gray whales pass close to shore from December through April

Gray whales migrate along the Mendocino Coast from December through April, and they swim close enough to shore that you can sometimes spot them from the bluffs.

Whale-watching boat tours leave from Noyo Harbor in Fort Bragg and typically run about two hours. Harbor seals lounge on rocks at MacKerricher State Park and near the harbor.

Sea otters, pelicans, cormorants and dozens of other bird species share the coastline. The Noyo Center for Marine Science has telescopes for spotting whales and marine science exhibits you can walk through.

Sea glass jewelry and a museum on Main Street

Fort Bragg’s downtown along Main Street still feels like the old logging town it was.

The historic Company Store building, where lumber workers once bought their supplies, now holds local boutiques and galleries.

Art galleries, independent bookstores and shops selling handmade sea glass jewelry line the streets.

The Sea Glass Museum, founded by Captain Cass Forrington, documents the full history of Fort Bragg’s glass beaches with exhibits, photographs and glass displays.

A weekly farmers market takes place every Wednesday if you time your visit right.

Visit Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California

You can walk onto Glass Beach at the end of Glass Beach Drive, off West Elm Street in Fort Bragg. The town sits along Highway 1 in Mendocino County, about 170 miles north of San Francisco.

The beach is part of MacKerricher State Park and is open from sunrise to sunset with no admission fee. Leave the glass where you find it, because collecting is not allowed in the state park section.

The parking lot holds about two dozen spots and fills up fast in summer, so get there early.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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