Some roads are meant for more than speedy, convenient transportation. Consider the northern reaches of California's Route 1, a gateway to a world of ancient, mist-shrouded forests and wild-spirited coastal vistas nearly lost to memory. Whether your ideal camping experience means awakening to the Pacific pounding itself to froth yards from your tent, or to the morning breeze whispering through sun-dappled redwoods, let the cliff-hugging contours and stomach-sinking turns of northern Route 1 carry you there.
Peacefully grazing sheep and cattle dot the wildflower-strewn meadows of southern Mendocino County’s Manchester State Park. Dress for the biting north winds and stake your tent during your stay in one of the park’s 41 largely unprotected campsites. Trek the 5-mile beach in search of wind-tossed treasure, fish in the streams or watch for overwintering whistling swans at the Alder Creek Lagoon. Each first-come, first-served campsite has a fire ring and picnic table. The park has water and vault toilets, but showering arrangements are up to you.
If tenting yards from a driftwood-littered beach is your mission, follow Route 1 north 18 miles from Manchester to Navarro Bluffs Road in Navarro River Redwoods State Park. Settle in at one of the Navarro Beach Campground’s 10 primitive, first-come first-served campsites and wait for a sunset to rival any along the North Coast. Dive for abalone, or pack in a canoe to follow the river’s redwood-shaded, winding course through the park. Enjoy catch-and-release fishing for steelhead in spring, or take advantage of the swimming holes when summer flirts with the 90-degree mark. The no-frills amenities include pit toilets, fire rings and picnic tables. Bring your own water for drinking and washing.
Northern California’s frigid seas make campgrounds with ocean swimming a rarity. One exception is at Route 1's Russian Gulch State Park, 20 miles north of Navarro River. Swim, fish or dive for abalone along more than a mile of beach, or follow the 3-mile Fern Canyon Trail past the park’s 30 campsites. You’ll meander through stands of giant ferns and second-growth redwoods to a 36-foot waterfall. Witness the Pacific’s power at 100-foot-wide Devil’s Blow Hole, a collapsed sea cave opening onto a 200-foot, tide-carved rock tunnel. Closed to campers during winter, Russian Gulch supplies coin-operated showers and flush toilets. Each campsite has a picnic table, fire ring and food storage cabinet.
MacKerricher State Park, 14 miles north of Russian Gulch on Route 1, has nearly 150 pine- and underbrush-separated campsites spread over four ocean bluff loops. For additional privacy, choose one of the Surfwood Loop's 10 walk-in tent sites 50 yards distant from the rest. Kayak, fish for trout and observe birds at 30-acre Cleone Pond, or hike to the Seal Rock Walkway for a view of harbor seals lazing on the shore. In the winter or early spring, scout the Ten Mile Beach Trail -- once used to haul lumber to a Fort Bragg mill -- for glimpses of migrating gray whales. MacKerricher's campsites have fire rings, picnic tables and food storage cabinets. Other amenities include hot showers, flush toilets and a WiFi hotspot near the visitor's center.
