Trinidad Head Lighthouse and Old Home Beach

California Coastal National Monument

Trinidad Coastal Land Trust

Click for map.

I didn't get to see the lighthouse (or properly visit the national monument) so I came back the first Saturday of the month. The official web site for the California Coastal National Monument is no more specific about when the gate is open than that. On the AllTrails page for the hike, it claims the gate is open 11AM-5PM. I hadn't actually checked as I went past a week before, but there's a sticker on the sign on the gate that says 10AM-2PM. I went out slightly late according to that sign for an afternoon in Trinidad and found the parking lot to be quite a negotiation. Half of it was blocked off with floats connected by thick chains to what looked like highly corroded engine blocks. There's actually more spots on pavement toward the harbor, but I found one in the dirt.

The memorial lighthouse has been relocated from higher up on the bluff. The bell beside it is the original fog warning for the actual lighthouse. (Or maybe the second with the first being in the ocean.)

not quite full parking lot — This is a little more crowded than it was during the week.

I headed up the road toward the lighthouse on another stunning day between rain days. The road is paved and generally smooth, but can be quite steep in a couple spots, so might be a challenge for anyone looking for an accessible path.

pier and boats in Trinidad Harbor — Fishermen on the pier and only a few boats in the harbor.

splash on Little River Rock and distant mountains — The waves splashing on Little River Rock and washing up on Little River State Beach. There's probably more snow on Horse Mountain now.

I found the gate open at 2:15PM, paused to notice the times listed on it had passed, then went through. It's reasonable to think that they'll shoo people out before locking the gate. It's just a long, flat curve around to the real lighthouse at the end of the road.

water tower, lighthouse, and benches between — Where once a lighthouse keeper lived, there are now benches. The steps to the water tank are no longer accessible and the lighthouse is close at hand.

I had seen that the memorial lighthouse is a replica of the real thing, but hadn't realized it's 1:1. It's just a little thing! The light sits high on the cliff for its height. Also, there's one more sign on a gate, this one with the hours 10AM-12PM. That one was locked. I'm not sure if it opens or not, since this is a working lighthouse still. It was blocking what I suspected was the best view on that edge.

Trinidad Head Lighthouse — The actual lighthouse on Trinidad Head.

I had to contend with the substandard view spots a few feet from the best seat in the house. That's probably not all that much of a hardship.

lots of coastline — The coastline vanishes into the distance from here.

lighthouse on the point with its light on — Well, since the lighthouse is on a point, everything on the other side of the point is not visible. That bright thing to the side is the current electric light, still on in the day time.

Some other people came and I left them to it, heading back down.

road sided with vegetation, island visibie in the distance — It's cold in the permanent shade of the corridor of the road around the north side of the head.

I headed out onto the pier next. It's a working pier, but there was no one working it. There was a family fishing. Mostly there were just people out to walk and look.

boat and row boat and rocks in the ocean — A different look at the sea gulls on the vegetation covered rocks by the harbor.

pool eside the rock — The tidepools around Little Head get a little attention.

Then I checked out the little beach next to the pier. There's a small point blocking travel after a short way, so it didn't take very long. The beach is mainly for launching and one family was even out doing that.

tracks beside the rock — Bigger boats can be lifted to a car that runs on the tracks to launch. Smaller things can use the ramp to the beach off to the left. The family had a rubber dingy they could drag across the sand from their trailer on the beach.

Then I started wandering the little trails that are around the harbor. There's steps up to the street above and then a scampering trail between streets that got me to the place where the memorial lighthouse used to rest.

plaque after plaque filled with names carved in stone — The names of those lost or buried at sea.

Trinidad Head and Little Head and the pier — Look back to Trinidad Head.

There are steps below the memorial. A sign warned me that they had deteriorated quite a bit, but I went for it anyway. It was not exaggerating and the trail took a little care in the middle and a lot of care at the end.

wood going every which way — It's not just the haphazard stair surfaces. There's also the mud surrounding them all.

Since I did manage to navigate the steps, I got to explore the beach. It's a little bigger and a little more geared toward leisure.

rocks on the beach, some quite large — More vegetation topped rocks, but this one is right on the beach.

lower down looking out — There's always a different feel being at water level and looking out than high up.

I had to have my shoes off to cross Parker Creek.

short waterfall hidden in the winter nude trees — Parker Creek with a little hidden waterfall. Maybe there's a way across on the logs. I decided to let my feet get some sand instead.

I found the Parker Creek Trail on the far side of the creek. It was much easier to travel.

trail with a gentle slope upward — Parker Creek Trail to Old Home Beach.

shadow of Trinidad Head — Across the creek to Trinidad Head. Looking into the sun just doesn't work very well.

The trail crosses a driveway on the way and a sign indicates one might follow it out beside Parker Creek. I didn't do that. The trail splits further up and I took the right hand side to Parker Creek Drive far enough up to see where people were parking. They were all head in along the side of a field Then I headed back and took the left side to Wagner Street instead, where there is no parking. In fact, there are signs to make you worry if you should even be walking there on the public trail and then out on the private road. What a difference a road makes.

parking along a field — Seems to be parking along Parker Creek Drive. There is no parking past the end of the pavement.

red rhododendrons in bloom — Someone already has a rhododendron full of blooms.

The benches along the road at the edge of the cliff were full of people and more were on blankets on the small patches of grass. All were looking out on that beautiful ocean. I found the dingy out there with father and daughter sitting with fishing poles deployed.

rubber dingy in the middle of big rocks — The black spot in the middle is a rubber dingy with a couple of fishermen.

Rocks with plaques to commemorate bits of history also line the road. One was for the village of Tsurai, which was near Old Home Beach. Another was to the town of Trinidad, which claims to be the oldest town on the northern California coast and was the county seat of Klamath (back when there was such a county called that).

The white church on the hill got a call out in the Redwood EdVenture Quest for Trinidad as "from the town's start."

I followed the roads around back to my parking in the mud.

street with a trail at the end — While traffic continues straight, it is safer for pedestrians to take the turn at Galindo Street, then either turn right to take the sidewalk or continue down the steps at the end to the boat launch.

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