Quality Living Styles - Travel

Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, CA

Glass Beach-This image is from a file in the Wikimedia Commons

To get away from the extreme heat in Sacramento, 108 degrees F., on June 8th, 2013, we decided to take a trip to a cooler part of the country, Fort Bragg. California. The temperatures there was between 60-70 degrees. We had not done much research on sites to view. But we were happy with just having views of the ocean and maybe watching whales as well. The drive from Sacramento to Fort Bragg was about 4 hour duration.

The motel owner told us about Glass Beach, a beach that has smooth glass on the shore. It was just about 10 minutes from the motel so we drove to view this beach. There was a short walk to the beach after parking our car. The scenery was just gorgeous with great views of the sea. We enjoyed this trip immensely. A full description is below the pictures.

More About Glass Beach

I have since learned more About Glass Beach. The information was obtained from Wikipedia. The Free Encyclopedia

Glass Beach is a beach in MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg, California that is abundant in sea glass created from years of dumping garbage into an area of coastline near the northern part of the town.

In the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents threw their household garbage over cliffs owned by the Union Lumber Company onto what is now Glass Beach, discarding glass, appliances, and even vehicles.Locals referred to it as “The Dumps.” Fires were lit to reduce the size of the trash pile. The California State Water Resources Control Board and city leaders closed the area in 1967.

Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to correct the damage. Over the next several decades the pounding waves cleaned the beach, by breaking down everything but glass and pottery and tumbling those into the small, smooth, colored pieces that cover Glass Beach.

In 1998, the private owner of the property determined that Glass Beach should belong to the public, and began a five year process of working with the California Coastal Conservancy and the California Integrated Waste Management Board for the cleanup and sale of the property to the state. Following completion of the clean up, the California Department of Parks and Recreation purchased the 38-acre (15 ha) Glass Beach property, and it was incorporated into MacKerricher State Park in October 2002.

Sharing

Do write about your visits to places in your neighborhood, another state, or abroad. Include pictures, as well, as it does help to visualize locations.

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