Hotel at a Glance: Coast Inn and Spa

The Pacific Ocean crashes against Fort Bragg’s rock-strewn beaches just around the corner from this eco-conscious hotel. Guests can commune with the landscape by taking a peaceful stroll amid the property’s towering trees. During your stay you can enjoy an herbal-infused spa treatment and a meal of organic entrees made with locally sourced ingredients at the onsite café.

• Individually decorated rooms and suites: Some have floral bedding and red clay floors, while others have an electric fireplace and skylight. All are outfitted with complimentary wireless Internet.
• Organic eats: The onsite cafe uses ingredients from the inn’s own vegetable garden and alkaline water-sprouted grains for meals that are free of preservatives and artificial additives.
• Massages and aromatherapy sea-salt scrubs are some of the relaxing treatments available at the inn’s healing spa, where live orchids and other plants add to the naturalistic atmosphere. This deal includes a $15 or $50 spa credit, depending on the option you choose.
• Nearby things to do: Spend a quiet moment at one of Mendocino’s uncrowded beaches, go birdwatching in MacKerricher State Park, visit the beautiful 47 acre Botanical Garden, or go deep-sea fishing for salmon.

Fort Bragg, California: Coastal Bluffs and Colorful Sea-Glass Beaches near Redwood Forests

Located on northwest California’s Pacific Coast, Fort Bragg was founded as a military port before the Civil War. Its rocky shores now welcome thousands of tourists year-round. Less than a 10-minute drive north from Coast Inn and Spa is the popular Glass Beach, which earned its name for the smooth, colorful sea glass that’s strewn along the shoreline. The beach is the result of garbage—from automobile parts to glass bottles—that had been dumped into the Pacific from 1906 to 1967. The ocean slowly eroded the trash, transforming it into smooth glass that began to wash up on this beach.

To explore Fort Bragg, you can bike over the Pudding Creek Trestle, a redwood bridge built in 1916 for local trains, or hop on the historical Skunk Train. The train chugs along the Mendocino Coast, past massive redwood trees (ask the hotel concierge about discounted tickets). For another look at Northern California’s famous redwoods, take an hour drive southeast to Montgomery Woods State Reserve, where trees have reached record-breaking heights of 378 feet tall.

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