Glass Beach is the well-known southern beach of MacKerricher State Park in Fort Bragg. Glass Beach gets its name from the smooth colorful glass pieces that you can find mixed into the pebbly beach.

This site was once a trash dump so broken bottles from the garbage cans of local residents have been transformed into little treasures to be found and photographed (and left behind). It is illegal to remove any glass from Glass Beach, but this hasn’t stopped people from taking what seems like a harmless amount. Over the years thousands of these pocketfuls have depleted the beach of its namesake glass. It still has a lot, but nothing like it used to.

This is a great place to take kids who can explore around but watch them near the water which can be dangerous. There is a wide path to the beach from the parking area on Glass Beach Road a couple blocks west of Highway 1 down West Elm Street. There are more trails on the bluff to hike north up to Pudding Creek Beach where a paved multi-use trail crosses over an old train trestle. Trails also go south from the Glass Beach entry path and lead to other glassy beaches that are outside of the state park boundary.