34-583: MacKerricher State Park is a state park in California in the United States . It is located 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Fort Bragg in Mendocino County . It covers 9 miles (14 km) of coastline and contains several types of coastal habitat , including beaches , dunes , headlands , coves , wetlands , tide pools , forest , and a freshwater lake . The northern coastline of
68-526: A land lease from the U.S. government , while Mackinac National Park was handed down to become the first of the Michigan state parks . As with national parks, facilities at state parks are often leased to concessionaires to operate. Breaks Interstate Park is operated under an interstate compact by Virginia state parks , although it is also one of the Kentucky state parks , straddling both sides of
102-527: A few exceptions such as Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in California, and Wood-Tikchik State Park in Alaska, the largest state park in the United States . In addition to preserving natural landscapes and providing recreational opportunities, many state parks also serve as important educational resources . They often offer guided tours, interpretive programs, and exhibits that help visitors learn about
136-738: 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-hectare) property adjacent to Glass Beach, and it was incorporated into MacKerricher State Park in October 2002. All of
170-699: A restaurant) for lodging at some parks. These typically use "Resort" in the name, such as "_____ Resort State Park" in West Virginia state parks and "_____ State Resort Park" in neighboring Kentucky state parks , which has 17 such resort parks, the most of any state. Other states use the Resort name inconsistently (like DeGray Lake Resort State Park , the only one out of three resorts in Arkansas state parks ), or have only one such park ( South Carolina state parks ' Hickory Knob State Resort Park ), or do not use
204-622: A state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational potential. There are state parks under the administration of the government of each U.S. state , some of the Mexican states , and in Brazil . The term is also used in the Australian states of Victoria and New South Wales . The equivalent term used in Canada, Argentina, South Africa, and Belgium,
238-413: Is provincial park . Similar systems of local government maintained parks exist in other countries, but the terminology varies. State parks are thus similar to national parks , but under state rather than federal administration. Similarly, local government entities below state level may maintain parks, e.g., regional parks or county parks . In general, state parks are smaller than national parks, with
272-480: Is a peninsula near the middle of the park. The Ten Mile River marks the upper boundary of the park, and several creeks drain run through the landscape and into the Pacific Ocean . The headlands are covered in grasses and wildflowers. Wooded areas just inland have stands of bishop pine ( Pinus muricata ), shore pine ( Pinus contorta ), and Douglas fir ( Pseudotsuga menziesii ). The park contains 95% of
306-475: Is an endangered species of fish that lives in the local creeks and rivers. Some of these waterways were recently designated as critical habitat for the fish, and the park may be expanded to preserve it. Indigenous peoples of California , including the Pomo and Yuki peoples , lived in or traveled through the region, utilizing resources such as seaweed , shellfish , and acorns . The Mendocino Indian Reservation
340-522: Is available for fishing. There are trails for walking, cycling, and horseback riding. Glass Beach , at the southern end of the park, is famous for its fields of sand-polished glass pebbles. They are remnants of garbage that was piled on the beach when it was used as a dump by area residents in the 1950s and 1960s. After decades of friction in the tides, the discarded, broken glass has been reduced to smooth, attractive trinkets sought by casual collectors. A 4.75 mi (7.64 km) rail trail segment of
374-598: The California Coastal Trail uses the former railroad grade later converted to a haul road for logging trucks. The southern end of the trail is a timber trestle over Pudding Creek, and the trail parallels the Pacific coast north to Ward Avenue. The 9 mi (14 km) haul road was abandoned when 7,000 ft (2,100 m) of the road's asphalt concrete pavement was washed out by flooding in 1983. The haul road has not been subsequently maintained, and
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#1732797941142408-531: The Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration . Glass Beach (Fort Bragg, California) Glass Beach is a beach adjacent to MacKerricher State Park near Fort Bragg, California , named from a time when it was abundant with sea glass created from years of dumping garbage into an area of coastline near the northern part of the town. In 1906, Fort Bragg residents established an official water dump site behind
442-544: The Union Lumber Company onto what is now known as "Site 1". Most water-fronted communities had water dump sites discarding glass , appliances, and even vehicles. Locals referred to it as "The Dumps." Fires were often lit using Molotov cocktails to reduce the size of the trash pile. When the original dump site filled up in 1943, the site was moved to what is now known as "Site 2", the active dump site from 1943 until 1949. When this beach became full in 1949,
476-854: The City Council of the City of Fort Bragg discussed the beach glass depletion and declined to move forward with replenishment efforts due to the cost and perceived likelihood that required permits would not be approved. Similar beaches are found in Benicia, California , and Eleele, Hawaii . Several endangered and protected native plants occur at Glass Beach including hybrid Menzies' wallflower . The composition of Glass Beach sands include quartz, mafic minerals and feldspar intermingled with well rounded glass components of white, brown and green grains (Kerwin 1997). Besides glass, Fort Bragg’s iconic beach is also made up of tin pieces (Bascom 1960). In fact,
510-595: The Sierra Nevada mountains to a landfill in Sparks, Nevada, even though 90 percent of the 7-foot (2.1 m) depth of glass that used to cover Glass Beach, Site 3, was locally recycled, being used in things like the pathways to the Guest House Museum and Skunk Train , and in art like the beautiful back-lit mosaic created by high school students that adorns one of the local temples. On December 10, 2012,
544-422: The actual "Glass Beach", Site 3, is adjacent to MacKerricher State Park. All entities in California end at the mean high water mark (MHW), according to Article 10 of the state constitution. In Fort Bragg, the mean high water mark is 5.2 feet (1.6 meters), and all of Glass Beach, Site 3, is below that water mark. Sites 1 & 2 are located south of "Glass Beach" and do not abut the state park area, though they abut
578-475: The composition of Fort Bragg is so interesting that researchers are showing the benefits of creating replicated beaches like Fort Bragg in Southern California, Louisiana and Florida (Wildman 2018). The density and size of the items like tin on the beach create a sufficient and sustainable aggregate (Bascom 1960). Fort Bragg has inspired the idea using RCGC (known as recycled crushed glass cullet) as
612-738: The country's state parks. The NASPD further counts over 43,000 miles (69,000 km) of trail, 217,367 campsites, and 8,277 cabins and lodges across U.S. state parks. The largest state park system in the United States is Alaska State Parks , with over 100 sites encompassing 3.3 million acres. Many states include designations beyond "state park" in their state parks systems. Other designations might be state recreation areas , state beaches, and state nature reserves . Some state park systems include long-distance trails and historic sites . To encourage tourism in rural areas, several states have simple lodges, inns, hotels, or motels (usually with
646-478: The designation at all (such as the lodges of Georgia state parks ). The term "lodge" may also refer to a hiking lodge , essentially a large cabin for hikers rather than a large facility with private rooms and a restaurant. Other lodging may include yurts and tipis . Not all parks owned by a state are necessarily part of its state-park system, such as Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta. Some Texas state parks are
680-505: The dump was moved north to what is now known as "Glass Beach", which remained an active dump site until 1967. The California State Water Resources Control Board and city leaders closed this area in 1967. Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to correct the damage. Over the next several decades, what was biodegradable in the dump sites simply degraded and all the metal and other items were eventually removed and sold as scrap or used in art. The pounding waves broke down
714-794: The entire distribution of the rare Mendocino spineflower ( Chorizanthe howellii ), which grows in the protected dunes of the Inglenook Preserve. Animals in the area include harbor seals , which haul out on the rocks to sun. Gray whales on their annual migration are visible from shore between December and April, providing whale watching opportunities. Other mammals include black-tailed deer , raccoons , gray foxes , and occasionally mountain lions . There are many forms of tide pool life. There are more than 90 species of birds, including migratory waterfowl and permanent residents such as ospreys , great blue herons , ring-necked ducks , and mallards . The tidewater goby ( Eucyclogobius newberryi )
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#1732797941142748-467: The glass and pottery and tumbled those pieces into the small, smooth, colored pieces that often become jewelry-quality, which cover Glass Beach and the other two glass beaches (former dump sites) in Fort Bragg. There are three Glass Beach sites in Fort Bragg where trash was dumped into the ocean between 1906 and 1967. Site Two (1943–1949) and Three (1949–1967 – "Glass Beach") are located at the end of
782-493: The local flora , fauna , geology , and cultural history of the area. These programs are designed not only to enhance the visitor experience but also to promote conservation awareness and encourage responsible enjoyment of natural resources. There are 6,792 state park units in the United States, according to the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD). There are some 813 million annual visits to
816-475: The local Sea Glass Museum, is a strong advocate for a full-time research facility studying the benefits to the marine environment of the minerals used to make and clarify the glass, with a supporting aquarium that highlights the rich diversity of life found in Fort Bragg's waters, with the ultimate goal of promoting the formation of glass reefs to initiate new food chains worldwide on all the badly depleted continental shelves. Fort Bragg currently trucks its glass over
850-559: The middle fork of the river to Camp 6. Trains brought logs from the Ten Mile River to the Fort Bragg sawmill until the rails were replaced by a haul road for logging trucks in 1949, when descendants of Duncan and Jessie MacKerricher sold the MacKerricher property to the state of California, which made it a state park. Parks staff leads hikes and whale-watching ventures. It maintains campgrounds and other facilities. Lake Cleone
884-415: The new city park area, which also ends at the mean high water mark (MHW). The beach is now visited by tens of thousands of tourists yearly. Collecting is discouraged by State Park Rangers on the section of "Glass Beach" adjacent to the state park, where they ask people to leave what little glass is left for others to enjoy, although most of the sea glass is now found on the other two glass beaches outside
918-576: The park is a long, sloping beach, and the southern section is made up of rocky cliffs and flats separating smaller strips of beach. Inland from the ocean is Lake Cleone, a former brackish marsh that was closed off by the construction of a road and became a 30-acre (12 ha) freshwater lake. Much of the northern section of the park is occupied by the Inglenook Fen Ten Mile Dunes Preserve, a sensitive dune complex with wetland and terrestrial vegetation zones. Laguna Point
952-411: The path that begins on the corner of Elm Street and Glass Beach Drive. These sites are accessible by foot and by a short climb down the cliffs surrounding the beach. Site One (1906–43) is .25 miles (0.40 kilometers) south of Site Two and has become accessible by foot as of January 2015 when the northern section of the new Coastal Trail in Fort Bragg opened. In 1998, the private owner of the property began
986-428: The portion north of the washout is being destroyed by the park as a habitat restoration measure. Leashed dogs are allowed on the paved trail, but excluded from the dune areas to protect the snowy plover . State park State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the sub-national level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by
1020-474: The state line. Other multi-state parks are legally two separate parks with the same name and more informal cooperation between them. The title of oldest state park in the United States is claimed by Niagara Falls State Park in New York , established in 1885. Several public parks previously or currently maintained at the state level pre-date it. Indian Springs State Park has been operated continuously by
1054-454: The state of Georgia as a public park since 1825, although it did not gain the title "State Park" until 1931. In 1864 Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove were ceded by the federal government to California until Yosemite National Park was proclaimed in 1890. In 1878 Wisconsin set aside a vast swath of its northern forests as "The State Park" but, needing money, sold most of it to lumber companies within 20 years. Mackinac National Park
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1088-504: The state park area. About 1,000 to 1,200 tourists visit Fort Bragg's glass beaches each day in the summer. Most collect some glass. Because of this and also because of natural factors (wave action is constantly grinding down the glass), the glass is slowly diminishing. There is currently a movement by Captain J. H. (Cass) Forrington to replenish the beaches with discarded glass. Captain Forrington, founder, owner and curator of
1122-473: Was established in 1875 as the second U.S. national park before being converted to a state park in 1895. The first state park with the designation of "state park" was Itasca State Park in Minnesota , established in 1891. Many state park systems date to the 1930s, when around 800 state parks (and several national ones) across the country were developed with assistance from federal job-creation programs like
1156-633: Was established in the area. Canadian newlyweds Duncan and Jessie MacKerricher moved to the area in 1864. They hired a staff of native people to work on their ranch, which produced butter , potatoes , and draft horses . In 1916 a logging branch of the California Western Railroad was built northward along the coast from the Union Lumber Company Fort Bragg sawmill to the Ten Mile River and up
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