Discovering Usal Beach – Fort Bragg CA

It has been really hot in the California Valley area so I wanted to get out of town to the coast. One of my favorite places is up in Northern California around Fort Bragg. Common knowledge is that it is generally cool on the coast when it is hot in the valley, so off I go. Fort Bragg, here I come.

Ft. Bragg is nice because it has good places to eat, is a lovely little town, and has some nice scenery all around it. Plus it is a stone’s throw from Mendocino which is also all of the above and more. So pack up the Bean and get moving.

As I was loading up I was talking to my brother he said I might like this beach that is about 30 minutes away called Usal Beach. He and his friend Matt, are extremely experienced adventure riders and had been there before and he said it was a very cool ride in to get out to the beach. My thoughts were ????? When the bro says a cool ride, I worry… What I am going break, what is going to break, how many bones am I going to break, etc…. So, cool, no fear here and a minor change of plans, just a little course adjustment.

Heading to the Beach, Usal beach that is

Normally I would head up the coast into Ft. Bragg or up into Willits and hang a left and over. However, this time my bro suggested a little bit different route that took me up to 101 and then over on 1 the Shoreline HWY. This way is very scenic and twisty. It turned out to be a nice and enjoyable route, however, and that’s not a bad thing, the temperature started dropping. Through the valley the temp was in the high 90’s (roughly 32 c) and crossing over to the coast it hit around 108 degrees (42ish c). Which is just tooo hot, but now on the Shoreline it is 70 then 60 then 56 degrees. Time to put on a jacket. (Note: Bean has a temp gauge that I can check)

The road to Usal

I’m not sure what I was expecting, most beaches are right there off the main road but not this one. The GPS has been leading the way so far and now she is saying turn here….TURN HERE damn it…. Ya, I blew right past the turn-off, but who could blame me, the turn-off is this tiny little cut stump of a road. Unless you are a local or have been there before it is really easy to miss.

I had to backtrack and flip around to get back on course to Usal Road and here again, is a bit of a surprise, the pavement ended in about 200 feet, (60 meters or so), and turned into a 4×4 trail. Dirt, ruts, rocks, tree branches, and a tight squeeze in places, but pretty. Sorry, still no pictures because I was having such a good time blasting when I could and enjoying the view, so when I go back I will update this with some more pictures.

Up the trail, down to the beach

Blasting down this ‘road’ was awesome and I am thinking wow I’m going to own this beach, nobody will find it or be able to get up this road. Wrong! Just as I am coming around this hairpin and looking off to my right a four by four Toyota truck comes upon me, glad I am on the Bean because the trail was narrow and it would have been difficult to maneuver around. So now I’m thinking, okay maybe I have to share with one or two hard-core beachgoers.

After going up for a bit then down a bit more fast forward about 12 miles (19 km) and I am at the beach.

Well, this is a bit of a disappointment, PEOPLE. Damn, I thought I would own this beach, oh well let’s go discover someplace else.

Into the back country

To get to the beach area you pass through a campground of sorts which is just off that main dirt road. I kept noticing all these dirt fire roads as I was heading down to the beach, so the plan now is to get back on the dirt road and see where it goes. I figured I would keep going up that main dirt road to see what lay beyond.

Mind you I am having a good time, the road is rough but scenic, the air is fresh and clean, and the temp is just about right. It is all good, however, it is also getting on in the day and I will be losing daylight in another two hours or so. I figure now is a good time to start getting serious about a place to camp out for the night.

I had ridden about 45 minutes away from the beach area, but remember this is a pretty rough road so that wasn’t a lot of miles. I have been keeping a weather eye for places to pull off the main and came upon a nice fire road on the left. When I started down it at about a quarter-mile in there was a closed/locked gate. HOWEVER, I’m on the Bean, I’m way off the beaten track, and I figured, well I can just squeeze around the gate and see what is that-away.

Fire roads to single track

On most fire roads they are fairly clean single-track trails so that loggers or fire equipment can get access to what lays beyond. However, if they are not used they quickly revert to jungle trails that only squirrels and bears can go down. Thank heavens Bean and I are in the bear class because this fire road went from reasonable to jungle pretty quick.

Outrageously Awesome Place to Camp, at last

After an extremely exciting, nail-biting ride into the unknown, I am ready to find the perfect hidden spot to camp. Not that I was worried about being discovered, remember the locked gate? However, why take a chance.

I had gone up and down this road and had no idea where I was or where I was heading. My plan B was if I get in too deep, turn around, and take whatever I can find to bed down.

Camp Usal

Doomed to riding out in the dark cold night…. nope, at last, I found the perfect place to set up camp and bed down. I have been riding the ups and downs of this trail for some time now. It has been mostly a first/second gear go of things with a rare moment of hitting third because the trail is very technical in most places. There are a lot of downed trees, debris, and a BIG drop off if you go wide on the turns, however, putting along I hit a spot where the trail opened up and I saw a very small clearing. To get into this clearing though was a whole story in itself as even on foot it was tough.

What you can’t see in this picture is that just beyond that line of trees in the background is the ocean, well actually it is about a 500 foot (152 m) drop down to the ocean. I got really lucky finding this spot because as night fell and I was laying in my hammock it was soooo quiet, except for the gentle sounds of the ocean in the background. To say this was such a wonderful place is an understatement. It was almost spooky because of the quiet, ocean waves softly playing a background track to the occasional sounds of something falling from the trees. The best part, NO PEOPLE for miles, and no bears….

Cheers, and enjoy the Bean.