Sand between your fingers, sunshine beaming down on you, and a fresh sea breeze is our idea of a good time on Earth Day! One of the best things about getting out to the coast for beach cleanups and hikes is that you get to be outside, see all the natural beauty of the sea and the coastal trails near you, and spend your day doing something wonderful for the world at the same time.

Come join Conservation Works on Saturday, April 20, 2024 | 9:00am – 11:00am. Location: Kortum Trail & Shell Beach, Highway 1 and Shell Beach Road, Jenner

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The Earth Day beach and trail clean up activities start at 9:00. Beach and trail cleanup supplies will be provided and feel free to bring your own. Please dress for coastal weather which is always changing and different from inland conditions.

The trails at this Sonoma Coast location are moderate and mostly flat with stairs that lead down from the Shell Beach parking lot to the beach.

The Kortum trail was named after Bill and Lucy Kortum (co-founders of Coastwalk), two great environmental heroes of Sonoma County who were responsible for stopping the nuclear power plant at Bodega Head and lead the grassroots environmental movement that resulted in passage of the Coastal Act that balances development with preservation of coastal resources and public access. The Shell Beach to Blind Beach section of the Kortum trail is a 4 ½ mile out/back trail which offers gorgeous views of the Sonoma Coast and its wildlife. There are many coastal prairie flowers blooming and raptors soaring over the bluffs. This is also grey whale migration season so it is likely to see spouts of grey whales returning north to their feeding grounds. The trail leads you to Sunset Boulders where you can see evidence of Mammoth rubbings, which once roamed this coastal terrace.