Unbeaten Path Hiking Tours

We took a tour today of the Stornetta lands, and it was wonderful. Margaret, our guide and the owner, is really full of great information about the wildlife, the history of the area, the geology – she is really fun to be with and we learned a lot. We did the two hour tour which is about 3 miles, and pretty easy terrain for the most part, but INCREDIBLE scenery. Well worth it!

I took the Stornetta Public Lands Tour in February led by Margaret Lindgren, the owner of Unbeaten Path Tours.
When you take a tour with Unbeaten Path you will need to sign the usual release slip. In pre-​planning for the trip we had plenty of email communication to make sure my particular tour would meet my abilities and my time constraints. The pricing for this tour was well worth it, especially given her attention to details about the area.
This tour was marvelous– the area is indeed a national treasure! See it now before it becomes crowded– It’s on every top 10 list of hot tourist spots. It is also a place where you can bring your dog (for now off leash).
While it is not necessary to take a guide to view the public lands, having Margaret along made sure I saw many of the unique points that I’d otherwise be clueless to– where the San Andreas Fault dips into the ocean, the making of sea stacks, blowholes, the only place where Spanish moss grows naturally. Margaret also shared many tidbits of the Mendocino area’s history.
After meeting up in The Sea Ranch we drove to the national monument (about 10 minutes north). My tour lasted about 3 hours. We hiked at an easy pace (or as Margaret rates it: 1 boot level). While the terrain for this particular tour was flat there were some areas that were slippery from the recent rains. She was very watchful of where and how I stepped, for which I was most appreciative as I am not that experienced of a hiker.
While Unbeaten Path Tours provides a list of what to pack for the tour, it won’t hurt to mention it here too. Make sure you bring along your camera and a small notebook to write notes of what you are viewing. It will definitely help you remember later when you’re showing off your photos. And you will end up with great photos. Margaret would point out the perfect spot for that perfect photo.
As we walked along she not only pointed out the geography of the area, but also the migratory birds including: Pelagic and Brandt cormorants, western, eared and horned Grebes (which I learned how to pronounce correctly — GREEEB), and we also saw a surf scoater floating about. AND there were whales galore off shore too!
Margaret was a delight throughout the whole process. Her enthusiasm and love for the area was infectious. I would not hesitate to take another tour with her and would recommend it to others.