Timber Cove Boat Launch and Campground-
Mike was able to secure a great deal so our initial plan was to spend 17 days back at Timber Cove, fishing and crabbing while I relaxed and did some hiking, reading, and writing. This was going to be one of two stops during my time off work. We were really looking forward to this remote, stunning, area on Highway 1-just north of Jenner, California.
Mike had some nice days fishing and caught several crab. I had several enjoyable hikes around the coast line with Louie and Kiya and we had set up the dog fencing and made ourselves at home when Cal Trans stopped at Brenda’s (campground owner) house. We had only been here 5 days! I watched their conversation from my spot inside our rig on the sofa and could tell our future at Timber Cove Boat Launch and Campground was not secure.
Prior to our arrival, one of our Fresh and Salty friends had asked if we had heard about the Bureau of Land Reclamation issues Brenda had been having at the campground. We had not but she had accepted our reservation for the North Meadow knowing we were nearly 38 feet long so we felt fairly certain everything would be okay.
When we arrived at the campground Brenda was off running some errands but had called us and told us to park in the same spot we had been in November so we did. The campground all looked so different. There were several of the permanent trailers that had moved out, fencing was gone, the tool shed was moved, even Brenda’s house had been moved back another 8 or so feet from the road. There were orange posts near the back of the meadow right by the hook ups.
Brenda had apparently been under the impression that while permanent structures were not allowed in front of the orange marker lines, she could still have campers there. Cal Trans had other news for all of us. This wasn’t her property to rent out and she could not allow camping on the “right of way” area. We had to move out of that site.
Timber Cove has a very small campground behind the front “meadow” areas and there was no where we would fit. Brenda did refund us for the time we couldn’t stay. We stayed right where we were for one night, packing up the outside area and getting ready to pull out. We had friends coming to fish and camp the next day and we all agreed we would just “park” in the area the next day while the guys fished. We had learned of this issue around 3:30 in the afternoon. Brenda knew the Cal Trans worker lived in Santa Rosa and wouldn’t be back that night so we stayed hooked up, got a shower in, dumped our tanks, and got some water in our holding tanks.
Mike pulled out of the area we had been camping and left the slides in the next morning. Lori and Ted arrived with Ted’s Uncle Dean a bit later that morning and the guys had a blast fishing while Lori and I took off to explore the area a bit in Yeep with Louie and Kiya along for the ride. We drove up the coast a bit to a small town called Gualala and had a great Mexican breakfast.
I came close to losing Kiya that morning. I made the mistake of not closing the Yeep windows most of the way and left them all the way down in the back seat. It was a cool day, upper 60’s and the dogs love coming along-beats sitting in the RV at home.
We had been in the restaurant 10-15 minutes when the lady who owned the beauty shop just next to the restaurant in the strip of stores came in and asked if either Lori or I owned a little brown Doberman. Apparently this little brown dog had wandered into her shop-she had the door open-and looked very concerned…..hmm not a Doberman, but sounds like Kiya. Sure enough, she had jumped out of the Yeep to find me and came close, I will give her that. I’m so lucky that she wasn’t hit by cars driving by on Highway 1 or lost or whatever. Valuable lesson learned-make sure the windows are not all the way down ! I gave her some love and took her back to the Yeep and ensured she was secure this time lol!
After breakfast Lori and I drove back down toward Timber Cove and stopped at Sea Ranch Chapel. What a magical place. It was designed by James Hubbell, and artist and architect. It is a stunning non-denominational chapel that is open for daily meditation and can be rented out for weddings special occasions. It really is something to see with beautiful stained glass windows and just amazing interior as well as exterior. It was so worth the short drive to see!
Next, we continued our drive back toward Timber Cove and stopped at Ocean Cove. Ocean Cove is a campground less than 2 miles from Timber Cove. While there aren’t any hook ups, Ocean Cove can accommodate campers of ALL sizes-this campground is very large and it does have a boat launch that looks a little bit more intimidating than Timber Cove’s launch but doable. Lori and I decided the boys could always launch at Timber Cove while we camped at Ocean Cove in the future if necessary! Ocean Cove rents for $28/night-again no hook ups but there are water spigots, outdoor showers, and portable toilets all around. It will be a fine substitute since we can no longer camp at Timber Cove in the RV-we just don’t fit-her sites are about the size of pick up truck-length and width.
After our tour of Ocean Cove campground, we continued past Timber Cove a couple of miles and visited Fort Ross. What a fun piece of history!
Fort Ross was originally built by the Russians as a camp to grow food and supply their Alaskan colonies who were hunting seals, sea lions, and the like. There are several original buildings and some replicas on the site today. Fort Ross was the first place ships were produced in California and the site of the first windmill. Today, it costs $8/car to tour the site and there are schools that participate in overnight field trips. There was a class there when we toured and Lori and I agreed it would have been a cool field trip! They were marching with old weapons, cooking over open fires, and had set up a company store! How Fun!
The fellas had a great day of fishing and caught quite a few crab. We shared a nice dinner with our friends and boondocked for the night in front of what was once Timber Cove North Meadow Campground. No one stopped to complain and we headed out after breakfast with our friends. Next stop back to Red Hawk casino to figure out what to do with our time until May 2nd -still nearly 2 weeks away-when we have reservations at Pyramid Lake for a month.
Thanks so much for coming to spend a couple days with us, Lori, Ted, and Uncle Dean! And thank you Timber Cove for some great memories. I wish you luck with all the campground changes you are undergoing! If we can’t stay, we will be back to launch at least!
