My first view as I approached from the south

Since I’ve now visited the area near Manchester Beach State Park a couple of times, I finally decided to do a bit of digging for more information. In doing so, I learned that the region to the west of Highway 1 and north of the park entrance on Kinney Road is called Lake Davis Wetlands and Coastal Dunes Natural Preserve. The path I followed north to the abandoned houses is part of the Davis Wetlands Trail and leads eventually to Alder Creek and Alder Creek Beach, at the northern end of Manchester Beach. I was already vaguely aware that the San Andreas Fault runs through this vicinity — the original Point Arena Lighthouse, just to the south, was destroyed in April 1906 — but it turns out that Alder Creek is precisely where the fault leaves land and heads out to sea. That may not be the reason for the abandonment of these houses, but I’m not sure I would want to live in that spot, no matter how scenic!

Northernmost wall

Alder Creek Beach below, with Irish Beach houses in the distance at right

After going through all my images from these two houses above Manchester Beach I also realized that I have so many different views, I’ve decided to do this post and one more before moving on to pictures of my farmhouse exploration. But I enjoyed this experience so much I’ll definitely continue sharing the rest of the photos going forward, just not as part of this particular series.

South house through window

South house, looking seaward