Located in MacKerricher State Park, near the city of Fort Bragg in Northern California, Glass Beach is a small beige sand beach covered in small pieces of smoothed glass. The beach is positioned south of Pudding Creek and has a beautiful backdrop of many rugged cliffs, which together offer incredible views of the vast Pacific Ocean. Glass Beach is made up of three different beaches that were formerly city trash dump sites between 1906 and 1967: Site One, Site Two, and Site Three. As a result of the trash being thrown into the ocean, these three beaches are covered with beautiful sea glass, including rare ruby reds (from pre-1967 automobile tail lights) or sapphire gems from apothecary bottles. The most easily accessible and well-liked beach among tourists is the main beach, often known as Site 1.
In the early 20th century, this area was used as a dumping site, which included glass, appliances, and even vehicles, by the residents of Fort Bragg. Over the decades, the ocean's waves broke down the discarded glass into small, smooth, colorful pieces that cover the beach today. The most prevalent hues of sea glass on Glass Beach are clear, brown, red, and green, which originally came from automobile tail lights, apothecary bottles, and old-fashioned glass containers.
In the 1960s, the North Coast Water Quality Board and city leaders started cleanup efforts to protect the shoreline. Since glass at the beach is now regarded as a natural resource, it is prohibited to remove it from the site.
