Glass Beach, Natural coastal area in Fort Bragg, California, United States.
Glass Beach is a shoreline section in Fort Bragg, northern California, where rounded glass pieces mix with coarse sand and pebbles. The colored fragments sit above the normal tide line alongside driftwood and shell debris along the rocky waterfront.
The town used this spot as a public dump from 1906 until 1967, when new environmental rules banned coastal waste disposal. After closure, cleanup efforts removed the largest debris and left the remaining glass pieces to the waves.
The shoreline draws photographers and collectors who watch how nature transforms discarded bottles and containers over time. The smooth colored pieces form as saltwater and waves shape the abandoned material left behind by earlier people.
A short footpath of about a quarter mile (400 meters) leads from the free parking area at Noyo Headlands Park down to the waterfront. The terrain is partly steep and slippery, so sturdy shoes help when climbing over the rocks.
Though the shore once held thousands of colored glass pieces, visitor collecting has reduced the amount noticeably over the years. Some areas now show more regular gravel than glass, as waves continue to bring up new material from the seabed.
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