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Walk To:

• Branscomb Gallery, 1588 Eastshore Road, Bodega Bay
  
• Local Color Gallery 1580 Eastshore Rd, Bodega Bay
  
• Ren Brown Gallery, 1781 Highway 1, Bodega Bay

Drive To:

• Artisans' Co-Op, 17135 Bodega Hwy, Bodega
  
• Bodega Bay Marine Reserve
  The UC Davis Bodega Marine Reserve sits on wind-swept headlands on California 's north coast where a 362-acre coastal reserve meets a state-protected marine reserve. Part of the University of California 's Natural Reserve System and site of the Bodega Marine Lab , Bodega Marine Reserve is a research and teaching reserve that encompasses a unique mix of coastal habitats protected for long-term studies. Undisturbed rocky intertidal areas, within 100 meters of the lab buildings, extend along the Reserve boundaries. Other intertidal habitats include protected and exposed sandy beaches, extensive lagoon mudflats and sandflats, and tidal saltmarsh. Reserve terrestrial habitats include sand dunes , coastal bluffs , coastal prairie/coastal scrub and freshwater wetlands. Plant communities, soils and microclimates vary sharply over the Reserve because of a variety of geological factors associated with the Reserve's contact with the Pacific Ocean and the San Andreas Fault Zone. Adjoining the Reserve is the Bodega Marine Life Refuge, a fully protected reserve extending 1000 feet offshore. Located in the southern portion of one of the most significant upwelling systems in the world, the Refuge adds intertidal and subtidal habitats remarkable for their diversity and abundance of flora and fauna, creating excellent opportunities for underwater research.
  
  Horseshoe Cove, a small pocket partly protected by the Cove shorelines; and Salmon Creek Beach, a stretch of exposed sandy beach in the State Park just north of the Reserve. Thousands of migrant shorebirds winter here each year, attracted by the benthic invertebrates living in the soft sediments. An diverse saltmarsh community and native plants occupy the high intertidal zone bordering the sandflats and the lower freshwater. The blufftops support a native plant community with colorful wildflowers. coastal grasslands and yellow bush lupine. Grasslands that merge diverse native flora with weedy invasive species are the focus of numerous studies of plant-insect interactions and plant community dynamics. The Reserve dunes are largely covered with yellow bush lupine and the dune grass, planted in the 1920s-1950s to stabilize eroding dunes. A continuous shoreline bench of dioritic granite, exposed to the pounding waves of the Sonoma coast, supports a diverse community of marine algae and invertebrates. Numerous tidepools and adjacent waters harbor a rich array of fish species, shorebirds and extensive low tide mussel beds. While the Reserve is restricted to protect long-term field research sites from external disturbances, public hiking and horseback riding are encouraged on the adjacent park trails.
• Bodega Landmark Studio, 17255 Bodega Hwy, Bodega
  
• Graton is a small town undergoing a renaissance with interesting shops and great restaurants. A terrific gift shop to browse in is Graton Gallery, 9040 Graton Rd. On the way to Sebastopol on Highway 116 turn south on Graton Rd. You will find Sonoma County’s only Hard Cider Brewers at Ace in the Hole, Graton Road at Highway 116.
• Hand Goods, 3627 Main St, Occidental
  
• Freestone is a tiny town with many places of interest. Wildflour Bread, 140 Bohemian Hwy, bakes very interesting bread in a wood fired oven.
  
• Osmosis Enzyme Bath, 209 Bohemian Hwy, has relaxing enzyme baths, a Japanese tradition, one of the best day spas in California. Continue on Bohemian Hwy until it ends at Bodega Highway, turn west to Bodega. If you go east you get to Sebastopol.
  
• Bodega is familiar to those who love Alfred Hitchcock’s film “The Birds”. Many of the most memorable scenes were filmed at the church and school. Here you will also find craft shops, and coffee shops. To Bodega Bay continue on Bodega Highway till it ends at Highway 1.
  
• Sebastopol is a large town with many galleries, restaurants, good bookstores, and many antique shops. A scenic route from Bodega Bay Inn to Sebastopol is to take Highway 1 turn North go 1/4 mile, turn right on Bay Hill Road. This is a beautiful ridge top drive on a mostly single lane road with free range sheep and cattle, the road is about 5 miles long and ends back at Highway 1 just north of the Bodega turn off. Turn left at the intersection with Highway 1, and quickly you come to the Highway 12 turn off to Sebastopol. Visit the town of Bodega; see description above for Bodega and Freestone. Sebastopol has many antiques stores and antiques malls south of town. Two of our favorites, Remember Yesterday, kerosene and early electric lamps, 1382 Gravenstein Highway South, and Ray’s Trading Company, plumbing fixtures, doors, windows, mantles, door hardware, and so much more, 3570 Gravenstein Highway South. There is a great farmers market in Sebastopol on Saturday mornings, May - November at the Veterans Building. Sebastopol also offers many excellent bakeries and nurseries. The most incredible supermarket, natural foods store, deli, cheese shop and bread bakery in Sonoma County is Whole Foods, 6910 McKinley, Sebastopol. Try Screamin’ Mimi’s ice cream shop, really homemade and delicious, 6902 Sebastopol Av. Buddies, 415 South Main Street has interesting women’s clothes.
  
• Guerneville, tour the redwoods, and taste the champagne, a 45 minute drive from Bodega Bay. Take Highway 1 north; cross the Russian River at Bridgehaven, take Highway 116 east. It is a beautiful scenic drive along the river to Guerneville.
  
  Along Highway 116 you will pass through Duncans Mills (also worth a walk around), then Monte Rio. In Guerneville, Johnson’s Beach is a free public beach with canoe rental and a safe swimming area in the summer. There are different and interesting shops along Main Street.
  
  Take a walk or hike in the redwoods at Armstrong Redwoods State Park. Take Armstrong Woods Road to the end and you will find a wonderful park with majestic canyons of ancient redwoods where many fine walks and hikes can be found. If you park in the lot outside the entrance you may walk in for free. There are trail maps available. There is a fee to drive in to the park and a nice drive around the valley floor. A real treat awaits the brave who drive through the valley and take the sometime single-lane winding road to the ridge top, a fabulous 360 view for hundreds of miles. There are many hikes from the ridgetop. Get a map of the park at either the entrance or the visitors center.
  
• Korbel Champagne Cellars is 2 miles east of Guerneville on River Road, 13250 River Road. The winery has tours of its rose gardens and winery. To continue back to Bodega Bay from the intersection of Armstrong Woods Rd. and Highway 116, turn right (west) and drive back to Monte Rio.
  
  Monte Rio is a tiny town that in the 1930s was a large tourist mecca. The Pink Elephant Bar is a mecca of another sort, a wild place that has seen many a strange sight. The world famous Bohemian Grove is near Monte Rio. For two weeks in the summer it houses the heads of corporations and the heads of States. It is closed to the public, however. At the Y intersection turn left and go over the bridge. Just before the bridge is western Sonoma County’s most unique movie house, The Rio. The Rio is an old Quonset hut, the ceiling is draped with remnants from artist Christo’s Sonoma County creation called “The Running Fence”. To continue to Bodega Bay cross the bridge to Bohemian Highway, turn right. Continue on Bohemian Highway to Occidental.
  
  Occidental is an old town with many shops and restaurants and nice galleries. It is a beautiful drive, take Highway 1 north to Coleman Valley Rd. Coleman Valley is frequently a one lane road with open access to cattle and sheep. The road goes over the coastal hills and down to the town of Occidental. After exploring Occidental you can travel back to Bodega Bay by taking Bohemian Highway (not a real highway) south through Freestone and Bodega.
  
• Millennium Arts Gallery, 1305 Main St #101, Sebastopol
  
• Quicksilver Mine Co, 154 Main St, Sebastopol
  
• Sebastopol Center for the Arts, 6821 Laguna Park Way, Sebastopol
  
• The Birds Tour
  "The Birds" by Alfred Hitchcock, was filmed in and around Bodega Bay. There is a good publication about the film at the Sonoma Coast Visitors Center. Information below provided by The Bodega Bay Navigator.
  
  In 1961, Alfred Hithcock needed a remote coastal location for his next film. He had already shot one movie in the area: the 1942 thriller, “Shadow of a Doubt,” filmed in Santa Rosa. He needed a spot that would give him clear shots of sky, without interference from trees and mountains.
  
  Hitchcock picked the towns of Bodega and Bodega Bay to serve as the setting for his thriller featuring Tippi Hedren, Jessica Tandy, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette and, of course, the birds. At the time, the special effects utilized were enough to thrill and frighten young and old, and the film continues to affect modern day viewers. Mechanical and live-trained birds were used in the film, along with optically altered film overlay of flying birds. The film took almost three years to complete before it was released in 1963.
  
  Hitchcock chose the Bodega Bay area for the foggy weather and skyline, which at that time was subdued and open. When the time came for shooting, however, Hitchcock despaired at the clear and sunny skies. “It’s a color film,” he said, “and I wanted it dark and gloomy. Now we’ll have to subdue the color in the film lab.”
  
  The ancient Potter School had already been condemned and abandoned as a schoolhouse when Hitchcock discovered it in Bodega. Film crews shored up and rebuilt it for the filming. With the exception of the gazebo featured in the party scene, the school is the only original building used in the film that still stands to this day. Huge papiermâché ravens were placed on every available surface. Great flocks of these imitation actors were wired to flap their wings for effect.
  
  The schoolhouse is a private residence now, though it has been used as a bed and breakfast in the intervening years. The public is welcome to view the outside of the schoolhouse. It is, however, privately owned and may not be entered at this time.
  
  The school teacher’s house next to the school was a facade built by the film crew for the filming. When birds kill Suzanne Pleshette’s character, the Bodega Catholic Church can be seen in the film for a moment. A famous photograph by Ansel Adams has made the church well known beyond its appearance in “The Birds.”. In the ‘60’s, the road out to Bodega Head was unpaved past Mason’s Marina. A dock was built for star Tippi Hedren to land her rented boat when she crossed the harbor to “Mitch’s house.” Unfortunately, these structures burned down in the late sixties. They stood at the current location of the entrance to University of California Bodega Marine Laboratory dormitories.
  
  The Tides Wharf Restaurant and parking lot in Bodega Bay were used for the gas station, cafe and boat dock scenes. (The gas station was blown up on a studio lot.) The Tides complex has been expanded and remodeled several times since then. When the 1960’s owner of The Tides, Mitch Zankich, allowed Hitchcock to use the restaurant in “The Birds” he made three stipulations: the town in the movie would be called “Bodega Bay;” the male lead played by Rod Taylor would be named “Mitch;” and Zankich would receive a “speaking part.”If you’re listening at the right moment, you can here him say those immortal words: “What happened, Mitch?”
  
  The other farmhouse where the farmer is killed in his home by birds was filmed at a ranch in Valley Ford. The scene that took place there was a typical example of Hitchcock’s genius: when Jessica Tandy - after having discovered the farmer’s body - drove off from the farm at breakneck speed, her panic was beautifully expressed in visual terms by the dust that flew up from the road. At the beginning of the scene, however, when she arrived there, the dust didn't fly up, because for that show Hitchcock had the road watered down. The original farmhouse is gone but the trees and driveway are the same. It was private then and remains so.
  
  In one of the opening scenes, Tippi Hedren is driving into Bodega Bay on a winding scenic road above the town. Bay Hill Road can be found entering Highway One both north and south of town. At the north end, drive up about a mile until you can safely turn around, come back and park alongside the road and have a look. It's almost the very same scene that was filmed over 30 years ago.
  
  Almost all of the inside scenes were recreated very specifically from the original buildings and shot on sound stages at Universal Studios. The exterior shots were filmed on location. Many of the aerial and faraway shots were painted mattes amplifying the size of the town.
  
  Nearly 40 years later, the Visitor Center in Bodega Bay receives thousands of Hitchcock fans every year, hoping for a glimpse of some scenery from the movie that continues to frighten the world.