A Guide to Moonstone, Luffenholtz, and Camel Rock — three beaches, three different moods

A Guide to Moonstone, Luffenholtz, and Camel Rock — Three Beaches, Three Different Moods

There's a stretch of the Humboldt Coast between Trinidad and McKinleyville that I've been walking and photographing for over thirty years. Three beaches in particular — Moonstone, Luffenholtz, and Camel Rock — sit within a few miles of each other, close enough that you could visit all three in an afternoon. And yet each one feels like a completely different place. Different light. Different energy. Different things to find if you're willing to slow down and pay attention.

I've shot all three in fog, in winter sun, at golden hour, and in the blue-black silence before dawn. Here's what I've learned about each one.

Moonstone Beach: Wide Open and Wild

Moonstone Beach is the most expansive of the three. The sand stretches wide and flat at low tide, the driftwood piles up in great sculptural tangles, and the surf crashes in long, unbroken lines. On a clear day, you can see all the way up the coast toward Trinidad Head. On a foggy morning — which, let's be honest, describes most mornings up here — the beach disappears into gray and the whole world shrinks to the immediate: wet sand, kelp, the hiss of retreating water.

The name comes from the moonstones that wash up along the shoreline, smooth agates tumbled by the Pacific into soft, translucent ovals. Finding one feels like a small gift from the ocean.

For photographers: Moonstone rewards wide-angle work. The sweeping foreground at low tide, the layered fog, the driftwood lines leading the eye toward the horizon — it's a compositional playground. I've made some of my favorite long-exposure images here, using the wet sand as a mirror for stormy skies. Come at sunrise if you can, when the light skims low across the sand and every ripple casts a shadow.

Best conditions: Low tide in winter, overcast mornings, stormy swells.

Access: Pull off at the Moonstone Beach access point off Moonstone Road in Arcata. The walk to the beach is short and easy.

Luffenholtz Beach: The Hidden One

Luffenholtz is smaller, steeper, and harder to get to — which means it's almost always quiet. A wooden staircase winds down from the clifftop overlook to a narrow cobblestone beach framed by sea stacks and rocky outcroppings. The cove is protected enough that even when the open ocean is churning, the water here has a different quality to it — more intimate, more contained.

I think of Luffenholtz as the moody one. The light hits the sea stacks differently depending on the season, and in the late afternoon, when the sun drops toward the water, the whole cove goes gold. The overlook itself — even before you descend the stairs — is worth the stop. You can see Trinidad Head to the north and the open Pacific spreading south, and if the timing is right, you might catch a whale spout or a pelican riding the updraft off the cliffs.

For photographers: The sea stacks are the centerpiece here. Shoot from the beach at low tide to get in close, or stay at the overlook for a wider compositional frame that includes the full cove. The staircase itself makes an interesting subject — the weathered wood, the descent into the cove, the vertical drama of it. Bring a polarizer to cut glare off the wet rocks.

Best conditions: Late afternoon light in fall and winter, low tide for sea stack access, calm mornings for reflection shots in the shallow pools.

Access: Off Scenic Drive. The overlook has a small pullout; the staircase is steep but manageable.

Camel Rock: Shaped by the Sea

Camel Rock (Houda Point) gets its name from the unmistakable silhouette just offshore — a sea stack so perfectly humped it looks like it was placed there on purpose. From certain angles at low tide, you can see the full profile clearly: two humps, a neck, the suggestion of a lowered head. It's one of those geological coincidences that makes you stop and stare.

The beach here is rocky and raw, more dramatic than beautiful in the traditional sense. The waves hit the rocks hard, the spray catches the light, and the whole place has an energy that the other two beaches don't quite have. It's louder here. More insistent. The kind of place where the ocean reminds you it's in charge.

For photographers: The rock is obviously the draw, but don't just point and shoot. Work the angles. Come at low tide and explore the beach to the south, where the rock-strewn foreground gives you strong leading lines. At sunrise, the eastern light catches the face of the stack beautifully. At sunset, the sky behind it turns and the silhouette becomes graphic and clean. During storms, the wave action around the base of the rock is spectacular — just keep a safe distance and watch the sets carefully.

Best conditions: Low tide for foreground interest, sunrise for front-lit detail on the rock, sunset for silhouette work, stormy swells for dramatic wave action.

Access: Camel Rock is visible from Highway 101 just north of Trinidad. There's a pullout along the highway and beach access is a short scramble down.

Three Beaches, One Afternoon

If you want to do all three in a single outing, I'd suggest starting at Moonstone in the morning when the low-angle light is best for the wide sandy foreground, stopping at Luffenholtz around midday to explore the cove and rest at the overlook, then finishing at Camel Rock in the late afternoon when the sea stack catches the best light.

Give yourself more time than you think you need. That's always my advice on the Humboldt Coast. Something will stop you — a shaft of light through the fog, a brown pelican skimming a wave, the sudden appearance of a moonstone in the sand at your feet. These beaches are patient. They've been here a long time. They'll wait for you to slow down.

All prints from the Humboldt Coast are available at jeffreyschwartzphotography.com. If you make it out to any of these beaches and want to share what you found, tag me on Facebook at @backyardphotography707 — I'd love to see it.*