Fun place to spend some time at the beach. We found lots of seashells, sand dollars and rocks. The only downside is that people have bonfires here which means that there are nails in the sand. Also, glass from broken beer bottles :( makes you wish the folks that liked to party here took better care of it. Just make sure you wear shoes until you get up over the dunes and closer to the water.

Really muddy ... Would be nicer if we could 4x4 the beaches here ...

Great place to get your steps in and do a little beach combing.

Mad River County Park has a lovely beach which is great for walking and offers ocean access for miles up and down the coast. There arent really any public facilities, and the road to get to the parking lot is rough, though a nice country drive. Locals will come to the beach for bonfires and dog walking. Theres also a scenic old bridge nearby which connects to the Hammond Trail.

It was beautifulThe dunes were hard to climbBut I loved it

Beautiful beach. Hard to access for special needs. Dunes in between beach and parking area had lots of debris in the sand...

Wonderful river on one side ocean on the other huge beach beautiful place to fish

Decent sized parking lot with a boat ramp.

While a little challenging to get to, this is a wide beach with room for well-behaved dogs to run freely.

Beautiful and off the beaten path. Fun for this kids and dog too.

Gorgeous. Beautiful. BEST Beach in awhile

Great place to walk along the beach,do some beach combing for shells and rocks. The sand dunes along the shore have wonderful smelling, yellow flowers in the spring/summer. Walked past a small, green tent with a naked couple having sex in it - - right between the parking area and the beach. Awkward, with our three kids with us. The wind is always strong here so bring a kite! Kind of hard to get to (Google maps doesnt have it 100%right, but will get you there ;just keep going past where Google tell you to go). No big signs telling you its ahead. No bathrooms or any other services (water fountains).

Clean beach, family friendly and quiet

Very cool. Nice beach but little bit of a walk from parking. Kinda hippy central so we went and there were a ton of people making beach bonfires till late night but it was quiet and fun

Great place with awesome views!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have to visit this area. I fell in love with this place. Go check it out!

Im giving this a one star rating because I dont want too many people overrruning the beautiful place and scarring off all the amazing birds and wildlife. love it enough to rate it! Lol

We love coming here with friends. Its a great place for people and dogs and bonfires. This is such an amazing, gorgeous spot in nature.

Such a beautiful beach! Another happy place for me to see while visiting my daughter.

Not bad, not bad at all.

It was an overcast day. The beach was beautiful. The ride up was scenic. I look forward to visiting here every time I travel to Humboldt County.

Love this beach. Used to come here all the time when at HSU. Sometimes theres sand dollars all over. Usually only a handful of people on the beach . Nice little drive out there too passing by some farm houses and a trail bridge.

Could have more info about the area. Short Walk to the beaches

We love going here! Lots of room for the dogs! Take a picnic and have a wonderful day!

Dog friendly! Lots of sand dollars and driftwood too. Ease of access is limited: path to the beach parking lot is not suited for trucks or large vehicles.

One of my go-to spots to grab some food. awesome location, clean, and awesome customer service. Very good job!

Needs to be cleaned up and patrolled occasionally.

Pretty beach, relatively easy to access (these two geezers made it okay). Not crowded during the week.

Beach is pretty, clean with lots of beachcombing things to find. Parking lot and sand dunes are littered with hundreds of nails from people improperly burning pallets so you take a huge chance parking in the lot and walking barefoot. My friend and I cleaned up some nails while we was there.

A great place for a walk. Head north on the beach to reach the mouth of the river.

Not crowded

This is one of my favorite places to go and clear my head!

Very interesting

The parking is to small. Our local county has let established infrastructure go to nothing. IT SHOULD BE ONE OF THE CROWN JEWELS OF OUR COUNTY.

Cant access the beach for the poor path

A great place to sunbathe on a nice day! But no staying after dark, the gates lock an hour after sundown.

Pretty beach that is never too crowded.

Not crowded and miles of fine sand beaches.

Lots of trash and animal fieces everywhere, good to maybe launch your boat thats it

Visually beautiful

Beautiful drive to get there through the back roads of Arcata. Remote beach with many visible signs of bonfires on the beach. Its nice that people seem to be good about cleaning up despite not being any trash bins. Watch for those rogue waves!

Love the boat ramp area.

Great beach to stroll.

Great beach for horses and good dogs. Its windy most of the time. Lots of nails from irresponsible pallet burners. Watch your dogs toes!

Bigger than I remember it. I was last there 38 years ago. Still love it.

Beautiful and serene. You have to drive on farm roads to get to the beach so there usually arent too many people there unless its a weekend.

Miles of uncrowded beach. Good for dogs walking and sometimes surfing if no wind and small swell.

Reputation of many vehicle break-ins.

So pretty smells great like fresh plant growth and ocean breeze cool spot mad river meets the ocean and the Hammond trail is right there as well

Ok nice hot tub but kids always playing in there

Colllld nights in the fall. Bonfires permitted. Pretty far walk from parking lot to water.

Sweet beach park. Great place to go and hang out. Great view of the coast.

This is at the boat ramp on the Mad River, before the beach parking lot. Although the ramp parking was flooded. Dont expect to use the restrooms.

I always love coming here and having great family fun!!!

Whys the river mad

So serene. Great restaurants.

Nice sandy low people beach - bring the Doggo!!

Great spot to hike on the beach or grab a kayak and hit up the estuary.

Nice Park, part of the entire Northcoast experience

Very nice. Not over crowded

Getting there: This beach park sits at the end of a series of extremely rural farm roads. These roads get very narrow in many places, and that can make it difficult for vehicles to travel both directions at the same time. There are only a couple signs indicating where the beach is, so you can get lost if youre not familiar with the area. The roads also prone to flooding, since its so close to the Mad River.Amenities: The parking lot is small, unpaved, with lots of potholes and shifting sand. I have seen many people get their vehicles tires stuck in the sand. There arent any bathrooms or even trash cans. There is a boat ramp with its own parking just before the beach parking, so there is river access. Campfires are allowed, but they have to be three feet in diameter or less, and pallet burning isnt allowed (although plenty of people do it anyway).Accessibility: You cant actually see the ocean from the parking lot, since there is a huge dune in the way. There is no paved walkway or even a well compacted trail, just a lot of fine sand. If you have any kind of mobility issue, even a sprain, I would advise against going here.The beach itself: nice if you prefer long, sandy stretches. The waveslope is quite shallow, so wading a little is fairly safe. The north part of the beach stretches up into a spit that ends at the mouth of the Mad River, so you can stand on the dunes in between and see both river and ocean.One downside of this location is the kinds of people who show up here occasionally: less pleasant folks that are using drugs, camping out in their vehicles, making a mess of the place, and/or letting their (poorly socialized) dogs roam around off leash and unsupervised. Theft happens sometimes, probably worsened by the fact that you cant see your car from the beach. Take precautions, like hiding anything of value under the seat or in the trunk. And maybe dont leave your car unattended for very long.TL;DR: difficult to get to, a no-go for people with mobility issues, has an occasionally sketchy human element, but nice if you just want to take your dog out for a quick run.

Beautiful views and lovely kept up area

Small parking lot, but awesome beach without a lot of people

Long Beach.Parking lot is small, be careful, when we visited someone got stuck in the sand and had to be pulled out.

Nice

Beautiful

It fun

Gorgeous!!

Beautiful

Beautiful

Great place to walk the beach.

Awesome

Out of the way

Emptying

this beach!

Lotsa dunes

Perfect place for a walk

Nice

Very nice

Relaxing

Awesome beach

Sand and water.

Ok beach

Not much here

Poor Shape no maintenance

Beautiful

Beautiful and remote