Punchbowls, Blowholes, and Sinkholes, Oh My!

Imagine you’re walking along a section of the coast, on a trail you’ve been using for years. You’re hoofing along, not watching the trail because you can’t take your eyes off the big waves and rocky coastline stretched out before you. But woah, hold up, take not a step further! There is a huge hole in the ground that wasn’t there yesterday. We are not talking a hole the size of a storybook wishing-well, we are talking a hole the size of a swimming pool. You look down and see the fresh dirt and coastal scrub sitting at the bottom, a drop of twenty to thirty feet. Your jaw drops, your pulse races, that was a close one! You just missed a dive into the geologic wonder on the coast knows as punchbowls.

Before you panic, this isn’t a common occurrence, but we did just get a new one near the Spring Ranch trail, and this walk did happen to my sister. Believe it or not, we have quite a few of these large holes, formed over centuries, which go by the name punchbowl, blowhole, or sinkhole.

Aerial view of Noyo Headlands punchbowl by Mateo Ortiz

How are these formed? Sinkholes, as you may recall from famous ones that open up in urban areas where whole streets cave in, occur when water collects underground and has nowhere to drain. The earth above becomes unstable and eventually collapses. In coastal areas, the sinkholes form when pounding waves erode the cliffs over time and create sea caves. “The whole coastline is like swiss cheese, with notches, caves, holes, arches, and tunnels,” says Kate Erickson, sea kayak guide and owner of Liquid Fusion Kayaking. Periodically the cave roof collapses, forming a sinkhole with an added feature—water will enter and fill up the beach below, giving curious hikers no end of aquatic entertainment. Blowhole is what you’d imagine—the water shoots upward because it has nowhere to go, but most of the holes below are so book here is little blowhole action.

As you might imagine, some pretty amazing tales of coastal life take place in punchbowls. My favorite is about a shipwreck in 1898, where the captain, his son, and the cook all went down with the ship as it crashed into a sea cave on the Mendocino Headlands. Here's an excerpt from the local paper with the headline "Schooner Swallowed by a Small Cave and No Trace Ever Found of It:"

"The last we saw of that brave man he stood with one hand on a spoke of the wheel and with his other arm fondly embracing his son's waist, disappeared forever from our view- We waited all night with the hope that on the turn of the tide the vessel might possibly drift into the bay, but we never saw so much as a bit of her planking again. She had gone into the blow hole and her destination will ever remain a mystery. “-San Francisco Call, Volume 84, Number 124, 2 October 1898

A local named Scott relates this completely charming story:

“Once, while viewing the blowhole in the forest just west of the Little River Cemetery, we watched a kayak come through the tunnel from the sea and beach itself on the sand at the bottom of the punchbowl. A young man and woman, dressed as pirates, got out of the kayak, opened a map, and began searching the area. At one point, the young woman excitedly began digging, and soon pulled out a small box. The young man ran over to see what she had found. They opened the box and immediately the young man knelt down after pulling the ring from the box (which he had apparently hidden earlier) and proposed. She appeared to say “yes” and we quickly and silently departed before they discovered that we had observed the beautiful scene from above.”

Curiosity piqued? I’ve listed a few below, easy to see in a day because they are located between Fort Bragg and Little River, just few miles apart by car. But if that’s more punch than you can handle in one morning, I’ve given them each awards, so you have a handy cheat sheet for deciding which to visit.

Most Atmospheric

Little River Blowhole

It can’t be a coincidence that there is a charming old cemetery right next to this blowhole. This one has always struck me as the most precarious, both because the trail hugs the edge, but also because people try to get down to the beach on the steep trail. But the coastal pines that surround it give it an eerie feel, plus news that some of the older graves are in danger of collapsing into, definitely gives this one the title of ‘most atmospheric’! Park in the small turnout alongside the Little River Cemetery and take the trail alongside to the left.

Best Active Blowhole

Mendocino Headlands

Take the trail from the end of Main Street out to the point, where the remains from the old mill (chains, and a wooden platform) perch over the coast. This sinkhole (now actually a natural bridge as there are openings on two sides) was formed during the 1906 earthquake. A leaky water tank kept the ground especially wet, so the quake opened the hole and swallowed the tank. Now you’ll see marine life during low tide. To see water spouting up from the opening of the blowhole, walk west past the carved totem. Turn around and look for the mouth of the cave—just above it is a smaller hole formed in the rock. Wait for the waves to crash through and enjoy the fine spray that comes up through this smaller blow hole.

aerial view of Devil's Punchbowl by Branden McGuinn

Most Famous & Best Name

Devil’s Punchbowl

Just after you enter Russian Gulch State Park make the first right and park at the end. It’s an easy walk to the punchbowl, which is sixty feet deep and over 100 feet across. Great ocean views and if you go at high tide, the sound of the waves filling the punchbowl sound devilishly loud and eerie.

Most Accessible by Land and Sea

Noyo Headlands Coastal Trail

Park in the south parking of the coastal trail in Fort Bragg and walk along the trail to the point where the bay opes out into the ocean. An aerial view of this punchbowl is shown up above, and on her blog Kate Erickson writes about (and shows) the view from her kayak when she takes folks into the punchbowl from the bay.

And now a word of caution: Be careful when walking around these holes. Admittedly, I am what my family calls “a nervous Nellie” and when I took my kids to the Little River Blowhole and saw how close the trail runs to the edge, and how precarious the earth under that trail looked, I backed everyone WAY up. Squashed any desire to scramble down the steep side of the hole to touch bottom (plus poision oak alert)!