Patrick’s Point State Park
🏆 Official Guide: Sue-meg State Park — Formerly “Patrick’s Point” — a 640-acre coastal park near Trinidad in Humboldt County, California, featuring dramatic sea stack viewpoints, the iconic Wedding Rock, Agate Beach (agate hunting + tide pools), a recreated Sumêg Yurok Village, the scenic Rim Trail, three family campgrounds, and old-growth Sitka spruce forest.
Sue-meg State Park occupies a stunning coastal headland on California’s North Coast, where dense forests meet dramatic ocean bluffs. Renamed in 2021 from Patrick’s Point to honor the Yurok people’s ancestral name for this land, the park offers an extraordinary combination of cultural heritage, geological drama, and pristine coastal recreation in one of the most beautiful settings on the Pacific Coast.
Visitor Information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Near Trinidad, Humboldt County, CA |
| Size | 640 acres |
| Campgrounds | Abalone, Penn Creek, Agate Beach — tent + RV |
| Notable | Renamed from Patrick’s Point in 2021 |
| Reservations | ReserveCalifornia — strongly recommended summer |
| Dogs | Leashed in campground — NOT on beaches or trails |
Key Attractions
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Wedding Rock | Short steep trail to 80-ft bluff — panoramic ocean views |
| Agate Beach | Semi-precious agates wash ashore — tide pools |
| Rim Trail | 2-mile coastal trail — sea stacks, bluffs, old-growth forest |
| Sumêg Village | Recreated Yurok village — sweat lodges, family homes, canoe |
| Old-Growth Forest | Sitka spruce, red alder, Pacific rhododendron |
| Tide Pools | Palmer’s Point + Agate Beach — best at low tide |
| Whale Watching | Gray whales — December through April |
Sumêg Yurok Village
The park’s Sumêg Village is a recreated traditional Yurok settlement, built in the 1990s through a collaboration between the Yurok Tribe and California State Parks. Visitors can explore traditional family homes, a sweat lodge, changing houses, and a redwood dugout canoe — offering a respectful window into the culture and lifeways of the Yurok people who have called this coast home for thousands of years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the park renamed?
In 2021, the California State Park and Recreation Commission unanimously voted to rename Patrick’s Point State Park to Sue-meg State Park. “Sue-meg” is the original Yurok name for this headland, which the Yurok people have used since time immemorial. The renaming was part of California’s “Reexamining Our Past Initiative” to address discriminatory place names.
Where can I find agates?
Agate Beach is the primary agate-hunting spot — access it via the trail from the Agate Beach campground. The best time to find agates is after winter storms when fresh stones wash ashore. Look along the high-tide line and in gravel deposits. Small, translucent stones with banding are agates.
