Mattole Canyon State Marine Reserve

Mattole Canyon SMR includes part of a deep submarine canyon located along the continental margin, where it connects the deep sea to the continental shelf. Constant erosion by swift ocean currents carved Mattole Canyon from the sea floor over a long period of time. Extending for nearly 17 miles, Mattole Canyon increases in depth until it merges with the Mendocino Canyon to the north.

Submarine canyons are geologically and biologically diverse, with a wide range of habitats that support many different forms of marine life, from soft corals to crustaceans, to deep-sea octopuses. Sandy seafloor habitat in Mattole Canyon lacks the typical mounds and holes created by marine creatures, because rapid currents sweep through the canyon, smoothing out the seafloor sediments. The soft sandy seafloor is interspersed with patches of rocky reef, where canary rockfish, lingcod, and quillback rockfish find shelter from the strong currents. Heavy seas, unpredictable currents, and strong winds have resulted in many shipwrecks along the Lost Coast.

For centuries, Native American tribes in California have relied on marine and coastal resources. Many of the indigenous people in California continue to regularly harvest marine resources within their ancestral territories and maintain relationships with the coast for ongoing customary uses. Mattole Canyon is named for the Mattole Tribe, the indigenous people native to this stretch of Mendocino coast. The Mattole Tribe relied on harvesting food from the sea, including salmon and mollusks. Most tribes were displaced when European settlers arrived. The 19th century gold rush brought more settlers, disrupting thousands of years of marine stewardship. Today, the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria exists as a federally recognized tribe, with roots in the Cape Mendocino area.

Mattole Canyon SMR is located about three miles north of Punta Gorda, one of the westernmost points in the continental United States. A light station was established at Punta Gorda in 1912, a feat made difficult by the remote, rugged location and lack of roads.

The U.S. Coast Guard assumed command of the Punta Gorda Light Station and constructed a rough beach road to it in 1935, but the road was often impassible, especially during the winter months. In 1951, the Coast Guard placed a lighted whistle buoy offshore and decommissioned the Punta Gorda Light Station. Control of the Punta Gorda Light Station eventually fell to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Groups of squatters took up residence in the buildings in the 1960s and, unable to keep people from residing there, BLM burned the wooden structures to the ground. Today, all that remains is the concrete lighthouse, oil house, and a few concrete pads where other structures once stood.

Mattole Canyon SMR is located off the Lost Coast, a remote and isolated expanse of wilderness. Mattole Trailhead lies at the mouth of the Mattole River and is the northern entrance to the epic Lost Coast Trail that spans roughly 25 miles of dramatic coastal landscapes.

Mattole Canyon SMR is a no-take marine reserve, where fishing is prohibited. Catch-and-release fishing for salmon and steelhead trout is popular in the nearby Mattole River, but regulations prohibit fishing within 200 yards of the river mouth. In the waters outside of the Mattole Canyon SMR, recreational fishermen brave the turbulent seas in hopes of catching Dungeness crab, albacore, lingcod, and cabezon.

To access the closest campground, turn off of Mattole Road onto Lighthouse Road and take the road about five miles to a BLM campground right on Mattole Beach.

This area is bounded by straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed except where noted:

40° 20.000′ N. lat. 124° 22.500′ W. long.;
40° 20.000′ N. lat. 124° 25.902′ W. long.; thence southward along the three nautical mile offshore boundary to
40° 17.000′ N. lat. 124° 25.869′ W. long.;
40° 17.000′ N. lat. 124° 22.500′ W. long.; and
40° 20.000′ N. lat. 124° 22.500′ W. long.

California Code of Regulations Title 14, Section 632(b)(13)