On Hwy-1, 27 miles North of Bodega Bay. As disparate imperial powers laid claim to various sections of California during the early 19thC, 95 Russians settled at what became Fort Ross. Growing vegetables for their scurvy-stricken countrymen in Alaska, hunting sea otters for their pelts and buying 125 miles of coastline from Native American tribes in return for three blankets and a few trinkets, the Russians aimed to establish a Slavic toe-hold in the New World. Building living quarters, warehouses and even an Orthodox Chapel in the traditional architecture of their homeland, the Russians also equipped the fort with sufficient weaponry to withstand attacks by the Spanish. As it turned out, the fort never fired a shot in anger. The colony was destroyed in 1841 by failing crops and otters being hunted to the point of extinction.

Ravaged by storms and earthquakes, the abandoned Fort Ross was eventually given state protection and its structures carefully restored to provide a fascinating glimpse into a forgotten facet of California’s history. The isolated coastal setting can be very atmospheric, too, particularly when ocean mists rise over the fort’s wooden fences and swirl about the park. One of the Russian-era cannons is fired, with an ear-splitting bang, daily at 3 pm.