On a bluff above the Sonoma Coast, a reconstructed stockade on a coastal bluff is a reminder that Russia once had a foothold in California.
Russia in California
California State Parks says the park preserves several buildings and a reconstructed stockade wall from North America's southernmost Russian colony, founded in 1812. Wikipedia says the Russian-American Company ran Fort Ross as the hub of its southernmost settlements from 1812 to 1841. Commerce Counselor Ivan Kuskov established it. The community was unusually diverse, with Native Californians, Native Alaskans, Russians, Finns and Swedes. Wikipedia also credits Fort Ross with California's first windmills and its first shipbuilding. The park sits on the ancestral homeland of the Kashia Band of Pomo Indians, who call the place Metini.
Sold to Sutter
In 1841 the Russian-American Company sold the settlement to John Sutter, the Swiss-born Mexican citizen whose Sacramento Valley mill later became famous for the discovery of gold. Fort Ross is now a California Historical Landmark and a National Historic Landmark, and it's listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Visiting
State Parks lists the Fort Ross compound's hours as 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and the visitor center is open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The entrance fee is $10. The first-come, first-served Reef Campground just south of the fort has 20 tent-only sites at $40 a night. It's a dry campground, so bring water or buy it at the visitor center. Drones aren't allowed in the district's state parks. From the Bay Area, State Parks suggests Highway 1 north from Bodega Bay, or River Road and Highway 116 from Santa Rosa through Guerneville to Jenner.