A beach that was once a dump site is now a beautiful glass beach that you can visit, and it's only a few hours away from Sacramento.
Over 100 years ago, Fort Bragg residents would dump garbage in the ocean at an official water dump site. Whenever the pile of glass, appliances, vehicles, and other trash would get too high, it would be lit with Molotov cocktails (via Wikipedia) to reduce the garbage.
Obviously, it was a MUCH different time back then...
By 1967, and an additional dump site later, these dump sites were shut down and work began to clean up as much damage done as possible.
Now known as Glass Beach, the former dump site was purchased by the California Department of Parks and Recreation and incorporated into MacKerricher State Park in October 2002.
There apparently used to be much more sea glass in the past, as people began to illegally take handfuls of the sea glass home with them after visiting. But there's still plenty of glass pebbles there today that make this place a mystical, glassy NorCal tourist destination.
Punch the address W Elm St and Glass Beach Dr, Fort Bragg, CA 95437 into your GPS and it'll take you around four hours to get there from Sacramento. Parking is free, and dogs are allowed on leash.
Luckily there are plenty of restaurants in the area to check out. Get burgers and shakes at retro diner Jenny's Giant Burger or sit down for beer and wings at Overtime Brewing. There are several hotels within walking distance of the beach, too.