Mendocino Hiking
 

We're heading to Mendocino on Wednesday and have Thursday and Friday to hike. Can anyone offer up some favorites? Looking for up to 6 miles. I was supposed to be at the Lark in the Morning music camp in the Mendocino Woodlands starting today, but my mom needed help so I had to cancel (bummer). Instead staying in Mendocino for Wed-Fri (at the JD House) and then to a wedding in Ukiah on Saturday.

I remember a Fern Canyon hike I loved, but when I looked on the web just now, saw one in Van Damme and one in Russian Gulch. Now I can't remember which one we hiked before...is there a recommendation?

Thanks for any suggestions. I didn't see much in the way of useful trip reports on the Forum.

Leslie

I don't do a lot of hiking when I go to Mendocino but two I've done and are really wonderful are the Jug Handle/Eco Staircase

http://mendoparks.mcn.org/jugtrail.htm

and the Fern Canyon/Pygmy Forest in Van Damme state park.

Just got back from there and the family did about an 8 or 9 mile round trip at Russian Gulch. It was the Fern Canyon trail which ended at a nice waterfall. We went on a weekday and had about 30 minutes at the waterfall with only 2 other people.

Thanks to both janisj and Cjar for your responses. I will check out Jug Handle for sure. The Fern Canyon trail appears in both the Russian Gulch and Van Damme parks...am not sure which one I hiked years ago.

Really appreciate it!

We ended up hiking the Fern Canyon trail up to the Pygmy Forest in Van Damme State Park.

Gorgeous and peaceful, full of ferns and lush vegetation set by a beautiful stream. You can hike 5 miles to the loop, or do the whold 8.5 mile hike as we did. Not that strenuous.

We also went to the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens and walked through the gardens out to the coast. Gorgeous!

Thanks again for your help, Leslie