Things to do in Fort Bragg
Caspar Headlands State Beach
State beaches are areas with frontage on the ocean, or bays designed to provide swimming, boating, fishing, and other beach-oriented recreational activities. This area has miles of undeveloped beach adjacent to the headlands and a panoramic ocean view. The beach is a good place to watch for migrating gray whales. Fishing is also popular off the beach. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.
Jughandle State Reserve
Jug Handle State Reserve is located on the Mendocino coast. The park features a 2.5-mile self-guided nature trail called The Ecological Staircase which explores five wave-cut terraces formed by glacier, sea and tectonic activity that built the coast range. Each of the terraces was uplifted from sea level about 100,000 years before the one below it. Plants on each terrace represent a more advanced stage in succession, indicating what the previous, next lower terrace may look like in 100,000 years. The lowest terrace consists of prairie; the second is covered with pines; the third supports a unique pigmy forest with knee-high trees possibly several decades old. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.
MacKerricher State Park
MacKerricher State Park offers a variety of habitats; beach, bluff, headland, dune, forest and wetland. Tidepools are along the shore. Seals live on the rocks off the park’s Mendocino coast. More than 90 species of birds visit or live near Cleone Lake, a formal tidal lagoon. During winter and spring, the nearby headland provides a good lookout for whale watching. The park is popular with hikers, joggers, equestrians and bicyclists. Fishing is also popular, with trout in two fresh-water lakes. The park has a wheelchair accessible nature trail. Call 707-964-9112 for more information.
Mailliard Redwoods State Reserve
The purpose of Mailliard Redwoods State Reserve, in Mendocino County, is to preserve and protect, in an essentially natural condition, the coast redwood forest and associated wildlife habitat which occurs along the Garcia River and adjacent watersheds. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.
Manchester State Park
The park has a beach, sand dunes, and flat grasslands, with nearly 18,000 feet of ocean frontage. The beach line curves gently to form a "catch basin" for sea debris, which accounts for the volume of driftwood found here. Five miles of gentle, sandy beach stretches southward towards the Point Arena Lighthouse. Call 707-882-2463 for more information.
Mendocino Headlands State Park
The park is near picturesque downtown Mendocino. The park features grass-covered headlands and a beach, with access from the mouth of the Big River south of town. Trails are popular with hikers and joggers. In winter, the park provides a site for whale watching. The Ford Museum features weekend lectures on area wildlife. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.
Mendocino Woodlands State Park
The park sits in the heart of the redwood forest, nine miles east of Mendocino. Its 200 buildings were built by hand by unemployed skilled workers of the Federal Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The camps are preserved, to the degree possible, as when they were built in the late 1930's. Call 707-937-5755 for more information.
Navarro River Redwoods State Park
After winding over rolling hills and through the Anderson Valley, motorists traveling along Highway 128 suddenly enter an eleven-mile-long redwood tunnel to the sea. The redwood forest along the Navarro River is a magnificent sight. Visitors to the Navarro River Redwoods State Park can enjoy picnicking, swimming, and camping at the Paul M. Demmick campground. The park is popular with anglers, canoeists, and kayakers in the late winter and spring. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.
Russian Gulch State Park
This park is known for the heavily forested Russian Gulch Creek Canyon, a headland that features the Devil’s Punch Bowl (a large, collapsed sea cave with churning water), and a beach that offers swimming, tide pool exploring, skin diving and rock fishing. Inland, there is a 36-foot high waterfall. Hikers enjoy miles of hiking trails. The park also has a paved three-mile bicycle trail. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.
Van Damme State Park
Van Damme State Park consists of beach and upland on the Mendocino Coast. Of all park system units along the Mendocino coast, Van Damme is perhaps the richest in terms of historical resources connected with the redwood lumber industry. Its story is a prime example of the struggles and eventual failures of a small, independent lumber operation. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.
Westport-Union Landing State Beach
Westport Union-Landing State Beach covers over 3 miles of rugged and scenic coastline, with 100 campsites on the bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The magnificent vistas, sunsets and tree covered mountains in the background provide inspiring challenges to both amateur and professional photographers. Call 707-937-5804 for more information.