Page 197 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SPRING 2025 GRAND VOYAGE

from home, I could walk just a block to wan-
der Mendocino Headlands State Park, a 347-
acre greenbelt that literally surrounds the
town. Local residents made sure it is pre-
served, fighting off development and form-
ing the park in 1974. The desire to preserve
the past is a big thing that makes Mendocino
so special.
Just a bit north of the headlands park
is Russian Gulch State Park where the grand
Frederick W. Panhorst Bridge rises 100 feet
above the oceanside gulch. Trails here on ei-
ther side of the bridge climb up to afford
fantastic views from forest to sea. I took the
South Trail and wandered through the fern
forest.
Van Damme State Park was another
wander through a deep green fern forest.
Winding along the Little River, this park also
features a unique forest of pygmy cypress
trees. A trail guide offers trail markers that
reveal nuggets of social and natural history
here.
The guide reveals that the Pomo peo-
ple were the natives who thrived here for
thousands of years. A redwood cone marker
shares that the Pomo created stools, boxes,
paddles, dugout canoes and fishing tools
from the mighty redwood tree. Pomo also
used redwood bark and root fibers to make
baskets.
Heading north another day I found
Jug Handle State Natural Reserve where a
2.5-mile nature trail explores redwood and
cypress forests that lead to some ancient
marine terraces cut by ocean waves, glaciers
and tectonic actions a half-million years ago.

Left: The town of Mendocino has been
rigorously preserved by its residents. Right,
top and bottom: The Nicholson House,
where I stayed, dates from 1890 and now
offers nine luxe rooms and suites.

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