Location: Mendocino
Top Things to do in Mendocino
What to do and see in Mendocino, California (CA): The Best Free Things to do
Shop, eat, and enjoy the feeling of going back in time to a simpler era as you groove to the vibes of downtown Mendocino’s hippy past and quaint New England style architecture. Find a secluded bluff, and listen to seals splashing and barking. Visit the Mendocino Art Center, started by San Francisco artists in the 1950s. Enjoy a Mendocino Theater Company performance. Stop in historic Ford House, which doubles as city museum and Mendocino Headlands State Park visitors center. Mendocino Headlands State Park winds around Mendocino Bay, and is a wildlife corridor linking coast and inland areas. Savor the spring wildflowers. In July the Headlands and city are home to the Mendocino Music Festival. Groove to the ocean views, blowholes, wave tunnels, sea arches, grottos, and tide pools as you hike the beaches and cliff trails. Along the Mendocino Headlands Trail, watch for old cross-ties from the oxen-powered railway that dumped lumber to ships below the bluff. Drive 2 miles north of Mendocino to Russian Gulch State Park for rock fishing, swimming, skin diving, tide pools, bicycling, a 36-foot high waterfall, and a Devil's Punch Bowl of churning water. Savor spring rhododendron blooms at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens. Take the family on the half-day Skunk Train roundtrip from Fort Bragg to inland Northspur. Bird watch at Cleone Lake, a tidal lagoon in MacKerricher State Park, 3 miles north of Fort Bragg. Enjoy MacKerricher’s wheelchair accessible nature trail, Ten Mile beach, fishing, hiking, jogging, horseback riding, and bicycling. Take the kids to Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park. Tee off at the 5,458-yard, 9-hole coastal golf course at Little River Inn, which also offers llama treks. Take the family to Little River State Park and Van Damme Beach State Park, which are near Little River Airport (KLLR). Kids love the recently renovated Point Arena Lighthouse, because they can climb to the top.
Restaurants in Mendocino
1. Gallery Bookshop & Bookwinkle's Children's Books
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 70 reviews
This bookstore caters to adults and children.
Reviewed By 394kayen
This is the type of bookstore where I could spend hours browsing, but they kindly asked patrons to limit their time to 20 minutes. I quickly found the one book I was looking for and also discovered another that I had to read. They limit the number of people in the store during the pandemic and marked spots for the checkout line. This was my first time in a bookstore during the pandemic, and their precautions helped me feel like it was a safe experience. I appreciated the sign on the window requiring masks, along with one for Black Lives Matter.
2. Highlight Gallery
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 36 reviews
Dedicated to hand-crafted wooden furniture.
Reviewed By 659neald - Lincoln, United States
Travelled to Mendo, our favorite place in California, and visited Highlights gallery again. It is a must stop on Main street with so many high quality wood art pieces, wire scuptures, paintings, pottery and much more. Everything well displayed.
3. Mendocino Coast
Overall Ratings
5.0 based on 756 reviews
A scenic drive along California's Pacific coastline offering beaches, historic lighthouses and old-time fishing villages.
Reviewed By Martysfo - San Rafael, United States
Great cliffs, fog and quiet mark this coast. It is cold and chilly, even in August. Yet it is a must see so one can step back in time to how California used to be. A bonus is the trip up through the Anderson Valley Wine Region on the way to the coast from the Bay Area.
4. Jughandle State Reserve
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 131 reviews
This reserve is famous for its Staircase Trail
Reviewed By okayaway - Benicia, United States
great views on the ocean and hills. easy to find off of highway 1 and a few great easy hikes out to the ocean cliffs.
5. Big River
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 98 reviews
A beautiful estuary in which to observe nature.
Reviewed By KarinaL101
We walked down to this area where the river meets the ocean. People were surfing, paddle boarding and boating in kayaks. The beach area was immense.
6. Mendocino Headlands State Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 500 reviews
A scenic and appealing rugged promontory along the California coast.
Reviewed By Abacus3 - California, United States
Beautiful views and a lovely walk. It's also a great whale watching spot. Take your binoculars and a picnic, you'll want to stick around.
7. Mendocino Art Center
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 121 reviews
8. Ford House Visitor Center & Museum
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 91 reviews
The mid-19th-century home of Jerome Bursley Ford, the founder of Mendocino, today serves as a visitors center on the region.
Reviewed By Wickie2 - Concord, United States
Great overview of the history of the Mendocino area. All very interesting, including miniature model of the town.
9. Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 690 reviews
OPEN 365 DAYS a YEAR -- THERE IS NO FEE -- Built between 1908 and 1909, and extensively restored, it is one of the most complete Lightstations in the U.S. and hosts visitors, vacation rentals, receptions and weddings, plus education programs for classes of local students. There is a parking area inside the gate off Point Cabrillo Drive, adjacent to the restored Kearn farmhouse with its public restroom. Enjoy the half mile downhill walk to the Light Station buildings. There is parking for vehicles with Disabled placards at the bottom of the hill. There are two paths to the Station. The dirt path begins at the north end of the parking lot and takes you through the introduced grassland and coastal prairie. The paved access road to the south is an easier walk. The Light Station includes the Lighthouse, which is an active duty Aid to Navigation, containing the original Chance Brothers classic 3rd order Fresnel lens. -- Three restored Lightkeeper homes; the first is a period museum of a lightkeeper's house in the 1930s; the other two houses are comfortable vacation rental homes, -- The restored Blacksmith & Carpentry Shop houses the Marine Science Exhibit with its 240 gallon saltwater aquarium, -- Two lovely vacation rental cottages, and public restrooms, one by the lightkeepers houses and another in the Kearn farmhouse. THERE IS NO FEE to tour the Lighthouse museum/giftshop or the period museum lightkeeper's house, although your donations are welcome. The Lighthouse, 1st Assistant Lightkeeper's House and Marine Science Exhibit are open to the public from 11am to 4pm year-round, including holidays. The State Historic Park grounds are open from sunrise to sunset daily.
Reviewed By jam1015 - Rocklin, United States
This lighthouse is one of the few still having its original lens, as they are damaged, they are being replaced with LED's. Once you make the walk, wear comfortable shoes from the parking lot out to the lighthouse, you will be awarded with great views and treated to some wonderful history along with a marine exhibit. The docent at the lighthouse was the highlight super nice and shared so much with us.
