Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Information
Ford House Museum & Visitor Center
TOURIST INFORMATION
Maps, books, information and exhibits, including a scale model of 1890 Mendocino.
Jug Handle State Reserve
Between Mendocino and Fort Bragg, Jug Handle preserves an
ecological staircase
that
you can view on a 5-mile (round-trip) self-guided
nature trail
. Five wave-cut terraces as-
cend in steps from the seashore, each 100ft and 100,000 years removed from the previous
one, and each with its own distinct geology and vegetation. One of the terraces has a
pygmy forest
, similar to the better-known example at Van Damme State Park. Pick up a
printed guide detailing the area's geology, flora and fauna from the parking lot. The re-
serve is also a good spot to stroll the headlands, whale-watch or lounge on the beach. It's
easy to miss the entrance; watch for the turnoff, just north of Caspar.
Jug Handle Creek Farm & Nature Center
( 707-964-4630;
www.jughandlecreekfarm.com
; tent sites $14, r & cabins adult $45, student $38; )
is a nonprofit
39-acre farm with rustic cabins and hostel rooms in a 19th-century farmhouse. Call ahead
about work-stay discounts. Drive 5 miles north of Mendocino to Caspar; the farm is on the
east side of Hwy 1. Take the second driveway after Fern Creek Rd.
Fort Bragg
In the past, Fort Bragg was Mendocino's ugly stepsister, home to a lumber mill, a scrappy
downtown and blue-collar locals who gave a cold welcome to outsiders. Since the mill
closure in 2002, the town has started to reinvent itself, slowly warming to a tourism-based
economy. What to do with the seaside mill site is the talk of the town, running the gamut
from ideas like a marine research center or university to commercial ones like a condo de-
velopment. The town itself has little say since, including projected acquisitions, it will
hold under 100 acres of the 415-acre site; the rest is owned by Georgia Pacific, which is
owned by Koch Industries, which is majority owned by the Koch brothers.
