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Photo: Allie Caulfield, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
One of only a handful of public gardens with ocean frontage in addition to more 47 acres of manicured gardens, fern-ringed ponds, intimate pocket gardens, coastal pine forests, and wildflower-strewn bluffs at the ocean’s edge. The mild maritime climate of the Mendocino Coast offers ideal growing conditions for rhododendrons, heaths and heathers, dahlias, heritage roses, succulents, conifers, and many other plants. The gardens host an annual Festival of Lights in November.
The Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens (MCBG) are located on 47 acres in Mendocino County, California, 2⁄3 mile (1.1 km) south of Fort Bragg, between California's Shoreline Highway and the Pacific Ocean. The garden property includes canyons, wetlands, coastal bluffs and a closed-cone conifer forest.
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Todd's Point Pedestrian & Bike Trail
Very convenient place to do some whale watching or just stroll along the bluffs and watch boats travel in and out of the harbor.
Ecological Staircase Trail
A one-of-a-kind natural feature, the park offers a 5-mile loop trail that travels through three distinct steps of a natural terrace created by tectonic plate activity. Each step has been lifted from beneath the ocean 100,000 years after the next higher step showing the process by which newly exposed continental accretion areas are converted to fertile, productive areas for plants and animals. The loop begins and ends at Jug Handle beach from the lowest step which is mostly coastal prairie, to the second with its young redwood forest, up to the oldest step which emerged before modern humans evolved and showcases a rare pygmy forest of conifers and coastal shrubs that rarely grow taller than 10-12 ft due to the highly acidic soil and lack of adequate drainage.
A large collection of scientific experiments, wooden animals, geological samples, paintings, writings, and personal objects collected by Larry Spring, a creative thinker and inventor who died in 2009.
Artifacts and pictures telling the history of the forest products industry on the Mendocino Coast.
Skunk Train
The California Western Railroad ran between Fort Bragg and Willits before the collapse of Tunnel No. 1 halted end-to-end rail traffic; 2 hour half-trips from the Willits depot to the Northspur junction and back and 1 hour excursions from the Fort Bragg depot to the Glen Blair junction and back still run during the summer. Nicknamed the "Skunk Train" because it ran on gasoline engines (rather than diesel), with the corresponding odor of long-chain hydrocarbons washing over most of the town center when it would open the throttle to build momentum for departure. While the railroad attempts to finance the tunnel's reconstruction, rentals of "railbikes" are offered allowing patrons to pedal (with electric assist) 3.5 miles along the track from the Fort Bragg depot and back in guided groups safely.
Catch a full symphony performance at the beautiful Cotton Auditorium or one of the many regular opus concerts at various venues both indoor and outdoor (like the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens). With regular guest conductors and musicians from the greater Bay Area contributing to the vast and storied local talent you're sure to have a wonderful experience. $25 for the full concerto with several themed selections (and often a free pre-show guest lecture), typically 1-2 hours.