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Russian Gulch State Park, Mendocino, CA

Photo: David Eppstein, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped and resized.

Sports & Outdoors

Russian Gulch State Park

Coastal park near Mendocino with a redwood canyon, a 36-foot waterfall, and sea headlands.

Mendocino, CA

About Russian Gulch State Park

Russian Gulch State Park sits just north of Mendocino and combines a wooded canyon with windy coastal headlands and rocky beaches. A waterfall drops about 36 feet through redwoods and ferns. Along the shore, the Devil's Punchbowl is a collapsed sea cave where waves churn. The park has about 15 miles of trails, a photogenic bridge, and a beach cove used for swimming, diving, and fishing. Visitors also camp, hike, bike, and ride horses here.

  • #waterfall
  • #redwoods
  • #coastal headlands
  • #beach
  • #hiking

What's around here?

The closest stops to Russian Gulch State Park, ordered by straight-line distance. A few more like it, plus some different kinds of fun so you can build a full day.

  • Sightseeing

    Point Cabrillo Light Station State Historic Park

    Check prices

    A coastal state historic park on a Pacific headland, centered on a restored lighthouse and three original lightkeepers' houses.

    2.0 mi awaySwitch it up: Sightseeing

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Mendocino Headlands State Park

    No admission fee

    Coastal bluffs, trails, and beaches wrapped around the village of Mendocino, with a historic visitor center.

    2.2 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Caspar Headlands State Beach

    Check prices

    Largely undeveloped ocean beach on the Mendocino coast, popular for spotting whales and for fishing.

    2.9 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Van Damme State Park

    Check prices

    A Mendocino Coast state park with a beach, a fern-lined canyon trail system, and a pygmy forest of dwarfed cypress and pine.

    4.1 mi awayMore like this

  • Sports & Outdoors

    Mendocino Woodlands State Park

    Check prices

    A forested group camp and environmental center in the redwoods northeast of Mendocino, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

    4.5 mi awayMore like this

  • Tours
    Iconic

    Skunk Train

    $50+

    Historic excursion railroad running through redwood forest and along the Noyo River canyon from Fort Bragg.

    Transit: reachable by public transit

    7.8 mi awaySwitch it up: Tours

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