A couple of weeks ago we had a quick weekend getaway in Yorkville, Mendocino County–right by the Anderson Valley. Like most people during the pandemic, we have not been traveling internationally or anywhere that required a flight to minimize our risk for Covid. Instead we have chosen to explore areas close to home, and a weekend in Mendocino County was all we needed for a quick reset.
The way it works when we look to get away is we narrow down the area and then look for places on Airbnb that fit our budget and we go from there. This is how we found the cute cottage we stayed in. The highlight of this cottage was that there were two resident ducks living on the pond, and we were given food to feed them during our stay. This was definitely what the kids loved the most!
In case you are planning a getaway to the Anderson Valley or the Mendocino area, I wanted to share some of the things we did during our time there.
Hendy Woods State Park
This state park was a 45 minute drive from our Airbnb and it was an amazing place to visit. This park protects two groves of giant redwoods. Some of the trees are taller than 300 feet and more than 1,000 years old! There are five miles of trails in the park (including some wheelchair accessible ones!) that lead you through the fern-filled forest.
Living in Northern California, we are not new to redwoods, but the redwoods at Hendy Woods really took our breath away. We read that these amazing trees are indeed taller than the ones you find in the Bay Area, but not as tall as the ones in Humboldt County, which we’ll be visiting in a couple of weeks!
Big River Beach
We found out about this beach from the park ranger at Hendy Woods. She described it as a beautiful white-sand beach and she was spot on! Big River is a sprawling white sand beach beside the Big River estuary. The white sand was so fine and the water a crystal clear turquoise, it felt like we were in the Caribbean a little bit!
Mendocino Town
It was shocking to realize that we’d never been to Mendocino town before! We decided to fix that by going to town in search of a good ice cream place. The town was super cute and we could’ve probably spent some fun time exploring it. Because it was already late and we had to drive an hour back to our rental we grabbed ice cream at Frankie’s and then left.
Greenwood State Beach
We stopped at Greenwood State Beach on our way back to San Francisco and we all loved it! To reach the beach you have to hike down a dirt road for about a half mile. There’s lots of driftwood at the beach and several driftwood forts you can built onto. The kids loved it and we would definitely go back there! Oh, and there were picnic tables and a vault bathroom too.
Navarro River Redwoods State Park
On our way from Yorkville to the coast on Highway 128, and shortly after going through the Anderson Valley, you suddenly enter an 11-mile long stretch of towering redwood trees that takes you all the way to the ocean.
These second growth redwoods are as impressive as the ones we saw at Hendy Woods State Park, and they form a cathedral-like shape as they tower high up. The drive through the Navarro River Redwoods is a beautiful road to drive on (we drove it three times!) and to stop at for some amazing shots!
On our way from Hendy Woods to the coast, we stopped at the Navarro General Store for lunch. They have an outdoor grill and offer lots of delicious options. You can buy beer in the store and bring it out to the patio too if you want.
Apple Cider Tasting and Wine Tasting
We didn’t have a chance to do either of these, but we definitely plan on making it work next time we go to the Anderson Valley. We wanted to go apple cider tasting at Gowan’s the Sunday we checked out, but they opened at 11am and we wanted an earlier start in order to hit a few spots and still make it back home at a good time. Gowan’s Heirloom Ciders has been around since 1876 and they sounds like a great place! We did buy a bottle of their cider and it was delicious, making us want to go for a tasting even more!
We had the best time getting away for a weekend in Mendocino County. California really has some amazing places to visit and we are happy to be exploring more and more of them!
For more places to visit in California, click here.
