South of Mendocino at the mouth of the Little River, Van Damme State Park stretches for five miles along the coastal bluffs and beaches and includes some 1,800 acres of pine and redwood forest. The park’s unique attribute is the oddly contorted Pygmy Forest, a natural bonsai-like grove of miniature pines, cypress, and manzanita, with a wheelchair-accessible nature trail explaining the unique ecology; the trailhead is four miles east of Hwy-1. There’s also a small, very popular campground, and a visitors center (707/937-0851) housed in a New Deal–era recreation hall.
