If I have a favorite California state park, Van Damme is it!

NorCal Coastal Parks camping for the win

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Choosing a favorite coastal California ​state park is like being at a buffet and trying to pick the best dish in a smorgasbord of deliciousness. But every time you try to decide, your go-to is staring at you like, ‘I thought we had something special.’"

Van Damme is that for me. We had actually been to Van Dam​me State Park several times​,​ since it’s an easy drive​ along famous Highway 1​ from our cottage​ on the Russian River.

 ​Van Damme is also three miles from Mendocino, a wonderful​ village in which ​to shop, dine, and browse.  Glass ​B​each in Fort Bragg​ is also nearby, and that is one of my favorite places on the planet since I am a ​s​ea glass ​aficionado!

Not supposed to take any of seaglass “sand” but watching the waves roll over it is fun!

​Van Damme State Park sits directly on Highway 1 outside of Mendocino. It’s well-maintained and has plenty of room for either tent camping or RVs. Reservations are recommended because it’s popular and there are only a few first-come, first-serve sites.

We like to stay in the lower RV parking area​ (there's more room on the bluff above the cove)​ so we can walk easily and cross Highway ​One on foot, arriving ​at the little​ half moon of beach that is part of the park for… You guessed it! Beach combing.​ 😃

Mike likes to fish off the rocks, and there are plenty of cod and other tasty treats to be​ caught in the area. (California Licenses required, FYI.) Once, we saw gray whales come right into that small bay, and it's a terrific spot for sunsets and kayaking.

The beach aside, Van Damme State Park is a lush bit of coastal rainforest, and at the back of the campground area,​ I recommend a favorite hike of 4.5 miles called​ Fern Canyon. You can also take a mountain bike on this wide trail that winds through the bottom of the canyon rimmed by ferns, alongside a gorgeous little stream filled with salamanders, frogs, and baby trout fry.​ 

Photo by Reed Geiger on Unsplash

If you continue all the way to the end, the hike winds up out of the canyon and into the ​Pygmy Forest; this grove of ancient conifer trees stunted by nutrient-free soil ​is not as fascinating or ​eye-catching as the name led me to imagine (a forest of bonsai trees!), but the grove of pygmy trees is unique. The trees are over a hundred years old, and a ​peaceful ​walk among them on a raised platform​ that's wheelchair accessible​ is easy​ and ​worth doing at least once, if just to scratch your head over the weird ways of nature.​

​With all the nearby interests, you could easily spend four or five days at Van Dam​me​ State Park doing one major activity per day plus wandering in the Fern Canyon or sunning on the nearby beach.

We have done both.

On this particular trip, ​returning to ​Van Damme felt like coming home to a familiar,​ well-known,​ and favorite personal garden of delights. 

Tired from our lengthy​ road trip, ​​close to home but not yet there, struggling with disappointment about not finding a ​house to buy in Oregon, we pulled into Van Damme, and set up the trailer, and went to bed early.

The next morning I woke with a lifting of spirits to be at this special park once again. ​Walking across Highway ​One with K​oa​ in the early morning fog​ was enchanting, and I was the only person on that lovely horseshoe ​of beach. Browsing among piles of kelp and ocean stones washed up by a surprise, unusual surf swell ​was fascinating (if a bit stinky.)​ 

I like to keep​ hermit crab homes in the ecosystem,​ but I enjoy finding shells and tossing them back. Some sort ​of blight has been killing the red abalones of coastal California, and among the washed-up kelp, I spotted several whole shells, a few with decaying meat inside. Thirty years ago, Mike used to dive for abalone on this coast, but access to that kind of fishing has been restricted for decades now due to the blight.

a dragon scale fallen to the sand…

Discovering a piece of abalone​ on a gray sand beach is a little like finding the scale of a​ rainbow space dragon that’s ​fallen on an ash heap; the beach at Van Damme is a good place to have that experience.

​The nearby village of ​Mendocino has a lot of special memories for me as well. I took my first independent step to become a writer by leaving​ a family vacation, booking myself a cabin, ​and staying in Mendocino for two weeks alone to finish my first novel, ​Blood ​Or​chids, back in 2008.

Walking ​the State Park ​bluff above the turquoise sea,​ with its waving arms of kelp and many kinds of wildflowers, ​continues to be one of the places where a soul can really sing.​ Adorable little shops, delicious eateries, and even a  quirky fabulous independent bookstore where I always go and buy something to support the establishment​ continue to be a treat worth doing.

I can’t say enough good things about Van Dam​me​ State Park and nearby Mendocino; put it on your bucket list and go​.