Just a few minutes south of the Inn lies Van Damme State Park, and it may be the most variety you can pack into one easy outing anywhere on the Mendocino coast. In the space of a single morning, you can walk through a deep, fern-choked canyon that feels positively prehistoric and then stand among a forest of ancient trees no taller than you are. It's the kind of place that reminds you how strange and wonderful this stretch of coast really is — and it's gentle enough that nearly anyone can enjoy it.
Two Worlds in One Morning Hike
The Fern Canyon Trail is the star. It follows a gentle creek inland through a steep-sided ravine so thick with sword ferns that the light turns green and the air goes cool and damp. The first stretch is flat, wide, and family-friendly — a former logging road, in fact — so it's perfectly doable with little ones or anyone wanting an easy amble. Listen for the creek, watch for banana slugs on the path, and let the canopy close in overhead. On a warm summer day, it's a natural air-conditioned escape.
A wooden boardwalk winds through a stunted forest of miniature, gnarled cypress and pine trees under an open sky — Brewery Gulch Inn & Spa.
The Pygmy Forest: full-grown trees, decades old, no taller than a person.
Push a little farther — or drive up to the upper trailhead if you'd rather skip the climb — and you'll reach one of the coast's true curiosities: the Pygmy Forest. Here, a quirk of soil and drainage has produced a stand of mature, decades-old cypress and pine that stand only knee- to shoulder-high. A tidy boardwalk loops through it with interpretive signs explaining the science, and there's something quietly humbling about strolling among ancient trees you can look down upon. It's a wonderful lesson in how dramatically a landscape can change over a very short distance.
The two trails bookend the park, and the beach at the entrance ties it all together. The little cove where the creek meets the sea is sheltered and calm — a popular launch for kayakers and a fine spot to simply sit on the sand. On summer weekends you'll often find an outfitter renting boats right there, so you can add an hour of easy paddling to your morning without any planning at all. Tide pools appear at low water, full of anemones and hermit crabs for curious eyes.
A few practical notes from us: wear shoes that can handle a little mud, since the canyon stays damp even in summer, and bring a light layer — the ravine runs cool. There's a small day-use fee at the park, and the lots can fill on busy weekends, so an earlier start is your friend. Pack water and a snack and you can easily stretch the visit into a half-day, pairing the canyon, the pygmy forest, and the beach into one satisfying loop.
Know Before You Go
For families especially, Van Damme is a gift, because it packs genuine wonder into distances and difficulty levels that even small legs can manage. Children are endlessly captivated by the banana slugs and the miniature trees, and the interpretive signs along the Pygmy Forest boardwalk turn the outing into an effortless nature lesson. If you'd like to extend the morning into a fuller day, the park connects to a network of longer trails for the more ambitious, and the beach at the entrance is a fine place to picnic, beachcomb, or simply watch the kayakers come and go. Photographers will find the canyon's filtered green light and the bonsai-like pygmy trees irresistible, though both reward patience and a steady hand in the low light. We'd suggest going earlier rather than later, both for parking and to have the trails to yourself and pairing the visit with a stop in the nearby village of Little River or a drive down the coast. However you shape it, Van Damme is the kind of low-effort, high-reward outing that tends to become a favorite memory of a Mendocino stay.
What we love most about Van Damme is how much it delivers for how little it asks. There's no gruelling climb, no special gear, no long drive — just a short hop from our door to a pocket of the coast that feels genuinely wild and a little magical. It's the perfect first-morning outing to set the tone for a Mendocino stay, and an easy one to fall back on if the fog lingers and you want a sheltered, green place to wander. Ask us at check-in and we'll point you straight to the trailhead. Reserve your stay and let the exploring begin.
~ Words by the BGI Innkeepers