Northern California Overland Advice (Lost Coast+Mendocino)

[CAchief]

Hi everyone!

I'm planning a trip up to the North Coast next week and am seeking some advice.

I'll be traveling with my wife, two kids (6 & 4) and dog from central California and the plan is to get to Fort Bragg, play at the beach and camp at Jackson Demonstration State Forest. The next morning, head to USAL for camp, a place I've been twice before. From there, we'll roughly be following the OTG Lost Coast 4x4 route and staying at either AW Way or Matthole Beach. We'll skip Eureka and continue on the OTG "Alternative Route" through the Avenue of the Giants.

I don't want to camp in the State Park due to the crowds and was planning to continue heading down the 101 and was curious if someone could recommend a quiet place to camp in the Mendocino National Forest not too far from the 101? I've looked at the OTG route but am having trouble deciding the best place to enter.

Any advice is much appreciated!

(CC @Dylan Pankow

 

[OTG Ben]

It'll probably be a challenge to snag a spot at Humboldt Redwoods if you haven't done so already! From Ave of Giants, getting over to Mendocino NF is a bit of a drive. It's a good hour from the 101 out to Black Butte and Eel River to put things in perspective, so probably 2 hours from the southern terminus of Ave of Giants. Let me drop some recommendations, and if any sound interesting I can share more details.

- Cow Mountain east of Ukiah
- Eel River / Potter Valley NE of Ukiah
- Black Butte River / Eel River by Covelo
- Ruth Lake - six rivers NF --> East of Ave of Giants, quite honestly, I think the drive through Bull Flat on Mattole Road is more impressive than ave of giants. You could take the Ave of Giants section north and hop on the 36 to Ruth Lake

 

[CAchief]

Hi @OTG Ben! Thanks for the reply. We just got back from the trip and we ended up actually staying in a hotel in Santa Rosa the last night which worked out nicely. It allowed for the family to spend more time at the Eel River Swimming area for the end of our trip. I had thought about getting to Red Mountain Campground as it didn't seem too far out of the way, but the rising temperatures dicourcaged me. I'll definitely look into your recommendations for the next trip.

We had a great time and I'll add a trip report shortly, but not sure I could add more than your wonderful post from last month.

Edit to add: You are absolutely right, the drive through Bull Flat was incredible. I remember you mentioning this on a previous post and it ended up being our lunch spot before swimming.

 

[aarencob-738]

- Cow Mountain east of Ukiah
- Eel River / Potter Valley NE of Ukiah

Hi Ben - I'm getting ready to do the Lost Coast Route starting Thursday morning (heading up from Fresno CA).

Day 2 we're staying at Mattole Beach and then I'm going to switch to route #2 to head through Mattole road into Humboldt Redwoods SP. The state park campgrounds are full at Albee and Burlington, do you mind sharing more about some options at Cow Mountain and/or Eel River? Looks like Ukiah is south which will be on my way back to Fresno (heading home Sunday morning).

 

[OTG Ben]

Hey @aarencob-738

I'd recommend seeing if you can find anything on Hipcamp, as I know there are a few camps along that corridor of 101. Some other options you may consider looking into:

Van Duzen County Park: A bit north of Humbolt Redwoods and right on the river. I believe it's first come first serve (no advanced reservations allowed), but most non-locals don't know about the park.

AW Way County Park: This county park is on the mattole river and has huge campsites in a large meadow. Also first come first serve, it's about 15 minutes inland of Mattole Beach new Honeydew. It pretty much always has available sites.

Trout Creek / Eel River: PGE Runs a campground on the eel river near Potter Valley on the way to Mendocino NF. I'd check this out before cow mountain, which is hot and dry.

Eel River / Soda Creek: You can camp right on the banks of the eel river here (undeveloped), but it depends if PGE has the gate open. You have to drive all the way up towards the damn, and then come down from the top. You'll pass Trout Creek along the way.

39.407242, -122.990879​

Other Options in the viscinity include Ruth Lake, and you could probably also find some dispersed camping around Black Lassic in Six Rivers NF. Jackson Demonstration Forest and Navarro River Beach are also great options along the Mendocino Coast near the town of Mendocino.