overland

Trip Report - Mendocino BDT July 2025

This past weekend I had the incredible opportunity to lead a group of four awesome overlanders and three adorable pups through the Mendocino National Forest, as we adventured along the Mendocino Backcountry Discovery Trail. This was my first time leading a trip as an OTG Trail Ambassador and I couldn't have asked for a better group of like minded individuals as my first guinea pigs. Jeff, Ben, Rosa, and Wood were ready for any option thrown at them and were always on the same page as to where our next stop or place to swim, chill, or camp would be.

After meeting up in Upper Lake and going over the game plan we hit the road. Our first stop would be for a nice dip in the Eel River. On our way out Ben spotted a rattlesnake in the bushes right near our rigs. I took a few pictures of it but none of them came out. :( IMG_8040.JPG

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From there we continued on past Lake Pillsbury. We didn't see any elk, as it was already nearing 90 degrees and any self respecting elk would be bedded down in the shade somewhere, but here's a picture from a previous trip of Lake Pillsbury elk just to prove they actually do exist.
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After Lake Pillsbury we began our ascent up into the Mendo National Forest. Next stop on our agenda was the look-out just below Hull Mountain.

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It was nearing time to stop for the day so we stopped at a nice spot near Grizzly Flats to camp for the night. We were treated to an amazing sunset and an incredible almost full moon, stained red by the smoke from a distant prescribed burn. IMG_8073b.JPG IMG_8076.JPG IMG_8077.JPG IMG_8086.JPG IMG_8089.JPG
 
On day two we packed up camp a little earlier than planned and headed North. We had extra fuel available so we skipped the out and back to Covelo and instead opted for a refreshing dip in the Eel River again. I didn't get any pictures from that stop, but I promise it happened. We continued North and made a stop at Little Doe Campground for lunch. We skipped the out and back to Howard Lake because I had scoped it out 2 weeks prior and it was very overgrown and there was only one decent spot to chill by the lake, and if that spot happened to be taken then it wasn't worth the extra time.

I think it was a good call because we spent that extra time at our next stop near the end of M1. It was an amazing stop and I can't believe I only took one picture. I guess it was because I was too busy enjoying an ice cold beverage and having a dip in an ice cold waterfall pool in the middle of a hot ass day.

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From there we meandered East, then South, making a few stops along the way until it was time to camp for the night. We checked out Green Springs Camp, Sugar Springs, a few dispersed sites, then ultimately settled on Well's Cabin CG.

We packed up on the morning of day three and said our goodbyes to Jeff and Ben who had to hit the road for their almost 6 hour drive back home....but not before I could take some rig/owner shots. Unfortunately I always end up taking these shots in terrible lighting. 🤦‍♂️

Jeff and his son, Ben.
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Rosa, Wood, and myself weren't quite done with our adventure yet so we decided to head up to the top of Anthony Peak and check out the fire look-out.

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After Anthony Peak we went to go check out Atchison Campground then the Keller Place Historic Cabin. Atchison campground is open but in the middle of a burn zone so there is no shade and we never did see Keller Place cabins or any remnants of them.

We finished off our trip by having a quick stop at Plaskett Meadows then heading back West to end our trip in Covelo.

Wood, Rosa, Jeff, and Ben - Thank you so much for joining me on this little adventure. It was a pleasure spending the weekend with the four of you and I hope our paths can cross again soon!
 
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Glad everyone had fun out there! I'm long overdue to hit my local forest... Mendocino. Probably going to head that way next month ;)
 
Thank you for the report! I'm looking at doing a loop out there in a few weeks, I was thinking about trying to make it a loop from Upper Lake, going up the route to Anthony Peak, then coming back down either on M3 all the way down to M10 then back to M1 at Penny Pines, or M3 to M6 down to Bloody rock and on out to Lake Pillsbury. @Rock Hopper or @OTG Ben any chance you know the status of M3/M6/M10 along there? I did see a separate post from @seldredg that there was a washout and tree down on M3 this spring, so maybe that wouldn't be the best way to go?
 
@ahavner_-5859 We did a large portion of the Mendocino Grand Circuit last week, which actually covers a lot of the ground you've touched upon. M6 and M10 are definitely clear, but we didn't get a chance to do M3. However, all of the M roads within the forest are major roads and are typically prioritized by forest engineers for maintenance, so there's a very strong chance M3 is clear unless there was a recent blowdown or washout. You can always call the corresponding ranger district to get the info, but it's been harder and harder to get ahold of these people since the Forest Service was hit hard by government cuts earlier this year.

https://www.overlandtrailguides.com/post/mendocino-grand-circuit
 
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