Pacific Coast Highway (page 4 of 5)

Points 11-16

11. Van Damme State Park
Proving that trees don't necessarily have to be tall to have presence, this park's pygmy forest -- mature pines and cypresses stunted by the combined effects of highly acidic soil, poor drainage, and wicked, salt-laden winds -- barely reach the knee in some locations. Still, not everything here is pint-size. A network of trails and old logging roads along the Little River leads into the heart of a mature, second-growth forest, featuring Douglas firs, Pacific hemlocks, and redwoods. Fern Canyon is especially lush, upholstered with a generous growth of ferns, assorted wildflowers, and a waterfall.

12. Mendocino
Gracious, picturesque, and charming in every way, this hamlet of 1,100 residents seems to have been imported from the coast of Maine. Saltbox houses, Victorian gingerbread mansions, and weathered picket fences grace its tidy streets.

The East Coast ambience is no accident: the town's settlers, lured west by the logging boom, were homesick New Englanders. Hollywood has used this Cape Cod look-alike as a stand-in for numerous movie and television locales. Fans of the television show Murder She Wrote, set in fictional Cabot Cove, Maine, are sure to recognize Jessica Fletcher's cottage when they pass by the Elisha Blair House, built in 1888.

13. Russian Gulch State Park
The next headland to the north marks the starting point for this small but diverse natural reserve, among the coast's most picturesque and remarkable. The park's main attraction is Devil's Punch Bowl, a 200-foot-long sea-cut tunnel that has collapsed at its inland end, forming a blowhole that becomes active during winter storms. The route crosses an arched bridge over Russian Gulch.

14. Jug Handle State Reserve
At this unusual oceanside park, it is possible to climb the stairs of history, one eon at a time. Thanks to coastal erosion and shifting landmasses, five discrete terraces stairstep from the sea, each about 100 feet higher and 100,000 years older than the one below it. With each step the ecology matures, ascending from tidal pools at the first level to pygmy forest at the top. A well-marked tour explains the flora and fauna at each level, as well as the mighty forces that built this living time machine.

15. Fort Bragg
Flower fans will rejoice at the dazzling displays at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens, two miles south of Fort Bragg. Not a single square inch of this 47-acre preserve is wasted, and each season brings a new riot of color, from blooming dahlias, foxgloves, and roses to blazing Japanese maples. There's nothing flashy about Fort Bragg (even the town's best eatery is named, simply, The Restaurant). But the village is not without its attractions, including a trip through the region's history at the Guest House Museum and a ride on the Skunk Train, an old-time logging railway that chugs through redwood forest to the town of Willits, 40 miles inland.

16. MacKerricher State Park
After hours of driving ever so slowly on this long, serpentine road, what could be more thrilling than to gallop freely along a wide crescent of sandy beach? For equestrians MacKerricher State Park is a rider's paradise, but you need not be on horseback to enjoy the beauty of this 2,200-acre preserve, the largest of Mendocino County's coastal parks and home to more than 90 species of birds. Along 10 miles of ocean frontage, cliffs, beach, and headland vie for control of the shore but never hold it for long. From the playful seals that bask on the rocks below Laguna Point to upland fields of tall grass, poppy, and huckleberry, all the gifts of the Pacific Coast are gathered here in one splendid package. Make the most of your visit: pack a picnic basket and spread a cloth on the grass overlooking the coves and bridges.

• • Road Trips

• Yosemite and Beyond
• Bejeweled with cliffs, domes, meadows, lakes, and waterfalls -- the legacy of bygone glaciers -- Yosemite National Park offers visitors a degree of beauty and variety that is truly mesmerizing.
• 
• Redwood Highway
• This one-of-a-kind highway unfurls amid the wonders of California's northern coast.
• 
• Nevada 93
• In a land of bewitching beauty, a mix of crinkled mountains and parched valleys contrasts with chilly caverns and a mammoth man-made lake.
• 
• Magnificent Mt. Rainier
• This gleaming colossus in the heart of Washington presides over miles of deep snowfields, flower-filled meadows, pristine streams, and lush evergreen forest.
• 
• Mt. Shasta-Cascade Loop
• This drive visits sky-shearing volcanoes, flourishing forests and wetlands that teem with life, and even otherworldly underground chambers.
• 
• More Great Road Trips!
•