Big River Estuary
Mendocino · near Mendocino · North Coast
Kayaking & SUP
At a glance
- Best season
- Year-round · Best May–October · Plan with tides — call ahead (707-937-0273)
Permits and booking
- Permit
- No permit required. Free public put-in on north side of Big River Bridge (Hwy 1). Catch a Canoe launch is on south side — rental customers launch there. All adjacent land is Mendocino Headlands State Park.
What is here
- Wildlife
- Harbor seals · River otters · 130+ bird species · Coho salmon · Steelhead · Ospreys · Great Blue Herons
Worth knowing
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Kayaking & SUP detail
- Nickname
- THE FIND — California's Longest Undeveloped Estuary
- Water types
- estuary
- Exposure
- sheltered
- Sup friendly
- Yes
- Wetsuit
- Recommended — ocean water averages 52°F, estuary slightly warmer · Spring suit at minimum
- Tidal note
- Critical: Big River's first 8 miles are tidal. Paddle upstream on the incoming (flood) tide, return on the outgoing (ebb) tide. Call Catch a Canoe before arriving to plan your departure timing. Ebbing tide near the river mouth can be dangerously fast.
- Intl tip
- Mendocino town sits on a headland directly above the estuary mouth — Victorian architecture, world-class restaurants, and galleries that have attracted artists for 70 years. The Stanford Inn's Ravens Restaurant (vegan fine dining, consistently reviewed as one of the best restaurants on the NorCal coast) is steps from Catch a Canoe. Montgomery Woods, 15 miles inland on Comptche-Ukiah Road, has old-growth redwood groves including some of the tallest trees on earth — combine Big River paddling with Montgomery Woods for a complete Mendocino day.
The guide
This is the one most Bay Area residents have never heard of — and it's three hours up Highway 1. Big River is California's long…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Big River Estuary — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.3044, -123.7968