Mendocino Headlands
Mendocino Headlands State Park · near Mendocino · North Coast
Hiking · Wildlife Watching
At a glance
- Difficulty
- easy
- Route type
- loop
- Distance
- 3.5 miles
- Elevation gain
- 100 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Year-round (whales winter/spring, wildflowers spring)
- Best season
- Dec–Apr for gray whales (peak migration); seabirds year-round
- Open year round
- Yes
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- No permit or fee. A bluff trail that wraps around the historic village of Mendocino on three sides above the sea.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 1 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Bluff trail around Mendocino village · Sea arches, coves & blowholes · Winter whale watching · Wildflowers & tide pools
- Wildlife
- whales · seals-otters · birds
- Species
- Gray whales (migration), harbor seals, ospreys, cormorants, brown pelicans
- Amenities
- Bluff-top whale-watching trails · Historic Point Cabrillo Light · Walkable from Mendocino village · Winter whale festival
- Best for
- Easy, scenic shore-based gray whale watching
- Features
- Gray whales from the bluffs · Point Cabrillo lighthouse · Charming village base · Spring & winter migration
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
- Hazards
- Unfenced bluff edges & sneaker waves · Cold wind & fog · Rocky, slippery trails · Keep back from seals & nesting birds
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- The trail loops right from the village, so you can walk out of town onto the bluffs — no separate trailhead needed. Winter and early spring are prime for whale watching from the headlands. Time it for stormy weather (safely, back from the edge) to see the blowholes and surf at their most dramatic.
Wildlife Watching detail
- Viewing
- shore
- Effort
- easy
- Habitat
- coast
- Sighting
- 4
- Viewing notes
- Dramatic bluff-top whale watching right from town — gray whales spouting just offshore during migration, plus harbor seals, seabirds, and a classic lighthouse headland
- Intl tip
- Accessible, scenic shore-based gray whale watching from the bluffs of Mendocino village and Point Cabrillo. Grays pass close twice a year — southbound Dec–Feb, northbound (with calves) Mar–Apr — plus harbor seals, ospreys, and pelicans, with a historic lighthouse and easy trails. Beginner- and family-friendly, no boat needed. Watch unfenced bluff edges and sneaker waves; expect wind and fog. Late winter to spring is best — bring binoculars and warm layers.
The guide
The Mendocino Headlands wrap the historic village of Mendocino on three sides with a nearly flat bluff-top trail above a specta…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Mendocino Headlands — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 39.307, -123.806