A diverse coastal reserve where a sheltered beach meets fern-filled river canyons, redwood groves, and a rare pygmy forest shaped by centuries of unique soil conditions.
Some facilities such as visitor centers operate limited seasonal hours
Camping and special use fees vary depending on site and season
How to Get There
From Mendocino (3 mi): Drive south on CA-1 for about 3 miles into Little River, where the park entrance sits along the highway with beach access on the west side and inland trails extending to the east.
Overview
The Van Damme State Park stretches across a remarkable landscape where coastal shoreline, river valley, and dense forest converge within a relatively compact area of Mendocino County. Encompassing more than 1,800 acres, the park includes a protected beach at the mouth of Little River and miles of trails that wind through lush fern-lined canyons beneath towering redwoods. Visitors can explore the quiet estuary by kayak, follow shaded hiking paths inland, or enjoy picnicking and wildlife viewing along the diverse terrain shaped by both ocean forces and freshwater ecosystems.
One of the park’s most captivating features lies further inland: a rare pygmy forest, where trees that would normally grow over 100 feet tall remain only a few feet high due to the highly acidic, nutrient-poor soil and underlying hardpan. This unusual environment creates a surreal, almost miniature landscape that contrasts sharply with the towering redwoods found elsewhere in the park. Established as a state park in the 1930s from land once owned by Charles Van Damme, the area today preserves both natural and historical elements, offering visitors a layered experience of geology, ecology, and coastal beauty.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia articles and official tourism pages for the Van Damme State Park, which are released under the https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.
