The greater part of the park lies on the inland side of State Route 1 and includes ten miles of hiking trails along the Little River and campsites rated by the Guardian as one of the ten best on the West Coast. Website Map. They can hike, jog, or bicycle the splendid Fern Canyon Scenic Trail beside Little River. This coastal gem is a 1/4 mile, wheelchair-accessible platform that winds its way through the mini forest and gets you up close to these strange trees.

It is an excellent place for the whole family to explore and is a beautiful example of the non-redwood trees in the area. This fascinating pygmy forest in Van Damme showcases unique forests of low, stunted trees and shrubs caused by a complex ecological condition associated with underlying wave terraces and their unusual soils. It is an easy short hike off If you are looking for the short 1/4 mile trail, then you will want to turn right (if you were heading north) off Pacific Coast Highway onto Little River Airport Rd. En-route camping is available for 1 night maximum stay and is for self-contained vehicles only. Even though the department has increased access across the State Park System, the need for Californians to slow the spread of COVID-19 in the outdoors remains critical.Van Damme campground is currently open to reservations only. It is fantastic to see the redwoods in the park below and come up here to see almost nothing taller than 10 feet though.Along the way, the trail has lots of signs that tell you about the different types of plants you are looking at.Also, as you wander through the woods, you will genuinely feel alone since the path is always bending around corners, and there were no other people where when we were.I did manage to see a tree that had been cut, and you can see the tree rings in the below picture.Here is Amie standing next to the tree to get a sense of size.I really enjoyed this short and beautiful stop on our road trip, even if the small plants were lost on me. This trail is beautiful, and I highly recommend it, but to the untrained eye like mine, I would not have known this was a pygmy forest if the sign hadn’t of said it.The trees in the area are small, but there are so many different types of plants to look at it is hard to know how old they are. Van Damme State Park is a haven for hikers of all ability levels where you can experience some diverse and spectacular scenery. The paved trail follows an old Civilian Conservation Corps road, which itself was built on an old oxen skid trail used to remove redwoods beginning back in the 1860s. California State Parks Mendocino Field Trip Reservation Request for K-12 Schools: Save the Redwoods League has helped permanently protect more than 150,000 acres in 37 of California State Parks redwood parks. After about 3 miles you will see a small sign that points you to a left hand turn into a small parking lot where you will meet up with the trail.You can also access this trail by driving through the park itself and then parking where the road ends and walking 2.4 miles through Fern Canyon to the Pygmy Forest. Van Damme State Park: Pygmy Forest - See 226 traveler reviews, 104 candid photos, and great deals for Mendocino, CA, at Tripadvisor. Van Damme State Park 8001 North Highway 1 Little River, CA 707.937.0851. Van Damme State Park: Great Hike to Pygmy Forest - See 226 traveler reviews, 104 candid photos, and great deals for Mendocino, CA, at Tripadvisor. If you have enjoyed the posts They can explore a pygmy forest. Coronavirus August 2020 Update: Please note that some information in the posts may have changed and some places may be closed. Pygmy Forest in Van Damme The trail at Van Damme is called the Pygmy Forest Discovery Trail. Have you ever wanted to see a forest of 100-year-old trees less than a few feet tall?