Mendocino Vacation Rental Cottage - Rates and Reservations

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The Barn

Dirk's Place

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We are surrounded by incredible natural beauty easily accessible by bike, canoe, kayak, and by foot. Within ten miles you'll find five State Parks: Mendocino Headlands, Van Damme, Russian Gulch, MacKerricher, and the Mendocino Woodlands. Also, there are two State Reserves nearby: Caspar Headlands and Jug Handle. Each of these Parks and Reserves has numerous easy to moderately hard hiking trails including the Russian Gulch Waterfall Trail, Mendocino Woodlands Trails, and the Observatory Point Trail. If you'd like to get back in touch with nature, this is a great place to start.

In the aerial photograph immediately below, The Barn location is indicated by the "+" notation in the upper left portion of the image. The picture as a whole shows the westernmost portion of the Mendocino Headlands State Park with Goat Island in the foreground.

Just a few steps outside the gate to The Barn put you on the walking/hiking paths of the State Park.

The Town of Mendocino is on a stubby peninsula bordered on the north, south, and west sides by the Pacific Ocean. If you choose to walk the entire path around town along the edge of the headlands, it'll take an hour or maybe a little more. You'll see two wonderful beaches and some of the most beautiful coastline anywhere. If you plan your walk to end at the southeast side of town, you'll wind up at Big River Beach with it's unspoiled white sand, driftwood, and huge sand bar when the tide and weather are right.

Big River Beach (shown below in the second aerial photograph) is never crowded. There's plenty of room for volley ball, Frisbee, surfing, boogeyboarding, bodysurfing, fishing, beachcombing, and all the other things that make beachgoing fun including a late night beach party with a bonfire.

If you keep walking east past Big River Beach, you will pass along the north shore of Big River into the 7000 acres of newly added Park Land. You can rent canoes and kayaks on the south side of the river at "Catch-A-Canoe and Bicycles Too" if you would like to continue your exploration by water. There is also an old logging road (now a bicycle/foot path, no motorized vehicles) on the north side of the river if you prefer to continue exploring on dry land.

Either way, you can go inland along or on the river for many miles. You'll find ruins from past logging days, an old quarry, otters, seals, herons, ospreys, kingfishers, hawks, deer, turtles, and more. Be aware that cougars, bobcats, and bear have also been spotted along the river beginning at about 4 miles inland.

The aerial photograph immediately to the right shows the mouth of big river and the southern part of Big River Beach. The "+" indicator in the upper left portion of the image marks the approximate woodland setting of Dirk's Place. It's about a four or five block walk (or drive) from Dirk's Place to Mendocino town shopping or Big River Beach. The woodland setting on a residential street provides a nice buffer to the summertime hustle and bustle of central Mendocino.

When it comes to kayaking or canoeing, within ten miles or so of the Cottages, and their easy access to Big River, you will find Little River (Van Damme State Park Beach), Albion River, Navarro River, Noyo River and Pudding Creek for your paddling enjoyment. There's also a great big ocean for the hearty. You can bring your own canoe/kayak or rent them on Big River, Noyo River, or during the summer at Little River and other spots along the oceanfront.

Mendocino transformed itself into an art colony during the '60s and '70s after the lumber mill closed. The Mendocino Art Center (a school, gallery, and resource center) was founded and many artists lived and worked in town. Galleries sprang-up and fine dining followed quickly. Today, Main Street Mendocino and its offshoots offer some of the finest art and dining in the country. The best approach is to just explore the Town yourself. You'll find oils, watercolors, acrylics, sculpture, jewelry, and fine woodworking in top tier galleries as well as in the studios of working artists. And, dining can be truly exceptional. You don't want to miss crab and salmon seasons. The fact is, many people come to Mendocino just to eat!

Village Life is one of the most pleasurable things about visiting Mendocino for a few days or so. There's Mendosas Market and Hardware store for most of the things you might need; also a fish market, health food store, farmer's market in the summer, a couple of great bakeries, liquor and wine stores, bank and teller machine. All are easy walking distance of one another.

Your hosts thoroughly enjoy living the village life and participating in the local activities in Mendocino and its surroundings. We will be delighted to share our experiences with you and offer suggestions for your own enrichment.