Van Damme State Park

we arrived on thanksgiving evening without reservations. The campground was full, so we pulled into the Day Use Lot across the highway along the beach. Same price to camp, dry camping only, in a parking lot, but we had the entire lot to ourselves. We were able to run the generator for a few minutes without bothering anyone. Some road noise, but more wave action, so very relaxing. The only caveat is vacate by 9 am. Great for a stopover without planning ahead.

We arrived on the coast with no reservations on thanksgiving evening. The campground has a sign that there were sites available, but it was full, so we pulled into the day use lot across the highway along the beach and had an ocean front parking spot, dry camping, and when the evening fires went out and people went home, we were literally the only ones there.

The limit is one night, out by 9 am. It was perfect for a stopover. We had to fire up the generator for a few minutes, but nobody was around. There was some road noise, but more wave action balanced that out.

This is a lovely location right across the highway from the beach. You can actually camp in the beach parking lot of you wish but I would not unless absolutely necessary.

Staff was very friendly, plenty of space. It is three miles from Mendocino and 15 minutes from Fort Bragg.

Lots of beautiful coastline to see.
Staff was very friendly and helpful, grounds were very clean.

Since it is on the coast the grounds are usually wet in the morning and in the shade.
There is no services at all except a dump station with a $10 charge and strangely a electric car charging station.

Van Damme State Park made the perfect base camp for our time in the Mendocino area! We stayed in the first loop campground in site one, the closest site to the beach. Van Damme Beach is under a five minute walk from this campground area.

The sites are nice sized, the staff is amazing and very helpful, bathrooms were clean, shower pressure was great, and the park has WiFi. Which is good since there is basically no cell reception in most areas of the campground. However, you can get some cell reception near the beach and in Mendocino. The park WiFi can be intermittent and is best close to the visitor center.

Since we were dry camping and our site was partially shaded by beauty forest (some sites get more sun than others), we did have to seek sunny spots for our solar during the day. Which is easy to do in the Mendocino area. We spent our days enjoying beautiful sunny scenic spots to "office." We day camped at Headlands State Park, Russian Gulch State Park, Big River Park, and scenic overlooks. Some of these also provided better cell reception.

Headlands State Park is not to be missed! It has scenic easy walking/hiking trails, whale watching certain times of the year (we saw many grey whales), seasonal flowers, breathtaking bluff views, and impressive sunsets! It is about three miles from Van Damme.

Russian Gulch State Park is less than six miles from Van Damme and also worth exploring! You can also camp there overnight. On our visit there was no WiFi and very little cell reception. The trails are easy and take you to out to the bluffs, give you great views of the bridge, the beach, and the sink hole.

Mendocino is magical and worth exploring! The town itself is adorable with Victorian houses, shops, and yummy places to eat.

Oh, and if you enjoy light houses, be sure and visit Point Cabrillo Light Station.

Great winter camping spot. Only the first loop of campsites were available during the winter season, we only shared the campgrounds with two other vehicles.

Separate dump station, water and water spigots available otherwise this is dry camping but with excellent wifi!

Lovely trails and short walk to the beach. Dog trails available just outside of the park.
We would definitely stay there again.

We visited this park without our Airstream and tent camped for 4 nights. All of the staff was friendly and the bath house facilities were decent. There is a really great hiking trail through the redwoods to the pigmy forest. Cross the road and you can be sitting on a small beach. Easy drive into town for provisions. We really enjoyed our stay here. Rumor has it, it books up quick, so plan ahead. There is ZERO cell service at the campground, but decent service in town.

Close to Mendocino and Fort Bragg, this campsite was quiet and beautiful. You can stay on the ground loop with a running brook behind you or go up the hill to group sites or sites surrounding a huge green space. This state park is across the street from a popular Abilone fishing beach so you'll see lots of snorkelers and divers. There are a ton of hiking trails as well as world class mountain biking. Check out a book by Roo Harris for mountain biking routes in this area. There is no internet access. It's a windy but doable road to get here.