With the coronavirus pandemic still at large, more people are opting for road trips over plane rides. The best part about living in the Bay Area is that there are a lot of wonderful weekend getaway options available. I’m a creature of comfort which means I’m always looking for at least 3-star hotels when I’m traveling for fun. Hostels, car camping, backcountry backpacking — sorry, not the right girl for you.
That said, I stepped outside of my comfort zone and tried glamping for the first time a few years ago during my “funemployment” period. So while I didn’t go during the summer (or even during the weekend!) my experience at glamping in Mendocino would still be relevant to my readers. In fact, you’ll have an even better time than I did since it’s definitely less cold during the summer nights!
I met up with Lisha for the first time offline when she picked me up for our road trip up to Mendocino. We’ve been following each other on Instagram for a while now and planned the entire trip over DM. It’s kind of crazy to think that a decade ago you’d never do something like go on a road trip for days with a virtual stranger. What interesting times we live in!
How to Get There
If you’re driving from San Francisco, you have two options for getting to Mendocino — the longer scenic route or the faster typical highway route. Taking Highway 1 allows you to enjoy the many scenic spots along the way and will take you around 5 hours.
Warning for those susceptible to motion sickness: The road can get quite windy so make sure you’re prepared with some ginger candy or motion sickness medicine.
Taking US-101 will be much faster and allow you to arrive at your destination around 3 hours later. While much less scenic, you can make pitstops at supermarkets or fast food chains for restroom breaks and snacks.
Personally, we opted for the best of both worlds: we took the scenic route to Mendocino and then the faster route back to the city.
Where to Stay
There are quite a few accommodation options in the Mendocino County vicinity from glamping sites to upscale resorts. Some of the more traditional resorts we considered included:
- The Stanford Inn & Resort
- A pet-friendly ocean-view destination resort on the Mendocino Coast. They offer a variety of private classes & sessions from cooking and meditation to yoga and mushroom foraging.
- The resort also has a saltwater swimming pool, dry sauna, hot tub, showers, and lounging areas among the plants.
- Heritage House Resort & Spa
- Perched on 37 acres above the Pacific Ocean, this upscale hotel is a minute’s drive from Highway 1 and 2.4 miles from Van Damme Beach.
- Their rooms are set across several buildings and most feature ocean views. Room amenities include mini-fridges, microwaves, free Wi-Fi, 42-inch flat-screen TVs, and designer bath products. Some rooms have balconies or private decks, separate sitting areas, and rainfall shower heads.
- The on-site restaurant serves local farm-to-table cuisine.
In the end, we decided that we wanted a less traditional experience and stayed at Mendocino Grove, a pet-friendly 37-acre modern campground with luxury tents that allowed us to experience all the romance of camping without the hassle of tent wrangling and gear.
The Glamp Site
Mendocino Grove has Safari-style tents grouped into 6 neighborhoods of 8-10 tents per location and sizes range from 12′ x 14′ to 16′ x 20′. All sites have a fire pit, picnic table and situated on a wooden platform with leather butterfly chairs on the deck.
Each tent comes fully outfitted with heated beds, down comforters, crisp cotton linens, lanterns, and more. There is limited electricity for powering the bedside lamps and heated mattress pads. The bedside lamps have a USB port for charging compatible devices.
Firewood is available for sale at $10/bundle and you can ask the Camp Fire Valet to take the hassle out of building and starting your fire! The complementary service is available from 3 pm – 9 pm.
Also available for rent are “Camp Boxes“ that include table cloth, sets of plates, drinking glasses, mugs, bowls, eating & cooking utensils, paper towel, olive oil, a salt & pepper mill, a frying pan, and a pot. Camp Boxes are $75 for two people and $100 for four.
The Campground
The Meadow Commons is where you can get your morning coffee & chocolate from 7:30 – 10 am, gather with friends for a good board game, or relax in a hammock.
Mendocino Grove offers a 24-hour complimentary tea bar and lights the campfire daily for folks to unplug with a book from their lending library.
Nicely lit and stocked with EO Marin bath products, extras like fresh flowers, and oversized stalls for family clean-up, The Bathhouse is centrally located and sure to be a well-visited destination during your stay. There’s even a dog wash available for your pets to get cleaned up after a busy day in the wild!
Where to Eat
Mendocino Grove is a short 5 min drive away from the small town of Mendocino, which has a number of local eateries and supermarkets for those who want to cook or grill at the fire pit by their tents. Fort Bragg, about 15 min drive by car, has more national chain brands like Starbucks and food options than Mendocino.
Over the weekend, we opted for a mix of all three — A quick dinner takeout from Frankie’s in Mendocino the first night, some s’mores making ingredients from the nearby market, and then a more luxurious sit-down dinner at Fort Bragg our last day.
- Frankie’s: A quaint, family-run pizzeria serving specialty pies, salads & organic falafel, plus ice cream & beer.
- Mayan Fusion: A cozy restaurant serving Yucatán-inspired Mexican cooking such as pork tamales & codfish tacos. I highly recommend trying out this spot. It was absolutely delicious!
Things to Do
- Mendocino Village: The town of Mendocino is both vibrant and beautifully preserved with gorgeous natural surroundings complemented by beautiful architecture. Take a walk down the historic streets populated with beautiful toy shops, galleries, boutiques, chocolatiers, pubs, coffee houses, and restaurants.
- Explore Mendocino Headlands State Park. Its winding pathways lead to secluded beaches where you can spot breaching whales and barking sea lions.
- Rent a canoe or kayak from Catch a Canoe and paddle down the beautiful Big River.
- Check out the historic Point Cabrillo Lighthouse which is an easy 1/2 mile walk from the parking lot.
- Hike the 6+ mile Fern Canyon to Falls Loop Trail at the Russian Gulch State Park. You don’t want to miss the year-round 36-foot waterfall at the end of the hike!
- Roast some s’mores and enjoy a cup of hot chocolate by the campfire.
- Stay up late and watch the stars.
If you’re looking for a short weekend getaway from the city to unplug in nature, I highly recommend checking out Mendocino and Fort Bragg. Since it was at the end of fall, the evenings were a little chilly but the views of the stars before the clouds rolled in were absolutely magical. Until next time!
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