Caspar Spots worth visiting |
Caspar is richly endowed with places of interest, mostly to residents of the Mendocino Coast, but also hidden treasures to be discovered by visitors.
If you know a spot within a couple of miles of downtown Caspar, please let us know.
See all the spots on the map below. |
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Like it says, the Center of our community! Sponsors this website, and holds funraisers (like CasparFest) and Fine Breakfasts every fourth Sunday (except December). Center Calendar
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Mendocino Jewish Community Shul
Once the Caspar Foursquare Lighthouse Church, now the site of active worship on holy days, and home for a vivid coastal community. Their website. |
Caspar Inn
A storied roadhouse, now being called 'Caspar Hub.' Food is served here, and there are musical events. Their website. Just south of the Inn, there's a lovely farmstand featuring local produce.
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Caspar Headlands
Great walks and views. There is a map of the Headlands trails.
Caspar Pond
Home to geese and waterbirds, and a good walk around.
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Caspar Beach
One of the very few easily accessible (by car) beaches in California. A great learn-to-surf spot.
There is a store and trailer park / campground here that sometimes rents ocean kayaks. Their website.
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Caspar Cemetery
A lot of Caspar history here, and also a trail from Caspar Beach to a point on old Highway One just south of the southeast corner of Point Cabrillo Lighthouse State Park.
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Jughandle Beach
Jug Handle State Natural Reserve. A short walk to a gorgeous white beach, and a great walk around the beach's southern headland
Also the trailhead and parking for the Jughandle Ecological Staircase trail – see below.
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Ecological Staircase trail
Starting from the Jug Handle Reserve parking lot, the trail heads north and east under the highway bridge, down across a boardwalk over Jughandle Creek, and then climbs (gently!) up across 500,000 years of seismic uplift. The trail's website. The trail brochure (PDF).
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Jug Handle Creek Nature Center
Campground, trails, and an education facility. Their website. A primitive trail runs along the north side of their holding, accessible from the Staircase trail (see (I) above) to the site of the old trestle (K).
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Jughandle trestle
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Point Cabrillo Lighthouse
A State Park and a great walk to a far west point on the coast. Good whale watching in season, a gift shop and small intertidal zone aquarium, and sometimes a chance to see the giant fresnel lens on the light. Their website.
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Point Cabrillo North
An alternative access point to the headlands trail to the lighthouse. Easiest access to Frolic Cove and the tidal bench. Beware of big waves!.
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PCL State Historic Park
The visitor center is where you would park for the full experience of walking down the hill to the light. Visitors claim that walking down, they feel lighter with each step.
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Pygmy Forest Boardwalk
Little known loop through some prime Pygmy Forest. The clay hardpan riding atop one of the siesmic upthrusts starves the forest and makes for a strange ecosystem. Get here by walking the Ecological Staircase trail (I) to its end.
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Two off-the-map but nearby spots:
Jughandle Headlands North
Two loops, one primitive (the south) a scramble (but with great overviews of Jughandle Beach), the north loop (trailhead at the southern end of Ocean Drive) accesses Jefferson Beach and headlands. |
Jackson Forest trails
Jackson Demonstration State Forest is a hotbed of controversy, to log or not . . . and home to a wonderful collection of bike, equestrian, and walking trails. Trail Stewards’ website. |
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