Hendy Woods State Park

Extensive root system of a fallen redwood in the Big Hendy Grove

Hendy Woods State Park is a charming park that features two old-growth redwood groves and access to the popular Navaro River. The flat hike from the campground to the best of the two groves (i.e., Big Hendy) is about three miles round-trip.

Trail from the campground to Big Hendy Grove, a beautiful old-growth grove in a blanket of ferns along the flood plain of the Navaro River.

For a very thorough description of the short trail to Big Hendy (albeit one that starts from the Day Use area of the park), see this page over at redwoodhikes.com.

Hendy Woods State Park is only about 3.5 hours from the SF Bay Area in Anderson Valley. In addition to being a gem of a state park, it also offers proximity to many other cool things, such as the Mendocino coast state parks, apple orchards, breweries, and wineries. It is a fantastic place to visit!

Although the trees in Big Hendy Grove are really, really lovely, the trail itself if surprisingly quiet because most of the visitors to the park are more interested in swimming in the Navaro River. Make sure to plan enough time to visit both!

One of the loveliest surprises of our trip to Hendy Woods was the Hermit Thrush. This songbird is capable of harmonizing with itself when it sings, and it can create the illusion of an echo. The campground resounded with the song of these birds, and it only added to the feeling that this was a special place.

The paintings that I featured in this post were painted by my mother, who embarked on this road trip with me. She painted the Navaro River and one of the redwoods in the campground here in Hendy Woods.