The Mendocino coast is surrounded by day trip possibilities in every direction. Fort Bragg, just 10 miles north, anchors the north end of the coast with the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens and the Skunk Train. Further afield, the Anderson Valley offers some of California's best cool-climate wines, and Point Arena Lighthouse sits on a dramatic headland about 30 miles south.
Point Arena Lighthouse (30 miles south on Highway 1) is one of the tallest lighthouses on the Pacific Coast and one of the few where you can climb to the top. The 1870 lighthouse was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and rebuilt in 1908; the current structure is a striking reinforced concrete tower on a narrow headland that drops straight into the sea. Tours run daily.
Anderson Valley (30 miles inland on Highway 128) is one of California's most distinctive wine regions — cool, foggy, and planted primarily with Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, and Alsatian varietals that struggle to ripen anywhere warmer. The valley is small and unpretentious, the tasting rooms largely farmer-owned, and the drive through the redwoods on 128 is beautiful in both directions. Allow a full day to do the valley properly.
Russian Gulch State Park (2 miles north) is a short drive or a long walk from Mendocino. The park has a waterfall hike and a collapsed sea cave called the Devil's Punchbowl — a collapsed coastal tunnel where the surf surges dramatically through a hole in the headland. The fern canyon trail to the falls is one of the best short hikes on the North Coast.
Van Damme State Park (3 miles south) encompasses a pygmy forest — a strange ecological anomaly where a hardpan layer just below the soil surface creates dwarf conditions, and ancient trees grow only a few feet tall. The beach and lagoon at the mouth of the Little River are also worth a stop.