The best road cycling routes in Manchester State Park

This picturesque, quiet country back road stretches 17.7 miles (28.49 kilometers) from the small town of Philo to the coastal town of Elk, offering a stunningly beautiful and challenging ride.  The road begins to climb after the bridge crossing over the Navarro River, then winds its way up underneath a canopy of trees to the first high point at Signal Ridge. From here, the road continues with rolling climbs, where you will emerge from the woodland, leveling out along the open ridge to see beautiful ranches and apple orchards before disappearing into the woods again. The road descends back to the deep forest before it opens up to spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean at Elk Cove, making it easy to understand why this is one of the best routes in Mendocino County.

Boonville is a charming small town in the Anderson Valley wine-growing area and is home to several wine-tasting rooms, a brewery, a craft distillery, shops, and galleries. It's the perfect spot to use as a base for exploring the area's beautiful redwood forests and rolling hills that line the Mendocino coast.

This stunning 816-acre park protects two towering redwood groves, the Hendy and Little Hendy. Several of the majestic trees reach 300 feet in height and are 1,000 years old. There are beautiful trails throughout the fern-filled grounds, and the park is home to plenty of wildlife, including bobcats, gray foxes, and black-tailed deer. Parking and restrooms are available with an $8 day-use fee.

The Schooner Gulch area was inhabited by the central Pomo Indians. Russian and native Alaskan hunters were active in the area beginning around 1812, and Mexicans owned land in the area by the 1840s. Scottish immigrant John Galloway founded the Schooner Gulch settlement and established a wood milling business there in 1866. The Galloway mill only operated until 1868, but other mills operated there until the late 19th century, such as a mill owned by an A. Saunders (of quite large size, at 25,000 feet (7,600 meters) per day), built in 1875, Burned down in 1880 but was rebuilt this year. The Galloway School District was officially founded in 1874. Galloway School, a small school (never more than 40 students), was founded the same year and operated until 1936. The land around it was converted to farmland in the 1940s and is now forest. In 1912, Russian Baptist immigrants bringing steam-powered heavy equipment from Point Arena to their colony further south were crossing a bridge then spanning Schooner Gulch when the bridge collapsed under the weight of its eight-ton lead engine. Colonist Nicholas Pogsikoff was killed and buried at this site, but his grave is now lost. Schooner Gulch timber, like all timber in Mendocino County, was shipped by sea. Typically, the small dwellings that grew up around these mills were abandoned when the mills ran out of readily available wood and closed.

Beautiful Bluff trail leads along the coast and along the Greenwood Creek. Some stealth camp options close to a little town. Greenwood State Beach offers beach access and a picturesque view of the Pacific Ocean. The central theme is of Greenwood as a lumber town in the late 1800's through the early 1900's. The Visitor Center is in the middle of town and provides a glimpse of what life was like in this lumber town during the late 1800's. The gallery room and main museum room are filled with photographs of the early settlers of Greenwood and nearby Cuffey's Cove, as well as photographs of the town and it's lumbering operations during that era. There is an additional room filled with period furniture including an organ, stove, washing machine, steamer trunk, and bath tub. Outdoors, you will find artifacts which were used in the lumber camps to harvest the redwoods and bark from the tan oak trees. Upon entering the Visitor Center you will see a mural depicting the Greenwood wharf, painted by well known muralist Michael Cole. The wharf, which was built by the L.E. White Lumber Company, had a unique design as it was built on a series of outcropping rocks into the ocean. The schooners would tie to the wharf while loading redwood lumber, tan bark, railroad ties and passengers all destined for San Francisco. The ultimate destination of the railroad ties was China. Postcards and books are available for sale covering a wide range of coastal subjects, Pomo Indian culture and the history of Greenwood. Volunteer docents are available to answer questions and relate historic events. Greenwood State Beach is located along the Mendocino County coast about 15 miles north of Point Arena on Highway 1. https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=447

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=435

https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=435