RATING |
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 |
DISTANCE |
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2.0 miles round-trip |
HIKING TIME |
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1.0 hour |
ELEVATION GAIN |
|
100 feet |
HIGH POINT |
|
300 feet |
EFFORT |
|
Easy Walk |
BEST SEASON |
|
Year-round |
PERMITS/CONTACT |
|
Hendy Woods State Park fee required |
MAPS |
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Hendy Woods State Park |
NOTES |
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Dogs and bikes prohibited |
A hike through big redwoods leads to the homesite of Hendy Woods’ hermit.
From Mendocino, drive south on Highway 1 for approximately 10 miles to the Highway 128 turnoff. Head east on Highway 128 for 18 miles to the directional sign for Hendy Woods State Park at Greenwood Road. Turn right (south) on Greenwood Road and drive 0.5 mile to the park entrance on the left. Follow the park road to the day-use parking area; the trailhead is on the east (right) side.
As you drive on Highway 128 from Cloverdale to Mendocino, watch through your car windows as the landscape changes from dry oak grasslands to dense redwood forest. Would-be hikers may be tempted by the sight of numerous hiking paths leading from the roadside into the redwoods. Who can resist a walk among big trees paralleling the Navarro River?
But if you opt to pull over, you may be disappointed. None of these trails go farther than a few hundred yards, ending at swimming and fishing holes. For a more lengthy hike in these woods, head to Hendy Woods State Park, where you’ll find beautiful redwood groves, plus a story that will add an unexpected dimension to your trip.
From the park’s day-use parking area, start hiking on the wheelchair-accessible All-Access Trail, turning left and following the trail signs for the Discovery Trail and Big Hendy Grove. You’ll pass tall standing redwoods as well as several downed trees. Children love to play on their huge horizontal trunks and gnarled root balls. The farther you go from the parking area, the more peaceful and quiet this old forest becomes. Patches of sorrel form soft green clouds on the ground. Black-tailed deer munch on the greenery. Sunlight filters through the tall trees, softly illuminating the scene.
After looping around the Big Hendy Grove, walk a little farther south on the All-Access Trail (away from the parking area) until you reach the Hermit Hut Trail on your left. This trail climbs steadily up from the redwood-lined valley floor through a drier forest of oaks and madrones. You’ll feel the temperature rise as you climb out of the redwoods’ dense shade. After crossing a fire road, you’ll climb another 100 yards until you reach an unmarked intersection. Continue straight to a billboard displaying newspaper clippings about the Hermit Hut Trail’s hermit, a Russian immigrant named Petrov, who died in the early 1980s.
The height of the Big Hendy Grove’s redwoods make this six-foot-tall man appear diminutive.
Petrov lived for 18 years in these woods, building huts out of branches and tree stumps. He ate food he gathered from the forest and neighboring gardens, and wore patched-together, discarded clothing from campers and park visitors. One of the huts that he built is located right behind the billboard. A ramshackle batch of branches serves as a roof over a large, hollowed-out tree stump. Another of Petrov’s huts is found a few yards away near the unmarked junction you just passed.
Not surprisingly, children are mesmerized by Petrov’s story. Maybe it’s the magical ambience of the redwoods, or maybe it’s the way the light filters through the forest, but it isn’t hard to picture him here, living a simple life in the woods.
Park your car near the ranger station and visitor center and hike to the Little Hendy Grove of redwoods, which is smaller in size but no less impressive than the Big Hendy Grove.
