United States
California
Mendocino County
Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Visitor Center
United States
California
Mendocino County
Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Visitor Center
Hiking Highlight
Recommended by 🕊️ 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓
Location: Mendocino County, California, United States
The Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Visitor Center serves as a gateway to the park's rugged landscapes and rich cultural history. Located in a remote area, the center offers information on park history, trail maps, wildlife, and the Indigenous people who have lived in this area for millennia. There are exhibits on the local ecosystem, conservation efforts, and Sinkyone heritage. Basic amenities like restrooms are available.
July 16, 2024
Sinkyone Wilderness State Park lies on the southern portion of the Lost Coast, a 60-mile stretch of wilderness comprising the park and the King Range National Conservation Area.
The visitor center is a wooden building with a small museum and ranger information near Needle Rock Beach where the Lost Coast Trail merges with Bear Harbor Road (often not drivable, call for conditions).
For thousands of years before the first Europeans arrived, the Sinkyone Indians lived on this part of the coast in permanent villages beside streams and rivers, and moved out in family groups to hunt and forage in the hills during the summer. They fished, gathered seaweed and shellfish, hunted seals and sea lions, and harvested the occasional dead whale washed on shore. All kinds of fish were caught, but the seasonal salmon run was especially important.
Today, the Lost Coast Trail follows the whole length of the rugged Sinkyone coastline. Gray whales pass by during the winter and early spring. Roosevelt elk roam the grasslands. Sea lions and harbor seals hang out in rocky coves.
parks.ca.gov/?page_id=429
December 16, 2016
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