need coast advice

I am going to take my family on a two week tour of the NorCal coast. We will be camping, fishing kayaking etc.

I would appreciate knowledge of any coastal or lake campgrounds or must see locations. 

up here in Mendo, three good camping places that also fit the good yaking bill are: Navarro, Van Damme, and Russian Gulch.  My favorite being Russian Gulch because of the extensive cave system.  Van Damme has good caves as well, but not as good as Russian imo.

Hi Yaker:

        Mendocino is a low cost Road trip. Stay in Ft. Bragg to save money. Try 101 to Cloverdale and take 128 West which will take you thru Anderson Valley to the Coast. Stop for Apples, Wine tasting at Navarro Winery and, the Redwoods at Paul Dimrick Etc...
       Watch out for Logging trucks, they can't stop! Approx 4.5 Hrs
one way 200 Miles from Sunnyvale. Little River State Park is very clean
and a nice small protected Cove. Make sure Not to turn you back on the Ocean because of Sneaker Swells.
       

http://www.mendocino.org/

Little River SP
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=419
                                                                          Sea-ya
                                                                          Ernie

      Depending on the wind (and lately we can depend on it) I would give Tomales Bay a shot. Hog island is a cool picnic spot but I think there are restrictions on where you can land. Even further across the bay you can land and hike over to the bluffs overlooking Bird Rock. There is a large population of elk which you can get fairly close too, but watch out for the cows with their young or even cows that might be calving. Not really sure about camping nearby. Most importantly have fun and give us the full details.
     

If the coast gets too windy you might want to fall back to Anderson Valley. Besides what has been mentioned, there is a county campground ain Philo and Hendy state park at Philo-Greenwood rd. There is also a small campground at the mouth of the Noyo River but it is rough. Enjoy

If you're coming farther north my top recommendation is Bear Harbor in Sinkyone Wildnerness State Park.  http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=429  A little over an hour off 101 from Garberville you drive down through the park and pay your fees at the little Need Rock Visitor Center then drive another 10 - 15 minutes down an awesome winding cliff road to Bear Harbor parking.  From there you need your Roleez (hard or soft wheels) for the .4 mile trail to the beach - it's an easy trail.  We bring a wheel barrow too.  The campsites down near the beach are world-class beautiful, with elk sometimes cruising through, a great creek, a redwood trail, awesome scenery and the best cove to launch and fish/dive out of.  I've caught lingcod for dinner within a few hundred yards of camp and pulled 10" abs out of the cove. 

Other spots a bit farther up the coast in Humboldt:  Shelter Cove = car camping and easy launch for rockfish and abs; mouth of the Mattole River = car camping on the beach, access to great Lost Coast hiking, rockfishing, ab diving and the Mattole River; Trinidad - Patrick's Point State Park = car camping in a very developed yet beautiful state park with great scenery, rockfishing, ab diving, nearby Trinidad Harbor for easy ocean access.

Have a great time and feel free to check in if you're coming this far north.   

Eric

PS:  Usal road is no shortcut!

  :Hi Amphibian and Family,

I work in maintenance and P.R. at Van Damme State Park, Thursdays through Mondays.
Van Damme is getting really full, so if you want to stay there, reserve early.
I think Pescadores' suggestion for Russian Gulch State Park might be a more peaceful alternative and the protected bay is just great.  30 campsites, I think.

But the Fern Creek Trail at Van Damme is about the most beautiful walk I've ever seen, after living here off and on since 1966.  You can always do the walk on a day pass, without staying overnight there.

Of course the problem with the wind can be a real bother, especially for kayaking.  But today at Van Damme was great.  Light breeze, 75 degrees, calm ocean, park half full of happy campers on a Thursday.  If you stay at Van Damme and want to meet, just PM me with a date and campsite number.  Say "Hi from Matt in Maintenance" to Robin or Nancy at the front kiosk."  Or flag me down to say howdy when I'm making my rounds in a John Deere Gator, or white Parks Maintenance truck.  My co-workers are Jeff (the big guy), Fred (the wizard of lawn mowing) and me, Matt.  I'm the skinny one with a smile.  I love helping campers.

Whatever you do, and wherever yo go, have a good time with your family and be safe.   

Hopefully I will get to see some of you guys or even fish with you. We plan on going all the way to Oregon. We have two weeks.

Since you're going all the way to Oregon, I would definitely heed the royal advice of the great Abking,
and the wise Pescadore.  My .02   I'm just a newbie.