The crowning achievement of this unique Mendocino park is the 2.5 mile Ecological Staircase. This trail moves upward through the three of the five distinct terraces that make up the Coast Range. Each terrace represents roughly 100,000 years of geologic time, with an entire ecosystem built around that time gap. The bottom terrace, for example, is prairie, home primarily to grasses and shrubs. The next terrace is dominated by pines and redwood. As you move upwards you pass into some of the oldest soil, retaining virtually no nutrients, and giving birth to the unique pygmy forest, where trees have been dwarfed into miniature versions of their larger selves. Given another 100,000 years each terrace will likely shift into the terrace above it – demonstrating vividly the way in which changing soil patterns shape the entire natural world.