The Jughandle Cove Area of Special Biological Significance (ASBS) has 1.5 miles of coastline, including Jughandle Cove at the mouth of Jughandle Creek. It is between the cities of Fort Bragg and Mendocino, on the Mendocino coast. The largely natural watershed emptying into the ASBS includes Jug Handle State Reserve, managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Pygmy Forest Ecological Staircase trail. This is a popular location for recreation, education, and scientific study.

Key pollution threats include road runoff, septic tank leakage and sediment from past logging operations.

The famous Ecological Staircase at the State Reserve has five terraces, each about 100,000 years older and about 100 feet higher than the one below it. The are carved in the sandstone cliffs by waves from the ASBS. Tectonic action continues to push them up about an inch every 100 years.

The ASBS is home to creatures called “Sea Mats”. They are bryozoa, whose colonies form a smooth carpet on rocks and other surfaces.

ASBS Area: 203 acres

County: Mendocino

Regional Board Area: North Coast RWQCB

Year designated: 1974 (Resolution 74-28)

ASBS Index No.: 1