Traveling to Mendocino Art Center on Transit

Traveling to Mendocino from the Bay Area or Sacramento via transit is possible, but the journey can take up to twice as long compared to driving a car and requires multiple transfers.  The transit system schedules and interconnections are designed to make this reliable, but the routes are not easy to discover and transit planners such as Google Maps create somewhat chaotic routes.  This guide should make the trip easier to handle for a rider.

This was updated on Dec 24, 2024.  Schedules may have changed slightly since then, so please check official schedules before relying on this guide.

This guide explains three daily options

All trips go through Santa Rosa and Ukiah, so your options depend on how you get to Santa Rosa or Ukiah in time to transfer to the busses that will take you to Mendocino.  The options are listed below, with some routes to get you to Santa Rosa/Ukiah in time to transfer.  The main ways to get to Santa Rosa or Ukiah are:

• SMART -- serving Sonoma and Marin counties

• BART -- serving the bay area, including SFO and Oakland airports

• Amtrak Capitol Corridor -- serving East Bay, Martinez, and the I-80 corridor to Sacramento

• Groome Transportation shuttles from SFO and OAK airports to Santa Rosa airport, where you can transfer to the Mendocino Transit Authority 65 bus.

Connections from CalTrain are possible but inconvenient -- similar to the BART routes, but take the MUNI N train from the Caltrain 4th & King station to Civic Center MUNI station.

The Little Lake & Kasten stop in Mendocino is across the street from the Mendocino Art Center.

I will add the reverse direction soon.

Other options: Groome Transportation runs shuttles from SFO and OAK airports to Santa Rosa airport, where you can connect to the 65 bus.

Option 1: Early 65 Bus

The Mendocino Transit Authority 65 bus is the main route between Ukiah and the Mendocino coast, including Fort Bragg and Mendocino.  Two trips per day start in Santa Rosa.  Some trips go to Mendocino, others require a transfer to the 60, which travels along the coast.  This option is the earlier trip from Santa Rosa.  See below for the later trip.

Both of these trips have a roughly 30 minute rest stop in Ukiah.

From BART

Take BART to Civic Center station in time to catch the Golden Gate Transit 101 bus at 8:39am. The bus stop is at the corner of McAllister and Polk, across the street from the BART station. This bus arrives at Santa Rosa 2nd Street at 10:46am, leaving a 40 minute transfer.

From SMART

Take SMART to the Sonoma County Airport station in time to catch the 65 bus at 11:53am.

Saturday

From BART

Take BART to Civic Center station in time to catch the Golden Gate Transit 101 bus at 11:37am. The bus stop is at the corner of McAllister and Polk, across the street from the BART station. This bus arrives at Santa Rosa 2nd Street at 1:41pm, leaving a 4 minute transfer.  This is a quick transfer, if you miss is, switch to Option #3 about 2 hours later.

From SMART

Take SMART to the Sonoma County Airport station in time to catch the 65 bus at 2:03pm.

Option 2: Navarro Route

The Navarro route takes the MTA bus that goes to the south Mendocino coast (Point Arena), but has a timed transfer with the coast bus in the middle of nowhere.  Make sure your driver knows you're doing this transfer.

Monday-Friday

From Amtrak Capitol Corridor

Take an Amtrak train to Martinez to transfer to the 10:15am Thruway bus #7 and take it to Ukiah.  This bus requires advance reservation, and has timed transfers with the train.  The #7 bus arrives in Ukiah at 1:30pm, with a 1 hour 25 minute transfer in Ukiah.

There are no routes from BART or SMART.

Option 3: Late 65 Bus

This is generally going to be your best option if it fits your schedule, as it's available every day and is direct service.  This includes a 30 minute rest stop in Ukiah.

From Amtrak Capitol Corridor

Take an Amtrak train to Martinez to transfer to the 2:00pm Thruway bus #7 and take it to Ukiah.  This bus requires advance reservation, and has timed transfers with the train.  The #7 bus also has a 30 minute rest stop in Ukiah on its way to Eureka, which overlaps with the 65 bus.

From BART

Take BART to Civic Center station in time to catch the Golden Gate Transit 101 bus at 1:39pm. The bus stop is at the corner of McAllister and Polk, across the street from the BART station. This bus arrives at Santa Rosa 2nd Street at 3:46pm, leaving a 20 minute transfer.

From SMART

Take SMART to the Sonoma County Airport station in time to catch the 65 bus at 4:13pm.

Transfer Locations

Civic Center BART / Larkin and Grove -- Bus stop near Civic Center BART.

Ukiah Pear Tree Center -- This is Ukiah's temporary transit center in the parking lot of a Ross, and is a timed transfer spot for several busses.  Long distance busses use this as a rest stop (typically 30 minutes).  There are a few fast food restaurants nearby for food or bathroom.

Santa Rosa 2nd Street Transit Mall -- Timed transfer for a bunch of Santa Rosa busses.  Bathrooms are ok.  Nearby food requires a few blocks walk, recommend planning ahead.

Sonoma County Airport SMART -- End of the line train station for SMART, and a transfer location for the MTA 65 bus.  No food or bathrooms nearby.

Sonoma County Airport (STS) -- Santa Rosa's tiny but useful airport, and a transfer point for Groome Transportation shuttles to SFO or OAK.  Bathrooms available in the terminal building.  Not the same as the SMART station -- the MTA 65 stops at both.

Fort Bragg Boatyard Drive -- This is a just a bus stop, but conveniently has a grocery store and a few fast food restaurants nearby.

Navarro River Junction -- A bus stop with timed transfer between the 75 and 60 MTA busses, in the middle of nowhere with NOTHING nearby and NO cell service.  Make sure your driver knows you're transferring and don't let them leave you here (they won't).

Martinez Amtrak -- Timed transfer between Amtrak trains and Thruway busses.  Transfers are easy, and bus drivers have a checklist and are unlikely to leave without you. There are vending machines in the station and sometimes the cafe is open.  No convenient food nearby, although downtown Martinez is a short walk with several sit-down restaurants and cafes.

From Civic Center BART (or Salesforce Transit Center)

This is typically the most convenient option if you're starting in San Francisco or anywhere with convenient BART access.  

Civic Center BART: Larkin and Grove is a 2 block walk from Civic Center BART. 

Salesforce Transit Center: The GGT 101 bus leaves Salesforce Transit Center 12 minutes earlier than the schedule below.

Random extra option from Embarcadero BART (not recommended due to the short transfer time in Santa Rosa):

From Martinez / Amtrak Capitol Corridor

This is a convenient route from Sacramento, Richmond, Emeryville, San Jose, and the San Joaquin Valley..  

From San Francisco Airport (SFO)

Note that Groome Transportation is expensive ($50)

From SMART