North Coast Pages
Parks
Towns
Attractions
Links
Other Pages
Family Camping
Bay Area Hiking
Favorite Beaches
The Californias
San Francisco Bay Area Overview
|
|
|
The North Coast of California, as I define it here, lies between Bodega
Bay and the Oregon border. It includes the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt,
Mendocino, and northern Sonoma. This area is very different from the rest
of California. It gets more rain than any other region in the state. Because
of that, the rivers here are many and huge. These rivers are filled with
runs of large salmon and steelhead, attracting sportsfishermen and supporting
a major fishing industry. The abundance of water produces dense rain forests
with the tallest trees in the world. Because of these trees, the coast
redwoods, the region's major industry is logging, which is why this area
is also called the Redwood Empire. These trees are also one of the main
tourist attractions of the area, which pits those who want to turn these
trees into lumber against those who want to preserve them for their awesome
beauty and environmental value.
The coastline here is rugged, windswept, and dramatically beautiful.
Warm sunny ocean beaches are few and far-between. Swimming in the cold,
shark-filled ocean is only for westuit-protected divers, who are brave
these conditions primarily for hunting the rare and delicious abalone.
The terrain here is steep and mountainous. One whole section of coast along
the King Mountain Range, called the Lost Coast, is so rugged and unstable
that it was impossible to build the Pacific Coast Highway through it. The
highway skirts inland around it, and few roads lead into this wild and
mostly undeveloped area.
.The
North Coast is a sparsely-populated region, with no large cities. The largest
metropolis in the area is Eureka, with a population of 27,000. Other coastal
towns, from south to north, are Bodega Bay, Jenner, Fort Ross, Gualala,
Point Arena, Elk, Albion, Mendocino, Caspar, Fort Bragg, Cleone, Westport,
Union Landing, Rockport, Arcata, McKinleyville, Trinidad, Klamath, and
Crescent City. Tiny Shelter Cove is the only coastal town on the Lost Coast.
Inland along Highway 101 north of the Russian River are the towns of Healdsburg,
Ukiah, Willits, Longvale, Laytonville, Leggett, Rivendale, Piercy, Andersonia,
Cooks Valley, Benbow, Garberville, Myers Flat, Burlington, Weott, Redcrest,
Glynn, Scotia, Rio Dell, Metropolitan, Rohnerville, Fortuna, Fernbridge,
Loleta, Table Bluff, and Beatrice. The most popular coastal tourist towns
are Bodega Bay, Mendocino, Fort Bragg, Eureka, and Crescent City. They
have the most facilities for tourists.
The
main routes through this region are Highway 101 and Highway 1. 101 runs
mostly inland, while 1 runs mostly on the coast. North of Leggett, they
merge to skirt the Lost Coast, then run along or near the coast from Eureka
north. The old highway 101 route through Humboldt Redwoods State Park is
called the Avenue of the Giants. The 33-mile route along the Eel River
is the most famous scenic drive in the area, passing by small resorts and
many giant redwoods, some of which have been developed into tourist spots.
To get to the popular Mendocino/Fort Bragg area from San Francisco, you
can either take the long, winding, but incredibly scenic route along Highway
1 all the way, or the faster route along Highway 101 to Highway 128. 128
runs northwest from Cloverdale, through the pastoral wine-growing area
of the Anderson Valley, then follows the Navarro River through the redwoods
to the coast south of Mendocino.
Go to the other pages in this section to learn more about parks,
towns,
and other attractions in the area. There is
also a page with links to more information.
Updated 5/24/99 |
|
|
Canoes by the Big River Bridge, Mendocino |
Introduction