North of California

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Attractions of North California

  • Eureka (Carson Mansion, Victorian homes)
  • Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation (California largest reservation)
  • Ferndale ("prettiest painted place in America")
  • Arcata,
  • Fortuna (oldest rodeo in California on July 18/19)
  • Cape Mendocino (westermost point in California)
  • Avenue of the Giants (tallest trees in the world)
  • King Range
  • King Range
  • Lost Coast (unspoilt coast with Shelter Cove, King Range, etc)
  • Mendocino
  • Mount Shasta
  • Shasta Lake (largest commercial houseboat fleet in the world)
  • Redding: Turtle Bay Exploration Park and +Sundial Bridge
  • Lava Beds
  • Lassen Volcanic Park
Recommended hiking in North California:
  1. The main gate to the lost coast is Shelter Cove, a little town about 40 minutes west of Garberville (four hours north of San Francisco on 101). There are several small campgrounds before Shelter Cove, and it is also possible to camp on the beach. One can hike all the way to Petralia along the coast, but usually a few kms are enough to get a feeling. Behind the lost coast is King Range, a foresty series of hills that drop dramatically into the sea.
    A highly rewarding hike that mixes both Lost Coast and King Range is a loop from Saddle Mountain to King Peak (8 kms) down the Rattlesnake Trail to the beach (10 kms), south 6kms to Buck Creek, up to Saddle Mountain (6kms), for a total of 30 kms. The uphill part is devastating (whichever way you do the loop). There is water at the bottom of the Rattlesnake Trail. Pictures of the hike.

28-30 May 2005

Howdy's description of the Kinetic Sculpture Race: There are several good opportunities to choose from as a spectator of the race, and then long stretches where it is harder to be a spectator. The best places are where the sculptures bunch up at challenging obstacles. The start of the race has the most festival atmosphere with a lot of people and machines crowding the Arcata plaza before the noon whistle start on Saturday. Shortly after, the main action is on the beach between Manila and Samoa where we have to go through sand dunes and the "dead man's drop" down a slope of sand.

On Sunday the main interest is the water entry (splash, sink or float?) and you can see a lot of the sculptures well from the water front along the harbor. The rest of Sunday is spread out along the road. That night we camp on the beach at the mouth of the Eel river.

Monday we cross the Eel and there is some new mud hazard that they are adding this year on the other side on the outskirts of Ferndale. Then there is the finish line in Ferndale. Sometimes they try to group vehicles together but they can still be fairly spread out. I'd probably advocate seeing the start and maybe some of the sand, then going somewhere interesting to camp Saturday afternoon (unfortunately we won't be camping that night, but staying in a hotel in Eureka), then probably Sunday is the best day for a long day hike for you. You can probably come join us at the beach camp on Sunday, if you like, and then the mud and some of the finish could be fun to watch on Monday.

The first sculptures to finish usually cross the line in the early afternoon 1-2 (the finish in Ferndale is held up until after a more traditional Memorial Day parade there in the morning). Most sculptures are done by 3pm at the latest. Although we've been known to finish later once or twice, it's pretty clear that they want to wrap things up as early as possible. The most interesting part on Monday will probably be the mud which will mostly happen about 11-12? You could easily split by early to mid afternoon if you need to. Conservatively, the drive back is probably about 5-6 hours to Redwood city, but you can probably do it faster. Since you are coming up on Saturday, Camping and hiking in the Lost Coast area would probably make sense, as it breaks up the driving and is a nice place to hike. Usal Beach has a modestly developed campground (numbered sites and pit toilets) at the end of a 10km dirt road (low 2wd ok). I don't know if it would be crowded on a holiday weekend, probably depends on weather. I don't know any camping suggestions for other points along the Lost Coast, but I'm sure you can figure something out. If you start further North, and end up at the Mattole river area, you can follow a seldom traveled stretch of road along the coast and wind up and over some hills and come out at Ferndale. This is probably not faster than going back to the highway, but if you are driving in daylight, it is a fun and interesting drive.