Page 147 - 2017 Travel Guide to California

City & Town
Transplanted New Englanders founded the
town of Mendocino on a rocky bluff above
the crashing Pacific Ocean, and it still
sports a whitewashed Cape Cod look. Once
a mill town, it went into decay in the 1930s
as the local timber trade waned but was
rediscovered in the 1960s by bohemians
and artists. On the shore of Humboldt Bay,
Eureka, the largest town on the North
Coast, has also reversed decades of decline
and turned its waterfront Old Town into an
inviting Victorian district of galleries, bou-
tiques and cafés. Crescent City was
virtually wiped off the map by a tsunami in
1964. Rebuilt now, it sports a smattering of
hotels and motels that make it a good base
for exploring nearby Jedediah Smith Red-
woods State Park.
Heritage & Culture
Native American tribes such as the Yurok
and Hoopa lived along the North Coast for
centuries before the arrival of fur trap-
pers—both Russians working their way
down from Alaska and American moun-
tain men such as Jedediah Smith coming
overland. For more than two centuries,
resource extraction—primarily logging—
was the region’s economic engine. As
dwindling forests and stricter environ-
mental laws took their tolls starting in the
1970s, the North Coast has transitioned to
tourism as its mainstay.
Family Fun
Young children might have trouble fully
appreciating the timelessness of an ancient
redwood tree, but they’ll enjoy a gondola
ride through the silent forest canopy and a
chance to have their picture taken with
four-story-high statues of Paul Bunyan and
Babe the Blue Ox. Look for it at Trees of
Mystery, near the town of Klamath.
SPECIAL
»
EVENTS 2017
WHALES AND WINE Gray whales pass by Mendocino in November on their way south for
the winter. At the Mendocino Whale Festival, you can sample all manner of chowder, locally
brewed beer and wine, while—with any luck—the passing cetaceans spout just off the Men-
docino headlands. March 4 mendowhale.com
KINETIC SCULPTURE RACE Peripatetic artists of genius or possibly borderline sanity gather
each Memorial Day weekend to race giant, whimsical, people-powered sculptures from Arcata
to Ferndale along a 40-mile course that includes a crossing of Humboldt Bay. It’s called “the
triathalon of the art world.” May 27-29 kineticgrandchampionship.com
BIGFOOT DAYS The earliest and most persistent sightings of that elusive creature known as
Bigfoot have happened around the Siskiyou Mountain town of Willow Creek. Each year on
Labor Day weekend, the community fetes its furry friend with Bigfoot Days. Don’t expect to
see the big guy himself, but you’ll encounter a number of people who claim to have met him.
Sept. 2 bigfootcountry.net
ALFRESCO ART Plein air art—that is, art created outside, with the world as subject—is cel-
ebrated at Plein Air at the Lost Coast. Workshops, competitions, lectures, nature hikes and
the painting of a communal mural are all part of the festival in the Humboldt County town of
Shelter Cove. Sept. 28-Oct. 2 pleinairatthelostcoast.com
MUSHROOM MANIA More than 3,000 varieties of everyone’s favorite fungi grow along
the North Coast, and each fall Mendocino County celebrates with a festival of mushroom-
picking tours, mushroom-and-wine pairings, special mushroom menus, mushroom art—even
mushroom-accented cocktails. Nov. 3-12 visitmendocino.com/mendocino-county-events
2017 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A 145