Page 97 - 2025-2026 Travel Guide to California

ROOSEVELT ELK BULLS JOUST during September
breeding season in Redwood National and State
Parks, top; Carson Mansion is an elegant
Victorian house in Old Town Eureka, above;
Humboldt County shore, opposite.
INSIDER’S TIP
Once a seedy skid row, EUREKA’S
WATERFRONT has been transformed
into the city’s liveliest and most
inviting district, with Victorian
storefronts housing restaurants,
galleries, shops and museums, all
crowned by the iconic CARSON
MANSION, a masterpiece of
over-the-top Victorian opulence.
visiteureka.com
Although it’s sometimes called the
Redwood Empire, the North Coast is
more than just tall trees: It’s also
salmon-fishing boats bobbing in tiny
harbors; Roosevelt elk bugling across
misty meadows; steam trains chuffing
through a damp and dripping forest;
hole-in-the-wall restaurants serving
fish smoked according to traditional
Native American recipes; vineyards
close enough to the coast to catch the
salt spray, and an elusive creature
known as Bigfoot.
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,
boutiques and cafés. Crescent City was
virtually wiped off the map by a tsunami
in 1964. Rebuilt now, it sports a smat-
tering of hotels and motels that make it
a good base for exploring nearby Jede-
diah Smith Redwoods 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 trappers—both Russians working
their way down from Alaska and Amer-
ican mountain men such as Jedediah
Smith coming overland.
MUST
SEE,
DO
• FOREST TRACKS Built in 1885 to haul
redwood logs from the tangled backcountry to
coastal sawmills, the iconic Skunk Train now carries
passengers on two different runs. The Pudding
Creek Express, starting at Fort Bragg, runs year-
round along the Pudding Creek Estuary and the
Wolf Tree Turn runs from Willits to the majestic Wolf
Tree, seasonally. And don’t worry. The train’s name
derives from an original, stinky gasoline engine that
long ago was consigned to the junkyard.
• skunktrain.com
• BOULEVARD OF BIG TREES The Avenue of
the Giants is a 31-mile detour from Highway 101 that
weaves in and out of lofty, old-growth redwood trees
like a slalom course. The route takes you through the
heart of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, one of the
best places along the North Coast to gaze up in awe.
Sunnier and drier than redwood parks farther to the
north, it’s less tangled with undergrowth, making it
easier to wander and wonder.
• avenueofthegiants.net
• COMMUNITY FOREST Arcata, with a town
square lined with a mixture of hippie-chic
boutiques, eclectic restaurants and old-time
lumberjack bars, is home to Humboldt State
University. Spend some time wandering its
community forest and the innovative wastewater
treatment facility that has become a thriving
sanctuary for migratory birds.
• cityofarcata.org
• SEA AND SKY COUNTRY A full five sensory
experience is guaranteed as you stare out at the sea
in Mendocino Headlands State Park. Undeveloped
bluffs along a rugged coastline, this secluded perch
is timeless. Go for the scenic coastal hiking trails,
views and cast your gaze on the lush meadows
dotted with wildflowers in spring.
• parks.ca.gov
• VICTORIAN HAMLET Gaily painted
Victorian mansions line the streets of Ferndale, an
idyllic hamlet on the Eel River delta in southern
Humboldt County. Lovingly preserved, they give the
town a turn-of-the-last-century look that has proven
irresistible to Hollywood. More than a dozen movies
have been filmed here. Main Street’s shops keep the
Victorian theme going, with old-fashioned
mercantiles and even a blacksmith shop. Cradled
between two redwood forests, the entire town is
listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
• visitferndale.com
2025-26 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA 95