North Coast (California)

For the California wine region, see North Coast AVA.

North Coast Redwood Empire
Coast Redwood forest in Redwood National Park
The North Coast Region of the state of California
Country	United States
State	California

The North Coast of California (also called the Redwood Empire^[1] or the Redwood Coast) is the region in Northern California that lies on the Pacific coast between San Francisco Bay and the Oregon border. It commonly includes Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties and sometimes includes two counties from the San Francisco Bay area, Marin and Sonoma.

Cities

Much of the area is rural, and the only city within the region with a population of over 100,000 is Santa Rosa. Despite their size, many of the region's cities and towns have historical importance to the State and/or regional importance.

County seats

Del Norte: Crescent City
Humboldt: Eureka
Marin: San Rafael
Mendocino: Ukiah
Sonoma: Santa Rosa

Geography

The region's Pacific Ocean coast stretches from San Francisco Bay northwards to Humboldt Bay and on to the border of Oregon. The coastline is often inaccessible, and includes rocky cliffs and hills, streams and tide pools. The coastline from Centerville Beach near Ferndale to the mouth of the Klamath River is mostly beach accessible and there are many small towns and a few cities along Highway 101, the main route through the region. The sparsely populated interior territory further inland is characterized by rugged, often steep mountains, dissected by rivers and their typically narrow valleys and canyons, and dense redwood, Douglas fir, and oak forests. The climate can range from coast side lands drenched with fog in mild winters and summers to inland reaches baked by hot sunshine on long summer days, which, at higher elevations, can be blanketed with snow in winter.

Coastline in Sonoma Coast State Park

The southern portion of the North Coast is largely urbanized while the rest is mostly rural. The more remote northern areas are often referred to as the being located "behind the Redwood Curtain."^[2] A segment of the coastline in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties is known as the Lost Coast, and is only accessible by a few back roads.^[3] Notable seaside beaches can be found at Marin Headlands and Point Reyes National Seashore in the south, with innumerable examples of remote or less used beaches north of the San Francisco Bay area.

The grandeur of the redwoods can be experienced throughout the region, from the protected groves of Muir Woods National Monument and Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve in the south to the massive forests of Humboldt Redwoods State Park along the Avenue of the Giants in the north. Redwoods are also found in many other State and local parks, most of which are located along Highway 101 throughout the far North Coast. Other larger redwood parks include Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and Redwood National and State Parks. In total, the redwood parks of the North Coast contain the vast majority of all remaining old-growth redwoods.

Transportation infrastructure

Major highways

Interstate 580
U.S. Route 101 - Primary north–south route from San Francisco to Crescent City
U.S. Route 199 - from U.S. Route 101 near Crescent City northeast to Interstate 5 at Grants Pass, Oregon
State Route 1 - San Francisco to junction with US 101 at Leggett
State Route 12 - from Sebastopol to San Andreas
State Route 20 - an east–west route ending at Fort Bragg
State Route 36 - an east–west route beginning at Alton, ending at Susanville
State Route 37 - on the northern shore of San Pablo Bay
State Route 96
State Route 116
State Route 121
State Route 128
State Route 131 - (Tiburon Boulevard)
State Route 162
State Route 169
State Route 175
State Route 197
State Route 200 - near Arcata, along the Mad River
State Route 211 - Fernbridge to Ferndale
State Route 222 - (unsigned)
State Route 253
State Route 254 - (Avenue of the Giants - old U.S. 101)
State Route 255
State Route 271
State Route 283 - (old U.S. 101)
State Route 299

Related regions

Parts of these regions overlap parts of the North Coast:

Regions contained entirely within the North Coast:

Lost Coast

The North Coast region is completely contained within:

Northern California

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Coast (California).

↑ Rupprecht, Rich (November 6, 2008). "Primed for the Playoffs". The Press Democrat (The New York Times Company). Retrieved December 23, 2008.
↑ Flinn, John (May 11, 2003). "Behind the Redwood Curtain: Humboldt a separate world of misty groves, offbeat towns and protected wildlife -- and one wild race". San Francisco Chronicle. p. C-1. Retrieved November 10, 2009.
↑ "King Range National Conservation Area". Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 2013-07-07.

Coordinates: 39°45′N 123°30′W / 39.75°N 123.5°W / 39.75; -123.5

North Coast

Counties	Del Norte Humboldt Lake Marin Mendocino Sonoma

Cities and towns 100k-250k	Santa Rosa

Cities and towns 25k-99k	Eureka Novato Petaluma Rohnert Park San Rafael Windsor

Cities and towns 10k-25k	Arcata Clearlake Fortuna Healdsburg Larkspur McKinleyville Mill Valley San Anselmo Sonoma Tamalpais-Homestead Valley Ukiah

Cities and towns 3k-10k	Boyes Hot Springs Brooktrails Clearlake Riviera Cloverdale Corte Madera Cotati Crescent City Cutten El Verano Fairfax Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente Forestville Fort Bragg Guerneville Hidden Valley Lake Humboldt Hill Kelseyville Kentfield Lakeport Larkfield-Wikiup Lucas Valley-Marinwood Myrtletown North Lakeport Pine Hills Rio Dell Roseland Santa Venetia Sausalito Sebastopol Strawberry Tiburon Willits

State of California

Sacramento (capital)

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Counties	Alameda Alpine Amador Butte Calaveras Colusa Contra Costa Del Norte El Dorado Fresno Glenn Humboldt Imperial Inyo Kern Kings Lake Lassen Los Angeles Madera Marin Mariposa Mendocino Merced Modoc Mono Monterey Napa Nevada Orange Placer Plumas Riverside Sacramento San Benito San Bernardino San Diego San Francisco San Joaquin San Luis Obispo San Mateo Santa Barbara Santa Clara Santa Cruz Shasta Sierra Siskiyou Solano Sonoma Stanislaus Sutter Tehama Trinity Tulare Tuolumne Ventura Yolo Yuba

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