Locate your area of choice along this
beautiful north coast full of many diverse communities
offering a better quality of life:
Ferndale
The Victorian Village of Ferndale
provides a vibrant commercial district that attracts
shoppers through the variety of goods and the
friendliness of its merchants. Ferndale is surrounded
by lush farmland and has a prevalent ocean breeze. I
myself live here and find that all my needs are met
within walking distance of home.
Just across
the bridge, Fortuna is a more robust
town, growing steadily with many new homes to choose
from. Fortuna offers large chain stores as well as
family owned businesses, and a few degrees of warmer
temperature.
Hydesville
and Carlotta are farther
east and a bit warmer still. They are more rural, with
horse ranches and some pockets of finer
homes.
Going south from
Fortuna on Highway 101 you arrive in
the blossoming community of Rio Dell
- a valley/dell tucked neatly between 3 bridges that
cross the Eel River. It is a picturesque town
surrounded by bluffs and mountains. Fossils are found
on the bluffs and in the riverbed; snow falls upon the
Monument in winter.
A close neighbor to the
south is Scotia - a company town for
more than a hundred years and home to the workers of
Pacific Lumber Company. The company practiced
sustained yield, cutting timber and planting trees so
that there would be lumber for generations to come.
The community is now in transition as new ownership of
the company and the town has taken place. Visit the
tree-lined shopping mall, Scotia Inn, the Museum and
see the beautifully preserved buildings made of
redwood.
Continuing south we come to the Avenue
of the Giants and small agriculturally based
communities of Pepperwood, Redcrest, Shively,
and Holmes Flat, as well as
the State Park, proudly parading their ancient
redwoods.
Farther south, Weott
houses a Forest Fire Station. Myers Flat
has the Riverbend Cellars Winery.
Miranda is the home of Southern
Humboldt High School, serving these areas along the
Avenue. Many of these communities along the Avenue
were overwhelmed by the flood of 1964 and have
recovered nicely, however not quite to the extent at
which they were prior to the natural
disaster.
We are now about 45 minutes south of
Fortuna (that is if we did not make
any stops). Redway and
Garberville are busy, thriving towns
that provide services like large grocery stores,
clothing, restaurants etc. Here you will find the
world famous Benbow Inn with wonderful facilities.
There are beautiful homes along the golf course and in
the outlying area. Tudor Home was designed by
architect Julia Morgan.
Shelter
Cove is a 45-minute drive from Redway on the
Briceland Road. It is a country road that takes you to
the ocean and a unique area of about four hundred
homes. The development took place approximately 35
years ago and offers a landing strip for small planes
plus a golf course. Shelter Cove is
really known for its fishing and the Machi family that
had a fishing resort here for many years before the
developers arrived. A bronze life-size statue of Mario
Machi, one of the kindest men you would ever meet,
sits at the ocean's edge. Mario and his family enjoyed
the beauty of the area many years before the
development took place and opened up this unique area
to all of us. Restaurants and motel/hotels are also
available.
In the opposite direction,
Loleta, just north of
Ferndale, offers a quiet &
sparkling clean small town atmosphere.
Eureka, another 10 minutes to
the north, is the County seat. Prior to entering
Eureka you pass College of the
Redwoods, an aesthetically designed vocation school,
set in a niche of the hill and bordered by the
Humboldt Botanical Gardens. Eureka
rests by Humboldt Bay, a great attraction in itself.
Many lovely areas of Eureka provide a
wide range of housing both in style and
pricing.
Farther to the north is
Arcata, home of Humboldt State
University, where one finds many diverse lifestyles
side-by-side.
Trinidad lies
alongside the ocean and offers magnificent homes with
awe-inspiring views.
