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2 0 1 7 T R A V E L G U I D E T O C A L I F O R N I A 145 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