Humboldt County California Information

Humboldt County Culture

Humboldt County California is referred to by various names, slogans, phrases and even jokes both by locals and tourists alike. It is perhaps best known worldwide as one of the largest exporters of marijuana in the United States. Although marijuana is technically illegal under U.S. federal law, a combination of liberal state regulations allowing for the use of "medical" marijuana, an overabundance of militant pro-marijuana prescribing physicians, the lack of any real criminal penalties in the state for possession of pot in small quantities and the inability of local law enforcement to enforce the few laws against marijuana use combine to make its use more prevalent among the local population than in most parts of the world.

The county's reputation as a marijuana mecca arguably started among the "hippies" of the 1960's, many of which are still a part of the local community. It is a legacy that has been largely kept alive by the thousands of students who flock to the area each year to attend Humboldt State University, the area's only California State University. HSU, as it is locally known, is widely regarded as one of the nation's top "party schools". It's emphasis on liberal arts majors, hard drinking, drug use and ultra-liberal politics have given it a reputation as a university that hands-out degrees for what many locals jokingly refer to as a "major in underwater basket weaving". Although most who graduate eventually leave the area, those remaining eventually face seeking employment in a community where the average pizza delivery driver has a four year college degree and you can find PhD graduates working the grill at the local Carl's Jr.

Yesterday's "hippie" generation has morphed into a 21st century counterculture in Humboldt that seems to revolve around Jamaican culture, Reggae music, dreadlocks, lots and lots of beer, daily marijuana use and video games. This culture stands in stark contrast to that of most county natives who were raised as the children of loggers, mill workers, fishermen, cattle ranchers and other blue collar jobs that were once the economic backbone of the area.

Humboldt Living

Humboldt County is above all a rural and isolated area. There are few incorporated cities in Humboldt. They include its capital and largest city Eureka, which has a population of approximately 27,000. The second largest city is Arcata, home of Humboldt State University. Arcata has a population of approximately 18,000. Fortuna, to the South, has a population of around 10,000. Eureka, Arcata and Fortuna make up what are sometimes referred to locally as the Tri-Cities. The only other incorporated areas are Trinidad, Ferndale, Rio Dell and Blue Lake, each of which have populations of less than 2,000. In total, the county has a population of around 130,000.

Unincorporated towns in Humboldt include outlying suburbs of Eureka and Arcata such as Humboldt Hill, Elk River, Cutten, Myrtletown, Samoa, Mad River, Freshwater, Kneeland and the Four Corners area. One of the largest cities in Humboldt is not even a city. That would be the unincorporated town of McKinleyville, which hosts the county's only airport with commuter flights. It is officially known as "The Arcata-Eureka Airport in McKinleyville", better known to travelers under the airport code ACV.

The few remaining areas of the county are sparsely populated, especially Southern Humboldt. They include Garberville to the South, Willow Creek and Hoopa to the East and Orick to the North.

Humboldt County Transportation (or lack thereof)

Due to the remote nature of Humboldt County, many items such as gasoline, food, fuel, utilities and telecommunications services are priced far higher than they are in other parts of the state. A lack of transportation only makes this situation worse. The area has not had rail service in decades, and none is on the horizon. The county's largest airport is only capable of hosting small commuter planes, the majority of which are still prop-driven 30 seat aircraft locals have labeled "puddle jumpers". The airport is incapable of hosting typical 747's or large transport aircraft. Airline Ticket prices have traditionally been exorbitant to the point of ridicule. It is often cheaper to fly from most major cities to Hawaii than it is to fly to Humboldt, and that is if you are lucky enough to fly at a time when air traffic is not turned away due to fog. The fact that the Federal Aviation Administration has eliminated all local flight tower operations and now relies exclusively upon automated monitoring equipment had only made matters worse in recent years.

Bus service has dwindled over the past decade. Greyhound still provides limited service running North and South. Amtrak provides one-way bus service travelling East to Redding. Local bus service is provided by Humboldt Transit Authority. City buses are available both Eureka and Arcata. However, all of these buses run on very limited schedules and are effectively unavailable at night. Cab service is available from one major cab company, with at least one other small cab company known to be licensed. Typically speaking, a cab ride in Humboldt is fairly expensive though, and wait times can be as long as an hour. In the unfortunate event that your auto breaks down, you may be waiting closer to two hours for a tow truck.

Those who wish to drive in Humboldt County face some of the steepest gasoline prices in the nation. Although a number of official investigations have been launched, no one seems to be able to explain the area's unusually high gas prices, which are often lower in remote parts of the county than in populated areas. Strangely, the more populated areas are actually located closer to Humboldt Bay, where all of the area's petroleum distributors receive their shipments via a single tanker ship. The general consensus on why gas station owners charge so much more than in other areas of the country seems to boil down to a severe lack of competition and total disregard for the normal channels of supply and demand that drive most markets in the United States. Humboldt County is almost literally an island unto itself in more ways than one.

Humboldt County Roads are notoriously unreliable. Three "highways" currently run through the area. Highway 101 is the largest, which runs the entire North-South corridor and passes directly through its capital of Eureka. For the most part, all areas of any decent size population are located directly off Highway 101. Although 101 stretches from the Mexican border nearly all of the way to Canada, Humboldt's section of the highway is quite possibly the worst maintained and is often closed during the Winter for days at a time. Long stretches of the highway are only one lane in each direction and make for hazardous driving at even the best times of year. As of the moment, there are no plans for any type of extensive overhaul of Highway 101 in Humboldt. There have been many proposals over the years, but environmental or budgetary concerns usually derail any efforts to build a reliable alternative to the current route. Slides are common near the Humboldt and Mendocino County border, which at times result in the area becoming totally isolated from the outside world by land.

A Tale of Two Highways

Two highways cross Humboldt County from East to West. Highway 299 is impassable on a regular basis during the Winter, usually due to rock slides and/or snow in Eastern Humboldt or Trinity County near Weaverville. Sections of the highway are also subject to frequent delays during Spring and Summer due to road construction and repair by Cal-Trans. Since many parts of Trinity County can reach temperatures into the 120's during the Summer months, it is recommended that you do not use a vehicle without air-conditioning, especially if you are forced to stop for long periods of time while road maintenance is being performed. Most of these planned delays last 15-30 minutes, but can last upwards of an hour. That is more than long enough to fry you to a crisp at 120 degrees (with no shade) on asphalt inside of a sizzling four wheel coffin.

The majority of the highway is one lane in Each direction, with a 55 Mph speed limit (or less) the entire way. The highway eventually passes through the town of Redding to the East, where it meets up with a "real" highway, Interstate 5, sometimes called I5. The highway largely follows (roughly) the same route as the Trinity River thoughout most of Trinity County, up until it reaches the Trinity Dam near Lewiston. With the exception of Blue Lake, Highway 299 does not pass through or near any incorporated cities in Humboldt. Anyone taking this road would be wise to fill-up before heading East, as stretches between gas stations can be up to 40 miles. Most of highway 299 passes through forestry land owned by the State or Federal Government. This includes the largest national forest in the State of California the Shasta-Trinity National Forest which consists of a staggering 2,100,000 acres of wilderness areas, dams, lakes, rivers and campgrounds. There is a nice "what to see" guide on the website GORP.AWAY.COM if you want to know what you will be passing through along the way.

Bigfoot Has Left the Building

Willow Creek is the lone stop along Highway 299 before heading East to Trinity County, which is even more sparsely populated than Humboldt. This tiny town is currently a shadow of its former self. It's economy largely collapsed in the 1980's, along with the decline of the area's timber industry. The town is perhaps best known outside the area as the "Gateway to Bigfoot Country". Numerous sightings of the elusive creature were reported from the late 1950's to the 1970's. Unfortunately, Bigfoot has ceased making public appearances in recent years. Willow Creek is the nearest town of any population to the Bluff Creek area, where an infamous video of "something" was captured on film by photographer Roger Patterson. It is the probably the most widely circulated video and photographic "evidence" of the existence of the mythical creature. Willow Creek still holds a "Bigfoot Museum", a large wood statue carved of the creature and plenty of tacky t-shirts, postcards and trinkets to buy at the local grocery store. Having lived in the Willow Creek area and after meeting some of the "witnesses", I sadly have to conclude that the majority of sightings linking Bigfoot to the Willow Creek area have been largely hoaxes, practical jokes, drunken recollections and attempts by local businesspeople to increase tourism. It's not too big of a secret among the old-timers in the area that many of these shenanigans were staged. Most of the original hoaxers have taken their secrets to the grave though, and we will probably never be able to sort all of the outright hoaxes from legitimate sightings of "weirdness".

Highway 36 provides another opportunity to travel from East to West, meeting Interstate 5 at one point and continuing East until hitting U.S. Route 395 near Susanville. It is officially known as "State Route 36", although none of the locals refer it it as such. Much like Highway 299, it is impassable at times during the Winter, is difficult to drive and poorly maintained. You will see very little commercial traffic along this route, and populated areas are few and far between. Highway 36 passes through even more remote parts of Trinity County than Highway 299 does, if that is possible. Populations of towns along these highways is typically 20, or less, and few services are available after dark. Be highly cautious when driving either of these highways, especially during Winter. You are well-advised to carry chains, or at least travel using a four wheel drive vehicle. The prevalence of 4-wheel drive vehicles among local residents is no accident, nor is it some type of yuppie fashion statement. Anyone driving on Humboldt's roads or highways outside of the city limits, especially during Winter, is likely to face harsh road conditions. It's roads are plagued with snow, ice, sleet, hail, rain, runoff from local rivers or the ocean, potholes that are large enough to actually have their own names in some areas, mudslides, rock slides, wandering cattle, deer and other wild animals, transients near Eureka and Arcata, hitchhikers, abandoned vehicles and the list goes on. Suffice to say, Humboldt roads do not suffer from much gridlock, but they are affected greatly by the local climate and lack of funds to pay for its many needed repairs.

More to come...