Stories
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May- 2022 -4 May
The Rich History of Star Wars in Northern California
It was in the 1950’s, just east of the Bay Area in Modesto, California, where a young man named George…
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4 May
How Star Wars Transformed the Northern California Redwoods into Endor for ‘Return of the Jedi’
In the early 1980’s, the third installment of the wildly popular Star Wars franchise was in production, and creator George…
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Apr- 2022 -26 April
The 6 Most Grueling Hikes in Northern California
Sometimes the snowy slopes of Mt. Shasta can look more like Everest. Photo by Todd Diemer The vast wilderness of Northern…
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19 April
Courageous Explorer or Bloodthirsty Killer? The Sobering Truth About Kit Carson in Northern California
Who hasn’t heard of Kit Carson, the steely mountain man, courageous explorer, military hero, character in numerous dime novels and…
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17 April
Eel River Dam Removal is Moving Forward. It Will Create California’s Longest Free-Flowing River.
On Thursday, PG&E’s 50-year license for the Eel River Dams expired, with the company opting against renewing the costly Potter…
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17 April
The Easter Lily Capital of the World Sits Right Here in Northern California
The Easter Lily make a great centerpiece to any Easter dinner surrounded by family and friends. And it’s very likely…
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11 April
The Weird Controversy Behind the New ‘Tenaya Stone’ at Disneyland
Photo: Disneyland Resort Disneyland recently opened the Tenaya Stone Spa at the Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa, boasting a…
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11 April
Geologists War ‘Ring of Fire’ Volcanoes in Northern California are Due to Erupt
Photo by Deanna Lewis With the volcanic eruption of Kilauea in Hawaii last year, geologists are on high alert for the…
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10 April
Historic Photos Show Lumberjacks Chopping Down the Giant Northern California Redwoods
Northern California is known for being the home of some of the oldest and largest trees in the world. The…
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2 April
Guardians of the River: How the Yurok Tribe is Fighting to Save their Sacred Klamath
“Being a Yurok person, the river is our lifeblood. It’s just as important as the air we breathe.” The project…
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Mar- 2022 -31 March
Literary Review: ‘A Wall of White’ Humanizes One of the Deadliest Avalanches in American History
The list of special places in NorCal is endless, but besides getting out there and forming your own impressions, it’s…
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31 March
Remembering the Massive Avalanche at Alpine Meadows that Killed 7 and Changed the Tahoe Community Forever
In the 70’s and 80’s, ski resorts were rated for their avalanche danger with a scale of A through F…
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27 March
Ancient Aliens Dives Deep into the Mysteries and Unexplained Disappearances of Mount Shasta
The mysteries of Mount Shasta have been heavily documented on this website. Our admitted obsession with the iconic mountain and…
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17 March
22 Jaw-Dropping Outdoor Destinations to Visit in Northern California in 2022
We did it! We survived 2021! With a crazy year in the rearview mirror, it’s about time we look forward…
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Jan- 2022 -31 January
Short Film Explains the Importance of Removing the Word ‘Squaw’ from the Tahoe Basin
We have seen the typical “comment section warrior” nonsense when it comes to the name change surrounding what is now…
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31 January
Unique Northern California Redwood Forest Permanently Returned to its Indigenous Tribe
Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ, 523 acres of forestland donated to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council. Photo by Max Forster, courtesy of Save the…
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24 January
Everything You Need to Know About Jason Segel’s New Movie Filmed Entirely in Northern California
At the end of 2020, a Hollywood film crew descended on Humboldt County to film Jason Segel’s newest movies. With…
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12 January
These Stagecoach Drivers Were the Rock Stars of California in the 1800’s
Mark Twain tried, but no matter how good a storyteller you are, you just can’t make this stuff up. Historic…
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11 January
Why Are There License Plates Sticking Out of Trees in Yosemite National Park?
Photo: National Park Service If you’re on a summer hike in Yosemite National Park, you may come across one of…
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11 January
Dog Lost in Caldor Fire Found 4 Months Later in the Snowy Sierra
Photo: Tahoe PAWS a Community Animal Response Team When the Caldor Fire moved through the mountains west of South Lake…
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4 January
The Top 10 Active NorCal Stories from 2021
Another great year here at Active NorCal! The New Year brings new vitality at the Active NorCal office as we…
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Dec- 2021 -20 December
NorCal Nerds: What Did Northern California Look Like Millions of Years Ago?
One of Active NorCal’s priorities is inspiring people to get out there and get active, to get off the couch…
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16 December
How to Shop Local this Holiday Season in Siskiyou County
Brought to you by Discover Siskiyou Five Marys Farms The Holiday season has arrived in Northern California and we couldn’t…
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14 December
NorCal Rocks: The Fascinating Geological Story of Northern California
Lassen Peak Geology is not considered terribly exciting, probably because most of it happens in ultra, ultra, ultra slow-motion. But…
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6 December
Famed Pioneer Stephen Meek Arrived in Northern California in the 1800’s. He Was Probably Just Lost.
When Christopher Columbus discovered the “New World,” (Cuba and the Bahamas, really) he was convinced he had landed on the…
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Nov- 2021 -22 November
Who Was Jim Beckwourth? A Life as Big as America
How do you take the measure of a man? It usually begins with facts documented and witnessed by credible sources.…
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4 November
A Guide to Cutting Down Your Own Christmas Tree in the Northern California Wilderness
It’s that time of year again. With the holiday season upon us in Northern California, it’s time to knock the…
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Oct- 2021 -31 October
20 Horror Movies That Take Place in Northern California
Laurie Strode had a Northern California family reunion with her psychopathic brother Michael Myers in Halloween H2O Northern California is…
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22 October
Remembering the Great Flood that Put Northern California Under 30 Feet of Water
If you take a look at Northern California on a map, it will show a large valley right down the…
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20 October
50 Years Later, this Bigfoot Footage Filmed in Northern California Keeps the Legend Alive
Bigfoot remains one of the most popular legends and mysteries in the United States. Thousands of sightings and the never…
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20 October
How NorCal’s Outdoor Opportunities Stack Up Against Yellowstone National Park
Photo by Steven Cordes I gotta admit, I’m torn on this one. I’ve recently returned from a fishing trip to Yellowstone…
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19 October
The Largest Corn Maze in the World Sits Right Here in Northern California
In Dixon, California sits a 63-acre fall utopia with a pumpkin patch, hay rides and the largest corn maze in…
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18 October
Remembering the Deadly 75-Foot Tidal Wave that Leveled Crescent City in 1964
Beginning in Northern California and running all the way up to Alaska in the Pacific Ocean sits multiple fault lines…
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11 October
Could Mount Shasta Bring America’s Next Great Volcanic Eruption?
The recent volcanic history of Mount Shasta eludes us. For a long time, the last eruption was believed to be…
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11 October
Why Does Whiskeytown Lake Stay Full of Water Year-Round?
With Northern California’s lakes and rivers experiencing drastically low water levels from the historic drought, there’s one lake you can…
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Sep- 2021 -30 September
Famed Camp Fire Muralist Brings His Hauntingly Beautiful Art to Greenville
When the Camp Fire burned through the town of Paradise in 2018, muralist Shane Grammer decided to bring his art…
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30 September
Experience the Beautiful Fall Salmon Run on the Klamath River
Brought to you by Discover Siskiyou It’s fall in Northern California, which means the salmon who were once hatched in…
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27 September
Has Infighting Between CalFire and the Forest Service Slowed Firefighting Efforts in Northern California?
The brave firefighters battling the dangerous and fast-moving fires in Northern California put their lives on the line to protect…
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21 September
Dear Armchair Experts – This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things
It’s the internet age. Everyone’s done their own “research” and thinks they are an expert on everything. It’s become a…
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20 September
How to Hike Like a Local in California’s Far North
Brought to you by Discover Siskiyou Photo by Stephen Leonardi If you ask any local in Siskiyou County, there’s no better…
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20 September
Journal of a First-Time Home Brewer – Part 1: Overcoming Anxiety and Finding a Recipe
I never knew there was such a thing as “brewer’s anxiety,” until it smacked me in the face. While it…
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13 September
Palisades Prognostications: Why Squaw Valley Got it Right with its New Name and Logo
We’ve deliberated for more than a decade about whether Squaw Valley should change its name. Today, the right decision was…
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13 September
How the Grizzly Bear Became the Symbol of California
The California Bear Flag (the official state flag of California) hardly gets any love despite flying over virtually every government…
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Aug- 2021 -16 August
Are There Frozen Bodies at the Bottom of Lake Tahoe?
Sitting at 6,225 feet elevation as the largest alpine lake in North America, there is plenty to be fascinated with…
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11 August
An Inside Look at the UC Davis Master Brewers Program – One of the Most Prestigious in America
Photo: Gregory Urquiaga/UC Davis Residents of NorCal love their beer. But how many knew the oldest and most prestigious Master…
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9 August
Jedediah Smith’s Travels Through Northern California – Part 2: Strong Was His Middle Name
Every time he visited California he got arrested. When a grizzly bear chewed off his hair and ear, he had…
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1 August
Jedediah Smith’s Travels Through Northern California – Part 1: The First White Settlers of NorCal
There is little doubt the standards have changed for what it means to qualify as a “bad dude.” NorCal has…
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Jul- 2021 -28 July
Man Claims to Have Recently Visited with Lemurians Inside Mount Shasta
Since diving deep into the legends of Lemurians in Mount Shasta (and posting my findings on this website), I have…
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26 July
How the Carr Fire Ushered ‘The New Normal’ into Northern California
On July 23rd, 2018, a flat tire on a trailer sparked a wildfire in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area. 39…
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19 July
Remembering the Deadly 1996 Rockfall that Sent 90,000 Tons of Rock into Yosemite Valley
July 19, 2021 marked the 25th anniversary of the 1996 Happy Isles rockfall in Yosemite National Park. The deadly incident…
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13 July
Inside Union Pacific’s Harrowing Attempt to Save the Dry Canyon Bridge During the Lava Fire
The Lava Fire damaged the Union Pacific Dry Creek Bridge. UP is working on repairs and estimate the bridge to…
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13 July
Short Film Documents Off-The-Grid Oasis in the Northern California Redwoods
In 1968, Charles Bello and his wife Vanna Rae bought 400 acres of redwood forested land in Mendocino County and…
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11 July
An Ode to Squirrels: The Badass Rodents Living in Your Backyard
Photo by Simone Mascellari 🇮🇹 When a buddy asked if I had seen any of the “Squirrel vs. Rattlesnake” videos on…
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Jun- 2021 -22 June
Behind the Photo: Capturing Historic Structures at a Drought-Ridden Shasta Lake
With another drought causing low water levels in Northern California, we wanted to revisit a unique story of historic structures…
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9 June
The Bizarre Stories of Paranormal Encounters in Lassen Volcanic National Park
We all know Lassen Volcanic National Park as the beautiful outdoor destination in Northern California free from crowds and full…
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3 June
9 Fascinating Historical Gems to Visit in Siskiyou County
Brought to you by Discover Siskiyou Photo by Richard Lee When gold was discovered in the American River in the 1800’s,…
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May- 2021 -19 May
Meet Tahoe’s Youngest Pro Snowboarder – 5-Year-Old Leland the Falcon
Instagram/@lelandthefalcon When Chuck Vogt, founder of Tahoe Longboards, took 2-year-old Leland to the slopes with a tiny snowboard for the…
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18 May
The Dumbest Things I’ve Done in NorCal: Swimming Across the Sacramento River
Photo by Tony Webster Don’t try it. Redding in the summertime is a study in contrasts, contrasts that can be…
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16 May
The Dumbest Things I’ve Done in NorCal: A Poison Oak Nightmare on Hatchet Creek
If you buy into the notion that we learn best from our mistakes, I must be one of the smartest…
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12 May
Searching for Fishing Solitude in Northern California
Reasons people have for needing to escape the rat race are endless, but the fact remains that we all do.…
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10 May
This Northern California Town is the Closest to ‘Shangri-La’ According to the Author Who Coined the Term
Photo: California Outdoor Propoerties Shangri-la is a fictional place featured in the 1933 novel Lost Horizon written by British author…
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4 May
Meet the Women Who Kayaked 450-Miles from Mount Shasta to San Francisco Bay
Instagram/@sacsource2sea The Sacramento River is a vital waterway in Northern California. Bursting out of the rocks below Mount Shasta and…
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Apr- 2021 -15 April
Ishi: The Last California ‘Wild Indian’ We Never Really Knew
Ishi making a wood harpoon in Deer Creek in 1914 Most California school kids have heard the story of Ishi,…
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14 April
The Naked Truth: Stories of Skinny-Dippers and Fly Fishing in Northern California
I have nothing against naked people, and particularly respect their ability to garner interest at the beginning of a story.…
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Mar- 2021 -26 March
Hiker Discovers Tree Growing Over the Trail in Redwood National Park
The Redwood National and State Parks are full of many wonders. The park system holds the three tallest trees in…
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25 March
How Wildlife Officials Survey Northern California’s Dead Salmon to Help the Living
Curtis Brownfield, fish biologist for the Service, checks the tag number on a salmon carcass pulled up from the depths…
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22 March
How ‘Euro-Nymphing’ Originated in Northern California
Joe Kimsey was a fishing legend on the Upper Sacramanto River If you refer to that fly rod as a…
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20 March
Short Film Celebrates the World’s Highest Elevation Composting Toilet Atop Mount Shasta
With the many people visiting the high elevation areas of Mount Shasta each year, various organizations go to great lengths…
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18 March
Sasquatch: Get a Sneak Peak at Hulu’s New True Crime Documentary About Bigfoot in Northern California
Hollywood is once again diving deep into the world of Bigfoot, this time through a true crime documentary set in…
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12 March
Point Reyes Has a Big Poop Problem
Photo by Claude Piché Point Reyes National Seashore is one of the gems of the National Park System in Northern California.…
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10 March
The 10 Natural Wonders of Northern California
Photo by Casey Horner The outdoor surroundings of Northern California make it one of the most beautiful places on the planet.…
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10 March
Redwoods Rising is Putting Northern California’s Damaged Forests on a Better Path
Save the Redwoods League, California State Parks, and National Park Service staff touring a Redwoods Rising restoration site in Redwood…
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9 March
Getting High on Mount Shasta with John Muir
“If I were you,†he said as he passed by, “I’d head back down the mountain. Storm’s brewing.†His words…
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3 March
6 Legendary Road Trips for Outdoor Adventurers Near Redding, California
Road tripping is a time-honored tradition for outdoor adventurers. There’s nothing like feeling the excitement of your upcoming trip while…
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Feb- 2021 -24 February
The Time I Snowboarded with Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White in Tahoe
It was a normal spring day at Northstar-at-Tahoe in 2009. This was my fifth consecutive winter with a season pass…
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23 February
The Mystery Behind Rattlesnake Dick’s Lost Treasure in the Trinity Mountains
Richard Barter AKA “Rattlesnake Dick” Richard Barter lived a life of crime in the Gold Rush era of the 1800’s…
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22 February
This Zillow Listing for a House in Tahoe is the Weirdest Thing You’ll See Today
On the surface, a house for sale in South Lake Tahoe is pretty standard. The multi-family home is just over…
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16 February
The Bizarre Story of the Horse that Summited Mount Shasta in 1903
Photo by Sébastien Goldberg Who isn’t fascinated with standing on top of NorCal’s premier active volcano, the formidable Mt. Shasta? Beyond…
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10 February
How a Tech Billionaire Lost $128 Million Buying a Lake Tahoe Vacation Home
Lake Tahoe has become a refuge for tech billionaires to vacation away from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley.…
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8 February
Why Mt. Shasta Remains Mysterious – Dissecting 4 ‘Facts’ About the Mountain
Photo by Stephen Leonardi One day I was up in Oregon and pulled into the “Peter Skene Ogden State Scenic Viewpoint 
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5 February
Getting High on Mount Shasta with John Muir – Part 3 Finale
Read Part 1 Read Part 2 Lightning, heavy winds, hail and deepening snow pummeled intrepid mountaineers John Muir and Jerome…
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2 February
Getting High on Mount Shasta with John Muir – Part 2
John Muir and Jerome Fay made it to the summit by 7:30am on that fateful day in 1875. That’s right…
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1 February
Getting High on Mt. Shasta with John Muir – Part 1
“If I were you,†he said as he passed by, “I’d head back down the mountain. Storm’s brewing.†His words…
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1 February
Artist Builds Giant Buddha Snow Sculpture in Downtown Mount Shasta
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mei Drucker (@meidrucker) Snowmageddon 2021 brought plenty of snow to Mount…
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Jan- 2021 -28 January
Will the Yosemite Firefall Happen in 2021?
Photo by Steve Corey During a two-week span in February, photographers and nature lovers alike flock to Yosemite’s Horsetail Falls…
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26 January
Exploring the Point Reyes Shipwreck of Tomales Bay
Photo by Stephen Leonardi It’s rare to see an accident with such size and historical significance sit in its original location.…
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19 January
Potter Creek Cave: the Coolest Northern California Cave You Can’t Visit
It’s larger than Shasta Caverns. Extinct ground sloths were found there, the first ever in California. Sharp-faced bears, the most…
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17 January
The Magical Candelabra Trees of Northern California’s Lost Coast
Photo by Stephen Leonardi One of the most beautiful places on the planet sits in Northern California and you’ve probably never…
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8 January
The Top 10 Weather Events of the Past Decade in Northern California
The landscape of Northern California is especially diverse. From the Pacific Ocean beaches to the snowy peaks of the Sierra…
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Dec- 2020 -31 December
The Most Read Active NorCal Articles of 2020
2020 is in the books… Thank goodness! We can all admit that this year has been rough for everyone. With…
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22 December
The River Why? A Little-Known Movie That Any Angler Would Enjoy
The novel was published in 1983, and the movie came out in 2010. So why are we finally getting around…
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18 December
Monolith Photographed Over Lake Tahoe Revealed as Prank
You’ve probably seen the numerous monoliths appearing around the world, beginning with the famed structure found in rural Utah in…
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14 December
This Truck Dangling From a Humboldt Tree is a Mysterious Piece of Art
It’s been said that some people in Humboldt are weird. Heck, it’s the charm of the place. Known for it’s…
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11 December
The Legend of Captain Dick – The Hermit of Lake Tahoe’s Emerald Bay
Emerald Bay’s Fannette Island was once the home of Captain Dick. Photo by Patrick Minero. In the mid-1800’s, there weren’t many…
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10 December
Biking from the Sundial Bridge to Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River Trail
We’ve all felt like we were going in circles at some point in our lives, but just maybe there’s an…
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10 December
Tour a $44 Million Lake Tahoe Mansion with a Private Beach
Let’s be honest – we all have dreamed of living in a mansion on Lake Tahoe. With money pouring into…
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4 December
Ski A Volcano: The History of the Lassen Ski Area
Large groups of skier in Lassen – 1936. PHOTO BY JERVIE HENRY EASTMAN, COURTESY DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS, GENERALLIBRARY, UNIVERSITY…
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4 December
How Will Dam Removal Impact Fishing on the Klamath River?
Northern California is pretty famous for good fishing. In fact, I‘ve often wondered how much this may have to do…
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1 December
We Asked What Squaw Valley’s New Name Should Be. Here’s What You Said.
Squaw Valley Resort has a monumental task of coming up with a new name, following their announcement that they would change it…
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1 December
What’s the Deal with the Perfectly Symmetrical Tree Plots in the Sierra Nevada?
Google Earth If you were to approach these select plot of trees from the ground, you may not know something…
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