stories
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Stories
Lake Monsters: Here’s Why Sturgeon Grow to Be So Big in Shasta Lake
Massive sturgeon caught on Shasta Lake in 2018. Photo: Sou Saephan For anyone who’s been lucky enough to take a…
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Stories
Among Giants: The Story of the Activists Trying to Save Northern California’s Redwood Forest
How far would you go to stand up for what you believe in? For a group of activists in the…
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Video
UFO Over Lake Tahoe – Proof of Aliens or Elaborate Hoax?
A video on Lake Tahoe went viral worldwide as UFO experts attempt to dissect if it shows proof of alien…
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Stories
Meet the Mount Shasta Lizard: The Largest Known Marine Reptile to Ever Live on Earth
Illustration of what the Shastasaurus could look like In 1893, Stanford University’s James Perrin Smith went of a fossil-collecting expedition…
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Sacramento
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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Stories
Want to See What the Lemurian City in Mt. Shasta Looks Like? Here Are Illustrations From the Man Who Claims to Have Visited It.
Rendition of the city of Telo in Mount Shasta from Lowell Johnson In 2021 we learned about Lowell Johnson, the…
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History
The Yosemite Camping Trip that Changed America
I call it a successful camping trip if I don’t forget the mosquito repellant and a roll of TP. But…
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History
How John Muir Almost Died on the Slopes of Mount Shasta
Many people take the slopes of Mount Shasta for granted. You may see images of people from all over the…
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Hikes
Outside Magazine Lists the Best Hikes in Northern California National Parks. Here’s Our Take.
Photo by Saketh Garuda A list of the best hikes in every National Park in America was compiled by Outside Magazine,…
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Tahoe
Inside the $75 Million Lake Tahoe Mega-Mansion with a Hillside Tram
One of the most expensive mansions on Lake Tahoe is worth around $75 million and it’s one of the coolest…
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Uncategorized
The Adventures of Mark Twain in Northern California
People dream of coming to California to become the next Meryl Streep or Tom Hanks, but hardly the “father of…
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Shasta Cascade
The 5 Best Places to Go Stargazing Around Redding, California
Brought to you by Choose Redding Stars over Chaos Crags When summer arrives in Northern California, the night sky comes…
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Stories
Fighting Northern California Wildfires with a Helicopter Flamethrower
While massive wildfires continue to burn through Northern California, fire officials are always looking for new techniques to gain containment…
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Video
The West is on Fire: Short Film Documents the Lives of Surfing Firefighters in California
“I think that when people think of news here in California, they think of large-scale wildfires.” “The entire state’s a…
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Stories
Help One of Our Favorite NorCal Photographers as He Deals with 3rd Battle with Cancer
Jake and his daughter in the flowers below Lassen Peak Some of our favorite content in Northern California comes from…
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Outdoors
Yosemite is One of the Most Deadly Rock Climbing Destinations in the World. That’s Why It’s So Popular for Climbers.
Photo by Billy Onjea There are inherit dangers in any rock climbing scenario. Sturdy equipment, knowledge of your surroundings and climbing…
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Sacramento
The Bats of the Yolo Causeway Marvel Onlookers with Nightly ‘Batnadoe’
Flickr/Bev Sykes Every summer just west of Sacramento, roughly a quarter of a million migrating Mexican free-tailed bats settle at…
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Stories
The Mysterious Case of the UFO that Flew Over Northern California
The incident began at about 4:30 pm on a seemingly normal day in 2017 when the air traffic controller from…
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Stories
Nostalgic Northern California National Park Posters to Hang in Your Home
Rob Decker grew up in the Bay Area and found a love for National Parks at a young age. He…
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Video
Meet the Man Who Built an Off-the-Grid Watertopia Along the Trinity River
There are plenty of people who have built great properties in Northern California. While some people may point to the…
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Stories
The Story Behind the Famed Traffic Sign that Kept Getting Stolen in Weed, California
There have been far too many giggles from people driving through Northern California near Mount Shasta who come across the…
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North Coast
Watch Rob Lowe Search for Bigfoot in the Northern California Wilderness
It’s no secret that Northern California sits as the unofficial home of Bigfoot. So when Rob Lowe and his sons…
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History
The History Behind the Extravagant Castle Along the McCloud River
You’ve probably heard of the Hearst Castle, the magnificent residence of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst. But have you heard…
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Stories
Redding Woodworker Creates $65k Table from 1,500-Year-Old Redwood Tree
A woodworking company in Redding recently created a table from a 1,500-year-old redwood tree, selling it to a local restaurant…
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History
The Real Life Zorro: The Life and Legend of Joaquin Murieta
Some say he was a good man turned renegade when all he held dear was taken from him. Others claim…
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Video
Big Basin’s Story: How a Wildfire Completely Changed California’s Oldest State Park
On August 18, 2020, the CZU Lightning Complex Fire blazed through California’s oldest state park – the Big Basin Redwoods.…
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Stories
How We Witnessed the Filming of Top Gun: Maverick in Northern California
It was a beautiful morning in February 2020 when Brien O’Brien (Bob) and I began our 9-mile hike to Feather…
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Stories
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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Wildlife
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 YouTube,…
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History
The History of NorCal Names – How Redding Was Once Named ‘Reading’
Photo courtesy of the Shasta Historical Foundation Redding, California sits center stage in Northern California, nestled comfortably smack dab in…
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History
This Northern California Ghost Town is Cursed, According to its Visitors
Flickr/Robert Shea The workers at the Bodie State Historic Park are used to receiving letters in the mail talking about…
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Stories
Experience the Magical Sunflower Fields of Northern California
Photo: Pixabay During the summertime in Northern California, you may have found yourself lucky to drive through Woodland, Davis or…
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Sacramento
An Urban Hike to Explore Sacramento’s Spectacular Murals
Improv Alley in Sacramento’s Midtown District It was a beautiful day in Sacramento so I set out to take an…
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History
The Good Guys and Bad Guys of Historic Northern California – Part 1
Hollywood is obsessed with “good guys and bad guys,” and why not? There’s something very satisfying when good triumphs over…
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Stories
The Zodiac Signs as Northern California Destinations
Just like human beings around the world, the destinations of Northern California have distinct characteristics that can bring out thoughts…
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Stories
Why Are There Old Train Tracks Going Into Lake Tahoe?
If you’ve ever explored the breathtaking beaches of Lake Tahoe, you may have noticed a rare sight of railroad tracks…
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Stories
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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Stories
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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History
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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North Coast
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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Stories
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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Yosemite-Mammoth
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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News
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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History
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Destinations
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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Tahoe
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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North Coast
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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North Coast
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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History
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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Yosemite-Mammoth
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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History
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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History
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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Stories
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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Outdoors
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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History
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Shasta Cascade
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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Stories
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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Tahoe
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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Stories
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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Uncategorized
Could Parts of Northern California Become Uninhabitable?
Like a whole lot of people, I’ve been trying to avoid the question. Residents of NorCal tend to love where…
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Stories
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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Stories
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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History
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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History
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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Stories
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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History
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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North Coast
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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Stories
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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Photography
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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History
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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Sports
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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Outdoors
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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History
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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Stories
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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Destinations
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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Wildlife
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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Stories
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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Stories
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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