Northern Mountains

Introducing Northern Mountains

When visitors envision Northern California - even when Californians picture Northern California - their mental images are of cable cars, redwoods, foggy wharfs, grapevines, wild coasts and a tall orange bridge…all beautiful and accurate. But there is another Northern California, a northern Northern California that has yet to fill the pages of the imagination.

Nearly 37 million people live in the Golden State, more than any other, and it’s the country’s number one tourist destination. Yet in this most populous, most visited state in the Union there remains a hidden corner of untouched wonder, where few live and few venture.

Vast expanses of untamed wilderness cover the Northern Mountains region. The terrain courses with rivers and streams, and cobalt lakes grace alpine peaks. The region is lightly populated and the intimate towns beckon with charm and lore. Here you’ll encounter all the natural splendor of Yosemite and all the ‘49er romance of the Gold Country. There is only one thing the Sierra has that this counterpart lacks…crowds. Even in peak summer the region’s biggest draws, Mt Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Park, are accessible and calm.

What has safeguarded the beauty thus far is this: of the approximately 24, 000 sq miles that comprise the region, roughly 65% is protected national forest. Still, where growth is possible it is flourishing, and recently public land has been exposed to private development. Ex-urbanites are drawn here in the hope of mining this era’s gold - space and tranquillity. For now, however, the Northern Mountains remain California’s most innocent and wild frontier.

Last updated: Mar 2, 2009