Benbow State Recreation Area is a state park unit of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. It is located in Humboldt County south of Garberville on U.S. Route 101 on the

South Fork Eel River The South Fork Eel River is the largest tributary of the Eel River in north-central California in the United States. The river flows north from Laytonville to Dyerville/Founders' Grove where it joins the Eel River. The South Fork drains a long ...

. Benbow dam was constructed across the South Fork Eel River in 1931 to provide

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

for development in Garberville, impounding a reservoir. The Benbow family, interested in preserving the natural scene along the river, made efforts to place the land under state protection. In 1956 funds were approved for the Benbow Project and the first were purchased in 1958.Benbow Lake State Recreation Area.
/ref> Due to the negative impact on the migrating salmon and damage to the river banks, work began to remove the dam in August 2016. In the winter of 2017, removal of the dam was completed. The park has grown to . There are

campsites A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using ten ...

and a large day-use picnic area.

Hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, picnicking and camping are popular summer time activities, while

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

and

steelhead Steelhead, or occasionally steelhead trout, is the common name of the anadromous form of the coastal rainbow trout or redband trout (O. m. gairdneri). Steelhead are native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific basin in Northeast Asia and ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...

are popular in the winter. Benbow State Recreation Area

References

{{Eel River California State Recreation Areas Campgrounds in California Parks in Humboldt County, California Protected areas established in 1958 1958 establishments in California

See also

References