Ukiah Valley is a

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

located in

Mendocino County Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish language, Spanish for "of Antonio de Mendoza, Mendoza) is a County (United States), county located on the North Coast (California), North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United Sta ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

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 territorie ...

. It contains the Mendocino County seat of Ukiah. It also is home to the unincorporated towns of

Redwood Valley Redwood Valley (formerly Basil) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located north of Ukiah, the county seat, at an elevation of , and comprises the northern portion of the Ukiah Valley. It i ...

, Calpella,

Potter Valley Potter Valley is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. It is located north-northeast of Ukiah, at an elevation of at the headwaters of the East Fork Russian River. The CDP population was 665 at the 2020 cens ...

and Talmage.

Lake Mendocino Lake Mendocino is a large reservoir in Mendocino County, California, northeast of Ukiah. It covers and was formed by the construction of Coyote Valley Dam in 1958. The lake and dam provide flood control, water conservation, hydroelectric powe ...

and the headwaters of the Russian River are located in the greater Ukiah valley. The river flows southeast through the valley, passing through a rocky constriction into the Sanel Valley to the south. While part of the greater Ukiah area, Willits is located to the north of the Ukiah Valley in Little Lake Valley, part of the Eel River drainage basin. It is connected to the Ukiah Valley by

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

over Ridgewood Summit. Linguistically, "Ukiah Valley" is redundant: "Ukiah" comes from the Central Pomo word ''yokaya'', meaning 'south valley'. The northern part of the valley was originally inhabited by the

Northern Pomo Northern Pomo is a critically endangered Pomoan language, spoken by the indigenous Pomo people in what is now called California. The speakers of Northern Pomo were traditionally those who lived in the northern and largest area of the Pomoan terr ...

, while the southern part was inhabited by the Central Pomo. The Central Pomo village of Yokaia, south of Ukiah, existed until the 20th century.

References

Valleys of Mendocino County, California Valleys of California {{MendocinoCountyCA-geo-stub