Mendocino County (; ''Mendocino'', Spanish for "of Mendoza") is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

located on the North Coast of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 91,601. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Ukiah. Mendocino County consists wholly of the Ukiah, California Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA) for the purposes of the U.S. Census Bureau. It is located approximately equidistant from the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

and California/

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

border, separated from the

Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...

to the east by the

California Coast Ranges The Coast Ranges of California span from Del Norte County, California, Del Norte or Humboldt County, California, south to Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County. The other three coastal California mountain ranges are the Trans ...

. While smaller areas of redwood forest are found farther south, it is the southernmost California county to be included in the World Wildlife Fund's Pacific temperate rainforests ecoregion, the largest

temperate rainforest Temperate rainforests are rainforests with coniferous or Broad-leaved tree, broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rainforests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate ...

ecoregion on Earth. The county is noted for its distinctive

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

coastline, its location along California's " Lost Coast", redwood forests, wine production,

microbrew Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

s, and liberal views about the use of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

and support for its legalization. In 2009, it was estimated that roughly one-third of the economy was based on the cultivation of marijuana. Mendocino is one of three Northern California counties to make up the "

Emerald Triangle The Emerald Triangle is a region in Northern California that derives its name from being the largest cannabis-producing region in the United States. The region includes three counties in an upside-down triangular configuration: * Humboldt Coun ...

", along with Humboldt and Trinity counties.

History

Mendocino County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. Due to an initially minor settler American population, it did not have a separate government until 1859 and was under the administration of

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

prior to that. Some of the county's land was given to Sonoma County between 1850 and 1860. The county derives its name from

Cape Mendocino Cape Mendocino ( Spanish: ''Cabo Mendocino'', meaning "Cape of Mendoza"), which is located approximately north of San Francisco, is located on the Lost Coast entirely within Humboldt County, California, United States. At 124° 24' 34" W longit ...

(most of which is actually located in adjacent Humboldt County), which was probably named in honor of either

Antonio de Mendoza Antonio de Mendoza (1495 – 21 July 1552) was a Spanish colonial administrator who was the first viceroy of New Spain, serving from 14 November 1535 to 25 November 1550, and the second viceroy of Peru, from 23 September 1551, until his d ...

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the Anglo-Norman ''roy'' (Old Frenc ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, 1535–1542 (who sent the

Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (; 1497 – January 3, 1543) was a Portuguese maritime explorer best known for investigations of the west coast of North America, undertaken on behalf of the Spanish Empire. He was the first European to explore presen ...

Expedition to this coast in 1542),https://archive.org/stream/bub_gb_m8FQAQAAIAAJ/bub_gb_m8FQAQAAIAAJ_djvu.txt Cape Mendocino was named in honor of Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of New Spain. He was appointed by the emperor, and, arriving in the city of Mexico in 1535, ordered a survey of the coast of California, wherein the cape was discovered. The county was named after the cape. ''History of Northern California'', p. 138. or Lorenzo Suárez de Mendoza, Viceroy from 1580 to 1583. ''Mendocino'' is the adjectival form of the

family name In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

of Mendoza. Neither Spanish nor Mexican influence extended into Mendocino County beyond the establishment of two Mexican land grants in southern Mendocino County: Rancho Sanel in Hopland, in 1844 and Rancho Yokaya that forms the majority of the Ukiah Valley, in 1845. In the 19th century, despite the establishment of the Mendocino Indian Reservation and Nome Cult Farm in 1856, the county witnessed many of the most serious atrocities in the extermination of the Californian Native American tribes who originally lived in the area, like the Yuki, the

Pomo The Pomo are a Indigenous peoples of California, Native American people of California. Historical Pomo territory in Northern California was large, bordered by the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast to the west, extending inland to ...

, the Cahto, and the Wintun. The systematic occupation of their lands, the reduction of many of their members into slavery and the raids against their settlements led to the Mendocino War in 1859, where hundreds of Indians were killed. Establishment of the

Round Valley Indian Reservation Round or rounds may refer to: Mathematics and science * Having no sharp corners, as an ellipse, circle, or sphere * Rounding, reducing the number of significant figures in a number * Round number, ending with one or more zeroes * Round (crypto ...

on March 30, 1870, did not prevent the segregation that continued well into the 20th century. Other tribes from the Sierra Nevada mountains were also relocated to the Round Valley Indian Reservation during the "California Trail Of Tears", where the Natives were forced to march in bad conditions to their new home in Round Valley. Many of these tribes thrown together were not on good terms with the other tribes they were forced to live with on the reservation, resulting in tensions still evident today.

Boundary dispute with Trinity County

In the first half of the 1850's the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

established that the boundaries of Mendocino and

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

counties was the

40th parallel north Following are circles of latitude between the 35th parallel north and the 40th parallel north: 36th parallel north The 36th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 36 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, t ...

. Both county boards of supervisors hired the

surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...

W.H. Fauntleroy to survey the parallel, which he completed on October 30, 1872. The accuracy of the boundary was doubtful, and by 1891 the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors requested the California surveyor-general to survey the line and establish the boundary between the two counties. The new line, as surveyed by Sam H. Rice and approved by the

California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). The ...

on December 18, 1891, was found to be two miles north of the common boundary surveyed by Fauntleroy, thereby resulting in Trinity County exercising jurisdiction two miles south of the 40th parallel north. Between 1891 and 1907, both counties claimed that the two-mile-wide strip of land belonged to themselves and not the other, with both counties attempting to levy and collect

property tax A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or Wealth t ...

es on land in the strip. In 1907, Trinity County sued Mendocino County in a Tehama County court to settle the dispute. The

trial court A trial court or court of first instance is a court having original jurisdiction, in which trials take place. Appeals from the decisions of trial courts are usually heard by higher courts with the power of appellate review (appellate courts). ...

in Tehama County ruled in favor of Trinity County, even though the land was situated south of the 40th parallel and state law stated that lands south of that parallel belonged to Mendocino County. The

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

upheld the ruling of the trial court since Section 10 of the special act of March 30, 1872 (Stats. 1871-2, p. 766), which concerned this boundary and was the act under which Fauntleroy acted under, authorized the survey of the theretofore unknown location of the 40th parallel north, stated that "the lines run out, marked and defined as required by this act are hereby declared to be the true boundary lines of the counties named herein", thereby making the law in the political code which defined the boundary as the 40th parallel north only a suggestion and not a fact. The legislature subsequently affirmed this decision, with the modern statute defining the borders of the two counties referencing the survey of Fauntleroy as being the boundary between the two counties instead of the 40th parallel north.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (9.6%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Humboldt County – north * Trinity County – north * Tehama County – northeast * Glenn County – east * Lake County – east *

– south

Rivers

* Albion River * Alder Creek * Bear Haven Creek * Bee Branch Creek * Bee Tree Creek * Beebe Creek * Big River * Big Salmon Creek * Eel River (inland) * Elk Creek * Gualala River * Garcia River * Little River * Little Salmon Creek *

Navarro River The Navarro River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 9, 2011 river in Mendocino County, California, United States. It flows northwest through the California Coas ...

* Noyo River * Pudding Creek * Russian River (inland) * Ten Mile River * Virgin Creek * Usal Creek

Beaches

* Big River Beach * Caspar Headlands State Beach * Van Damme Beach * Greenwood State Beach * Seaside Beach * Westport-Union Landing State Beach * Manchester State Beach * Navarro Beach * Portuguese Beach * Schooner Gulch State Beach * Long Valley Creek * 10 Mile Creek * Glass Beach

National and state protected areas

* Admiral William Standley State Recreation Area * Caspar Headlands State Recreation Area * Hendy Woods State Park * Jug Handle State Reserve * MacKerricher State Park * Mailliard Redwoods State Natural Reserve * Manchester State Park * Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens * Mendocino Headlands State Park * Mendocino National Forest * Mendocino Woodlands State Park * Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve * Navarro River Redwoods State Park * Point Arena State Marine Reserve & Point Arena State Marine Conservation Area * Point Cabrillo Light Station * Reynolds Wayside Campground *

* Russian Gulch State Park * Saunders Reef State Marine Conservation Area * Sea Lion Cove State Marine Conservation Area * Sinkyone Wilderness State Park * Smythe Redwoods State Reserve * Standish-Hickey State Recreation Area * Van Damme State Park

Flora and fauna

Demographics

2020 census

2011

Places by population, race, and income

2010 Census

The 2010 United States census reported that Mendocino County had a population of 87,841. The racial makeup of Mendocino County was 67,218 (76.5%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 622 (0.7%)

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 4,277 (4.9%) Native American, 1,450 (1.7%) Asian, 119 (0.1%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 10,185 (11.6%) from other races, and 3,970 (4.5%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 19,505 persons (22.2%).

2000

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 86,265 people, 33,266 households, and 21,855 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 36,937 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 80.8%

, 0.6%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 4.8% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.2%

, 8.6% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. 16.5% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 12.2% were of German, 10.8% English, 8.6% Irish, 6.1%

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

and 5.6% American ancestry according to Census 2000. 84.4% spoke English and 13.2% Spanish as their first language. There were 33,266 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.3% were non-families. 27.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53 and the average family size was 3.04. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 27.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. The median income for a household in the county was $35,996, and the median income for a family was $42,168. Males had a median income of $33,128 versus $23,774 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $19,443. About 10.9% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 21.5% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Government

As of 2023, the

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

of Mendocino County is C. David Eyster, the elected

Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

Coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

is Matthew C. Kendall and the chief executive officer is Darcie Antle. Mendocino County is legislatively governed by a board of five supervisors, each with a separate district. The first district is represented by Glenn McGourty, and serves the central-eastern region of the county, including Potter Valley, Redwood Valley, Calpella, and Talmage. The second district, represented by Maureen Mulheren, serves Ukiah. The third district, in the northeastern quadrant of the county from Willits north to Laytonville and Covelo, is represented by John Haschak. The fourth district covers the northwestern quadrant of the county, including the coast from

Caspar Caspar is a masculine given name. It may refer to: People * Caspar (magus), a name traditionally given to one of the Three Magi in the Bible who brought the baby Jesus gifts *Caspar Austa (born 1982), Estonian cyclist *Caspar Badrutt (1848–1904) ...

northwards through

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

; its supervisor is Dan Gjerde, who previously served on the Fort Bragg City Council. The supervisor for the fifth district is Ted Williams; his district covers the southern portion of the county, including the coast from Mendocino to Gualala, the

Anderson Valley Anderson Valley is a sparsely populated region in western Mendocino County in Northern California. Located approximately north of San Francisco, the name "Anderson Valley" applies broadly to several rural, unincorporated communities in or nea ...

, the western outskirts of Ukiah, and portions of the Russian River valley near Hopland.

Politics

Voter registration statistics

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

Mendocino is a strongly Democratic county in presidential and congressional elections. The last Republican to win a majority in the county was Californian

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

. However, in the 2016 election, Mendocino County gave Hillary Clinton a reduced margin of victory of any Democrat since Al Gore (though support for third-party candidates more than doubled from 2012). In 2020 the county was won by Joe Biden with an increased margin of victory from the previous election. Federally, Mendocino County is in . In the state legislature Mendocino is in , and . As of February 2021, the

California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...

reports that Mendocino County has 54,505 registered voters. Of those, 26,648 (48.9%) are registered Democratic; 11,387 (20.9%) are registered Republican; 4,389 (8.1%) are registered with other political parties, and 12,082 (22.1%) declined to state a political party. In 2000, Mendocino County voters approved Measure G, which calls for the decriminalization of marijuana when used and cultivated for personal use. Measure G passed with a 58% majority vote, making it the first county in the United States to declare prosecution of small-scale marijuana offenses the "lowest priority" for local law enforcement. Measure G does not protect individuals who cultivate, transport or possess marijuana for sale. However, Measure G was passed at the local government level affecting only Mendocino County, and therefore does not affect existing state or federal laws. The city of Berkeley has had a similar law (known as the Berkeley Marijuana Initiative II) since 1979 which has generally been found to be unenforceable. In 2008, the Mendocino County Board of Supervisors placed Measure B on the June 3 county-wide ballot. After three months of hard-fought campaigning and national attention, voters narrowly approved "B", which repealed the provisions of 2000's Measure G. However, opponents of Measure B intend to continue the challenge in court, as the wording of Measure B relies heavily on S.B. 420's state limitations which were recently ruled unconstitutional by the California supreme court. On July 3, the Sheriff and District Attorneys offices announced that they would not be enforcing the new regulations for the time being, citing pending legal challenges and conflicts with existing state law. In April 2009, Sheriff Tom Allman issued his department's medical marijuana enforcement policy, which includes the provisions of Measure B and also cites the California Supreme Court Ruling narrowly defining "caregiver" in the state's medical marijuana law. In 2004, Measure H was passed in Mendocino County with a 56% majority, making it the first county in the United States to ban the production and cultivation of

genetically modified organism A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...

s. On November 4, 2008, Mendocino County voted 63.1% against Proposition 8 which amended the California Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

Crime

The following table includes the number of incidents reported and the rate per 1,000 persons for each type of offense.

Cities by population and crime rates

A coroner's jury ruled that the 2018

Hart family crash The Hart family murders was a murder–suicide which took place on March 26, 2018, in Mendocino County, California, United States. Jennifer Hart (38) and her wife, Sarah Hart (38), killed themselves and their six adopted children: Ciera (12), ...

in Mendocino County was deliberate.

Media

Mendocino County is considered part of the

television market, and primarily receives the major Bay Area TV stations. The county is also served by local and regional newspapers as well as a community radio stations. Community radio stations include KZYX, operating out of Philo, and KLLG, operating out of the Little Lake Grange in Willits. The Humboldt County-based KMUD is also receivable in large parts of the county. Local independent newspapers include the online news service '' The Mendocino Voice'', and ''The Laytonville Observer'', the '' Anderson Valley Advertiser'', the Willits Weekly and the ''Independent Coast Observer''. Four formerly independent newspapers are now owned by the national conglomerate media company

Digital First Media MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

; they are: ''The Ukiah Daily Journal'', ''The Mendocino Beacon'', the '' Willits News'', and ''The Fort Bragg Advocate''. These four papers have seen a precipitous decline in the size of editorial staff and in coverage over the past several years, in keeping with the nationwide tactics of DFM. The Sonoma County-based Press Democrat also covers the area.

Education

Community colleges

* Mendocino College: ** Main campus, Ukiah ** North County Center, Willits ** Coast Center, Fort Bragg * Pacific Union College's Albion Biological Field Station

Universities

* Dharma Realm Buddhist University

K-12 education

School districts include: Unified: * Anderson Valley Unified School District * Fort Bragg Unified School District * Laytonville Unified School District *

Leggett Valley Unified School District Leggett Valley Unified School District is a public school district based in Mendocino County, California, United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located ...

* Mendocino Unified School District * Potter Valley Community Unified School District * Round Valley Unified School District * Southern Humboldt Joint Unified School District * Ukiah Unified School District * Willits Unified School District Secondary: * Point Arena Joint Union High School District Elementary: * Arena Union Elementary School District * Manchester Union Elementary School District

Transportation

Major highways

State Route 1 *

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

State Route 20 * California 128

State Route 128 * California 162

State Route 162 * California 175

State Route 175 * California 222

State Route 222 (unsigned) * California 253

State Route 253 * California 271

State Route 271

Public transportation

Bus

The Mendocino Transit Authority provides local and intercity bus service within Mendocino County. Limited service also connects with transit in

. Greyhound Bus Lines currently serves Ukiah.

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

operates connecting bus service to Ukiah, Willits and Laytonville. The historic Skunk Train is a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (U.S. usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) ...

(that formerly connected

Fort Bragg, California Fort Bragg is a city along the North Coast (California), North Coast of California in Mendocino County, California, Mendocino County. The city is west of Willits, California, Willits, at an elevation of . Its population was 6,983 at the 2020 ...

with Willits) using steam locomotives.

Airports

* Ukiah Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport owned by the City of Ukiah. It is located south of downtown Ukiah. * Little River Airport is a general aviation airport serving the Mendocino coast. * Willits Municipal Airport is a general aviation airport serving the Willits / Little Lake Valley area. Located in the Brooktrails subdivision area west of Willits. * Round Valley Airport is a general aviation airport serving the Covelo / Round Valley area. * Boonville Airport (California) is a general aviation airport serving the Boonville / Anderson Valley area. * Ocean Ridge Airport is a privately owned general aviation airport serving the Gualala area. For commercial service, passengers in Mendocino County need to go to Eureka, one county to the north in Humboldt County, or to Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa,

, one county to the south. More comprehensive service is available from

Sacramento Sacramento ( or ; ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the seat of Sacramento County. Located at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers in Northern California's Sacramento Valley, Sacramento's 2020 p ...

to the east or

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, well to the south. Emergency services for the largely unincorporated county are coordinated through Howard Forest Station, a local

Cal Fire The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, colloquially known as CAL FIRE, is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various are ...

station just south of Willits.

Communities

Cities

* Point Arena * Ukiah (county seat) * Willits

Census-designated places

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...

* Anchor Bay * Boonville * Brooktrails * Calpella *

* Cleone * Comptche * Covelo * Hopland (formerly Sanel) * Laytonville * Leggett * Little River *

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

* Mendocino *

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...

* Potter Valley * Redwood Valley * Talmage

Unincorporated communities

* Branscomb * Dos Rios * Elk * Gualala * Inglenook * Longvale * Navarro * Noyo * Old Hopland * Piercy * Pine Grove * Rockport * Wanhala * Westport * Yorkville

Indian reservations

Mendocino County has nine

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

s lying within its borders, the fourth-most of any county in the United States (after

San Diego County, California San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county (United States), county in the southwest corner of the U.S. state of California, north to its Mexico-United States border, border with Mexico. As of the 2020 United States Cen ...

; Sandoval County, New Mexico; and

Riverside County, California Riverside County is a County (United States), county located in the Southern California, southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, its population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most ...

). * Coyote Valley Reservation * Guidiville Rancheria * Hopland Rancheria * Laytonville Rancheria * Manchester-Point Arena Rancheria * Pinoleville Rancheria * Redwood Valley Rancheria * Round Valley Reservation (partly in Trinity County) * Sherwood Valley Rancheria

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Mendocino County. † ''county seat''

In popular culture

"Mendocino" by the Sir Douglas Quintet was released in December 1968 and reached number 27 in the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 by early 1969, spending 15 weeks on the chart. Kate McGarrigle's song "(Talk to Me of) Mendocino" is one of the songs on the McGarrigles' 1975 debut album; it has been covered by

Linda Ronstadt Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is an American singer who has performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin music. Ronstadt has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three A ...

on her 1982 album ''Get Closer'', by English singer-songwriter John Howard on his 2007 EP, and by

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

on her 2014 album '' It's the Girls''. A song written by Matt Serletic and

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...

, " Mendocino County Line", which was released in 2002, is about a love that could not last and cites the Mendocino County Line in the chorus. Many films and movies have been filmed in and around Mendocino County, including '' Dying Young'', ''

The Russians Are Coming "The Russians Are Coming" is an episode of the BBC sitcom ''Only Fools and Horses''. It was first screened on 13 October 1981, as the final episode of series 1. In the episode, Del buys a nuclear fallout shelter and, anticipating a nuclear war, t ...

'', '' Overboard'', '' The Dunwich Horror'', '' The Karate Kid Part III'', '' Dead & Buried'', '' Forever Young'', '' Same Time Next Year'', '' Racing with the Moon'', '' Pontiac Moon'', and '' The Majestic''.

Notes

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1850 establishments in California California counties Populated places established in 1850