Shelter Cove is a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in Humboldt County,

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 ...

. It lies at an elevation of 138 feet (42 m). Shelter Cove is on California's

Lost Coast The Lost Coast is a mostly natural and undeveloped area of the California North Coast in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, which includes the King Range. It was named the "Lost Coast" after the area experienced depopulation in the 1930s. In a ...

where the King Range meets the

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 ...

. A nine-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

surrounds the one-runway Shelter Cove Airport at the center of Shelter Cove's commercial district. Utilities are provided by the Humboldt County Resort Improvement District #1 and boating access to the sea is managed by the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation & Conservation District. The population was 803 at the 2020 census. Shelter Cove shares a ZIP code (95589) with the hamlet of Whitethorn, California, located to the southeast. The community is inside telephone

area code 707 Area codes 707 and 369 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) for the northwestern part of the U.S. state of California. The area codes serve part of the northern San Francisco Bay Area, as well as the North Coast. ...

Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Sinkyone Wilderness State Park is a state park in Mendocino County, California. The wilderness area borders the Pacific Ocean to the west and the King Range National Conservation Area to the north. The nearest settlement is the unincorporate ...

is about south of Shelter Cove on the coast. There are also parks such as Black Sands Beach, Mal Coombs Park, Seal Rock Picnic Area and Abalone Point. Much of the land around Shelter Cove is in the King Range National Conservation Area, managed by the

Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands, U.S. federal lands. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the BLM oversees more than of land, or one ...

. Cove amenities include hiking trails, deli, coffee shop, restaurants, multiple inns, a general store, and gift shops. Other amenities in Shelter Cove include a small aircraft airstrip, a boat launch, and recreational vehicle parking. Some services not available in Shelter Cove are in the towns of Redway and Garberville on the

U.S. 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 ...

corridor, about of winding county road to the east.

History

The area around Shelter Cove was originally home to Native Americans known as the

Sinkyone The Eel River Athapaskans include the Wailaki, Lassik, Nongatl, and Sinkyone (Sinkine) groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans that traditionally live in present-day Mendocino, Trinity, and Humboldt counties on or near ...

people. Near Shelter Cove on July 21, 1907, the coastal passenger steamer '' Columbia'' collided with the steam schooner '' San Pedro'' amidst dense fog. The ''Columbia'' subsequently sank, killing 88 people. Although badly damaged, ''San Pedro'' stayed afloat and helped to rescue ''Columbias survivors.Dalton, Anthony
A long, dangerous coastline: shipwreck tales from Alaska to California
Heritage House Publishing Company, 1 February 2011, 128 pages. Because of the very steep terrain on the coastal areas surrounding Shelter Cove, the highway builders constructing State Route 1 (the "Shoreline Highway") decided it was too difficult to build the coastal highway along a long stretch of what is now known as the Lost Coast. As a result, the small fishing village of Shelter Cove remained secluded from the rest of the state, despite being only north of

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 ...

, and is accessible by boat, by paved mountain road, or by the small Shelter Cove Airport. As a result of its seclusion, the Shelter Cove area has become popular for those seeking a quiet vacation respite or retirement area. Popular activities include

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

whale watching Whale watching is the practice of observing whales and dolphins (cetaceans) in their natural habitat. Whale watching is mostly a recreational activity (cf. birdwatching), but it can also serve scientific and/or educational purposes.Hoyt, E. ...

, hiking, diving for

abalone Abalone ( or ; via Spanish , from Rumsen language, Rumsen ''aulón'') is a common name for any small to very large marine life, marine gastropod mollusc in the family (biology), family Haliotidae, which once contained six genera but now cont ...

, and other outdoor activities. The Cape Mendocino Light, a

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Ligh ...

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 ...

, was moved by helicopter to Mal Coombs Park in 1998. A post office operated at Shelter Cove from 1892 to 1933, moving in 1898.

Demographics

The 2020 United States census reported that Shelter Cove had a population of 803. The population density was . The racial makeup of Shelter Cove was 636 (79.2%)

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 ...

, 4 (0.5%)

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 ...

, 19 (2.4%) Native American, 10 (1.2%) Asian, 0 (0.0%)

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 ...

, 28 (3.5%) from other races, and 106 (13.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 77 persons (9.6%). The census reported that 793 people (98.8% of the population) lived in households, 10 (1.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and no one was institutionalized. There were 406 households, out of which 63 (15.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 142 (35.0%) were married-couple households, 45 (11.1%) were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 102 (25.1%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 117 (28.8%) had a male householder with no partner present. 162 households (39.9%) were one person, and 59 (14.5%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.95. There were 198

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(48.8% of all households). The age distribution was 112 people (13.9%) under the age of 18, 43 people (5.4%) aged 18 to 24, 203 people (25.3%) aged 25 to 44, 235 people (29.3%) aged 45 to 64, and 210 people (26.2%) who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 48.8years. For every 100 females, there were 119.4 males. There were 665 housing units at an average density of , of which 406 (61.1%) were occupied. Of these, 308 (75.9%) were owner-occupied, and 98 (24.1%) were occupied by renters.

Politics

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

, Shelter Cove is in , and . Federally, Shelter Cove is in .

Climate

Shelter Cove has a

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Csb'') typical of the

North Coast North Coast or Northcoast may refer to : Antigua and Barbuda * Major Division of North Coast, an urban area and major division in the parish of Saint John * North Coast, Barbuda, an administrative district of Barbuda Australia * New South Wa ...

, that is characterized by warm (but not hot), dry summers, and mild to chilly, rainy winters. Shelter Cove's climate is moderated by the proximity to the

, with small temperature variations on average throughout the year, which result in mild year-round temperatures, although some winter months can get cool at times. Average high temperatures range from in January to in September. Shelter Cove on average has wet winters and dry summers, also representative of the region. Temperatures above are rare, happening on average 1–2 times per season, but temperatures approaching or above have been measured over such a wide time period as from April to October.Shelter Cove Airport, Weatherbase. For being a coastal community north of 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 ...

, Shelter Cove has mild winter temperatures and warm summers.

References

External links