How about Smith River

for your California Northcoast Vacation?

Known for its fishing, yet it's expanse of farmland, used mainly for dairy cattle and Easterlily bulb farming, lies, nestled between the Pacific Ocean and the foothills and is the nearest township to the coastal California/Oregon state line.

It is also a quick growing "bedroom community" to Crescent City. It is bordered on the south by it's namesake river, emptying into the ocean in front of the Ship Ashore Resort, with it's Motel, Campground and the "Ship", an oceanfreighter, renovated into a gift shop and Pirate wax museum, and the Salmon Harbor RV Park along Highway 101 nextdoor.

I remember catching my first Salmon, Trout, and Steelhead while camping here as a child with my grandparents. I also really enjoyed playing bingo in their recreation hall.

At that time, the BIG BOAT had just been brought ashore and sat where the Motel and Restaurant/Lounge are today at the water's edge.

Besides dining at the "SHIP" the Lucky 7 Indian Casino about 1 mile north of here offers a good inexpensive menu and weekly special events.

The river itself is one of jewels of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and is part of the Six Rivers National Forest

More than three hundred miles of the Smith River system are designated "wild and scenic", more than any other river in the country without a single-dam for it's entire length.

The Smith River National Recreation Area (NRA) was created by Congress in 1990. the Forest Service has been designated to protect the area's scenic value, wildlife, fisheries and historical attributes.
Highlights of the Smith River NRA include; Steelhead and Salmon fishing, birdwatching, waterfalls, swimming in deep-natural pools of clear, crisp, emerald water, rafting, kayaking, & hiking along back-country and wilderness trails.

The river is an important stream for fish as towering trees along it's banks provide noon day shade for cold-water species as they pass through the Jedediah Smith Redwoods National and Del Norte County Redwood State Park on the way to the Pacific Ocean.