Located in western Washington and northwestern Oregon, the North Coast and Cascades Network includes seven park units with natural resources. From rocky coastlines to steep valleys and mountains, these unique national park landscapes showcase the largest remaining tracts of old forest ecosystems with massive trees 500 to 1000 years old and over 250 feet tall, the most small lakes in high-elevation environments (1,600), and the most glaciers (over 500) within the conterminous United States.
As one of 32 Inventory and Monitoring networks across the country, we track environmental characteristics of national parks from the long-term perspective. Our aim is to determine the status and trends of these key characteristics, inform management decisions, provide reference data to compare with altered environments, and communicate our results to managers, scientists, and the public.
The North Coast of California (also called the Redwood Empire[3] or the Redwood Coast in reference to the dense redwood forests throughout the region) is a region in Northern California that lies on the Pacific coast between San Francisco Bay and the Oregon border. It commonly includes Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties and sometimes includes Lake and two counties from the San Francisco Bay area, Marin and Sonoma.
The Pacific Ocean coast stretches from San Francisco Bay to Humboldt Bay and on to the border of Oregon. The coastline is often inaccessible, and includes rocky cliffs and hills, streams and tide pools. The coastline from Centerville Beach near Ferndale to the mouth of the Klamath River is mostly beach accessible and there are many small towns and a few cities along Highway 101, the main route through the region. The sparsely populated interior territory further inland is characterized by rugged, often steep mountains, bisected by rivers and their typically narrow valleys and canyons, and dense redwood, Douglas fir, and oak forests. The climate can range from coast side lands drenched with fog in mild winters and summers to inland reaches baked by hot sunshine on long summer days, which, at higher elevations, can be blanketed with snow in winter.
The southern portion of the North Coast is largely urbanized while the rest is mostly rural. The more remote northern areas are often referred to as being located "behind the Redwood Curtain."[4] A segment of the coastline in Mendocino and Humboldt Counties is known as the Lost Coast, and is only accessible by a few back roads.[5] Notable seaside beaches can be found at Marin Headlands and Point Reyes National Seashore in the south, with innumerable examples of remote or less used beaches north of the San Francisco Bay area.
The grandeur of the redwoods can be experienced throughout the region, from the protected groves of Muir Woods National Monument and Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve in the south to the massive forests of Humboldt Redwoods State Park along the Avenue of the Giants in the north. Redwoods are also found in many other State and local parks, most of which are located along Highway 101 throughout the far North Coast. Other larger redwood parks include Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park and Redwood National and State Parks. In total, the redwood parks of the North Coast contain the vast majority of all remaining old-growth redwoods.
Distinctive coastlines, historic towns, old folk tales, and thriving, eclectic communities. Where the Columbia River meets the swells of the Pacific Ocean, the North Coast is the convergence of the past and the present, the old and the new.
Our Sauvignon Blanc grapes are grown in the Napa Valley and the North Coast, including in our own estate ranches in Carneros, Napa, Rutherford, and Calistoga. The cooler, southern part of the valley gives us sauvignon blanc with bright citrus characters, flinty minerality, and balanced acidity, while the warmer northern region brings out tropical notes in the final wine.
Maté Szentes (Choreographer - glide): Maté is originally from Budapest, Hungary. He studied at the Hungarian Dance Academy and attended summer programs at North Carolina Dance Theater. Upon graduation he joined the Hungarian National Ballet for 3 seasons and in 2012 he moved to California and joined the Sacramento Ballet. Mr. Szentes relocated to the east coast in 2015 to join the Richmond Ballet where he danced principal and soloist roles. In 2021 he became a freelance artist based out of Los Angeles. Since 2016 he is actively choreographing and his works have been performed across the country by various companies and festivals.