166 - Down the Klamath River and into the Redwoods
Twenty-two miles south of the Oregon Border is a small California town called Yreka. Gold was discovered there in 1850, one year after the 1849 discovery at Sutter Creek in the Sierra-Nevada Range. Miners dredged gold worth many millions from the Scott River, south of Yreka. Tailings still fill the river for miles. Just north of Yreka is the Klamath River, California’s second largest river after the Sacramento River. It flows westward through the most remote wilderness in the state, from Upper Klamath Lake in Oregon to the Pacific Ocean. Highway 96 follows the river for 130 miles and continues heading south to Arcada as the river turns north and reaches the Pacific at Requa, north of Prairie Creek. I started my journey down the Klamath River at Yreka where the main street through town continues seven miles north to join Highway 96 by following a spectacular mountainous route. Stay off the freeway.
