North Coast (California) in the context of "Humboldt County, California"

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was a major earthquake which struck the coast of Northern California at 05:12 am Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. With an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (Extreme), it created high-intensity shaking from Eureka on the North Coast to the Salinas Valley, an agricultural region to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Devastating fires soon broke out in San Francisco and lasted for several days. More than 3,000 people died and over 80% of the city was destroyed. The event is remembered as the deadliest earthquake in the history of the United States. The death toll remains the greatest loss of life from a natural disaster in California's history and high on the list of worst American disasters.

Mendocino County (/ˌmɛndəˈsiːnoʊ/ ; Mendocino, Spanish for "of Mendoza") is a county located on the North Coast of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 91,601. The county seat 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 and California/Oregon border, separated from the Sacramento Valley to the east by the California Coast Ranges. 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 ecoregion on Earth.

U.S. Route 101 (US 101) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway, stretching from Los Angeles, California, to Tumwater, Washington. The California portion of US 101 is one of the last remaining and longest U.S. Routes still active in the state, and the longest highway of any kind in California. US 101 was also one of the original national routes established in 1926. Significant portions of US 101 between the Los Angeles area and the San Francisco Bay Area follow El Camino Real, the commemorative route connecting the former Alta California's 21 missions.

Although the highway has been superseded in overall importance for transportation through the state by Interstate 5 (I-5), US 101 continues to be the major coastal north–south route that links the Greater Los Angeles Area, the Central Coast, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the North Coast (Redwood Empire). Generally referred to as "101" by residents of Northern California, in Southern California it is often called "The 101" (pronounced "the one oh one"). The highway has portions designated as the Santa Ana Freeway, the Hollywood Freeway, the Ventura Freeway, South Valley Freeway, and Bayshore Freeway, as well as El Camino Real in many non-freeway segments. The Redwood Highway, the 350-mile-long (560 km) northernmost segment of the highway, begins at the Golden Gate and passes through the world's tallest and only extensive preserves of virgin, old-growth coast redwood trees.

The Gold Runner (formerly San Joaquins) is a state-supported passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of 2025, the service operates seven daily round trips between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton. Of these, five continue to Oakland and two to Sacramento. Two additional Sacramento-bound round trips are scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2025.

The service is notable for its extensive network of dedicated Amtrak Thruway bus routes, which are integral to its overall performance. More than 55% of riders use a Thruway bus for at least one segment of their journey. These routes are timed to connect with train arrivals and departures, and offer service to destinations across the state, including Southern California (notably Los Angeles Union Station, where passengers can transfer to the Pacific Surfliner or Amtrak's long-distance services), San Francisco, the Central Coast, the North Coast, the High Desert (including Las Vegas), Redding, Reno, and the Yosemite Valley.