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About Del Norte County
Aside from the area around Crescent City, the steep, forested slopes of the coastal mountains are a natural barrier to settlement. From the few highways cutting through this rugged region, miles of rolling forests stretch to the horizon.
In this isolated northwest corner of California, Del Norte County was organized in 1857, shortly after Crescent City, the county seat, was settled. It covers 1,008 square miles and has a population of 27,507 people. About half of those live in the Crescent City area, and most all of them live along the coast.
U. S. Highway 101 parallels the coast through Del Norte County, and U. S. Highway 199 starts at Crescent City, heading northeast into the mountains, and into Oregon. Redwood National Park, home of the world's tallest trees, is perched on the mountainside south of Crescent City, where the abundant ocean moisture provides the conditions needed by these trees.