Humboldt County Living

Greetings from Northern Colorado All!

I'm currently finishing up school (in the next couple of years) in Fort Collins, CO. While I absolutely love being proximal to everything northern Colorado has to offer, actually living on the Front Range is....OK at best. I'm looking at potential places to relocate and Humboldt County is definitely a place that caught my eye. I'm looking for a place where I can engage in a few different activities and I'm trying to get some feedback from people who reside in Humboldt County.

Rock climbing will always be my first love. That being said, mountain biking and whitewater kayaking are quickly becoming mistresses that are somewhat demanding on my time. Are there any towns within Humboldt County that specifically supply all three in close proximity? Close means about 2 hours one way in the car for my purposes. My priorities by importance are climbing, mountain biking, and kayaking, and hopefully backcountry skiing.

Anyone who's lived in Denver/Fort Collins area and Humboldt County care to comment on comparative costs of living? Google searches for COL indeces are yielding some widely variable results. I'd be working in healthcare, so any healthcare professionals who can chime in on the current job market would be much appreciated.

Any advice is much appreciated!

Hey man. Never lived in Colorado but was just living in Arcata. There’s all three within 2 hours I’d say. Trinity river for whitewater kayaking. There’s trails I’ve seen people bombing on mountain bikes in the community forest in Arcata. And there’s mostly sport climbing on decent limestone up in the hills. And some sandstone on the beaches north of town. Trad on limestone about an hour and 45 away from Arcata. And some long distance hiking for granite up in the trinities. Be warned. It rains a lot in the winter. Depression was real. Also was paying $375 a month in a house with 5 roommates.

Humboldt is probably not the best choice for that combo, but I’ve not lived there only visited. I’d be thinking more like Tahoe or Bishop or something in the Sierra to start nailing down the “classic” level in more of those pursuits.

I lived in Arcata for a bunch of years in the 90's. Although you can do all those sports in the region you'll be driving to Trinity/Klamath river to WW kayak and mostly driving inland or south for good mountain biking. There is biking in the Arcata forest, but it is quite small and only a way to get a ride fix. I've heard there are some good local secret trails.

Climbing areas are a bit closer with a lot of variety.

You'll be driving 4 plus hours to get to good backcountry skiing in Lassen/Shasta or 6 hours to Bend.

There is a good outdoor community there and lots of exploring and beautiful coastline. It wouldn't be the worst place to live for a while.

Thanks for the replies y'all! Sounds like the Sierra would be a much better option.  Anyone care to weigh in on their overall experience in places like Truckee, Tahoe, and (I know it's not in California) the Reno area? Anyone have any experience with Placerville? It looks very proximal to a lot of good stuff, but I've never been up that way an have no frame of reference for what quality of life would be like there.

For all the best reasons to live in Humboldt, watch Murder Mountain on Netflix. That'll get you psyched.

Foothill / lower montane towns like Placerville and Auburn can make an excellent base. Both are close enough to bigger city amenities in Sacramento. All of the activities you mention are reasonably close. Truckee is a rich bay area tourist town staffed by "residents" who mostly can't afford to live there. S. Lake Tahoe is a bit better, but also has a similar rich man poor man dichotomy. Plus there's all that fooking snow to shovel half the year, hellno!

The magic line for the Sierra is >1000' <4000- ie above the worst of the summer heat and below most of the snow line for a majority of the winter season (snows down to 1000 feet on occasion, and frequently enough at 3000).

Suitable work is often the deal breaker for those communities however.

Humboldt is at the end of the earth, insofar as the rest of California is concerned. Might as well be in another state, when it comes to going somewhere else like Yosemite or Tahoe.