Willow Creek, California

Willow Creek, California
Census-designated place
The "Bigfoot Museum" in Willow Creek
Location in Humboldt County and the state of California
Coordinates: 40°56′22″N 123°37′53″W / 40.93944°N 123.63139°W / 40.93944; -123.63139
Country	United States
State	California
County	Humboldt
Area [1]
• Total	30.610 sq mi (79.278 km2)
• Land	30.310 sq mi (78.501 km2)
• Water	0.300 sq mi (0.777 km2)  0.98%
Elevation [2]	610 ft (186 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• Total	1,720
• Density	56/sq mi (22/km2)
Demonym	Willow Creeker
Time zone	UTC−8 (Pacific (PST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
ZIP Code	95573
Area codes	530, 837
FIPS code	06-85642
GNIS feature ID	1660182
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Willow Creek, California

Willow Creek (formerly China Flat)^[4] is a census-designated place (CDP) in Humboldt County, California, United States. The population was 1,720 at the 2020 census, up from 1,710 at the 2010 census. The town is located around 30 miles (48 km) from county seat and harbor city Eureka.

Willow Creek sits along the Trinity River. Willow Creek is described as a "rugged mountain community nestled in the heart of the Six Rivers National Forest." This area of California is located in the Trinity/Shasta/Cascade Region, near the Oregon border, and is easily reached via State Routes 299 and 96 (the "Bigfoot Scenic Byway").

The town is approximately 50 miles (80 km) south of where the Patterson-Gimlin film was made. Willow Creek calls itself the Bigfoot capital of the world, has a Bigfoot Museum and holds an annual "Bigfoot Daze" festival in September in honor of the cryptid, followed by various festivities in a local park.^[5] The roadhead of the Bluff Creek / Fish Lake Road, near which many alleged Bigfoot sightings and footprint finds occurred, is about 50 miles (80 km) north, along Route 96.

The indigenous people from here are part of the Tsnungwe or South Fork Hupa and are speakers of the Hupa Language.^[6] Willow Creek's first non-indigenous settlers were Chinese laborers from the mining and lumber camps, which earned the town the name China Flat.^[4] The China Flat post office opened in 1878, and changed its name to Willow Creek in 1915.^[4]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 30.6 square miles (79 km²), which include 30.3 square miles (78 km²) of land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km²) of water.

The CDP in 2000, according to the United States Census Bureau, was larger with a total area of 204.5 square miles (530 km²), which included 204.4 square miles (529 km²) of land and 0.2 square miles (0.52 km²) of water.

This region experiences much warmer summers than locations near the coast, such as county seat Eureka, but retains high winter rainfall associated with coastal locations. Daytime highs in summer represent areas with hot-summer-Mediterranean climates but are moderated by cool nights, causing high diurnal temperature variation. On climate maps, Willow Creek has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa).^[7] Summer highs are extremely hot compared to areas of the county affected by coastal fog. At the same time, winters are considerably colder, with light snowfall not unusual a few times per season.

The 2020 United States census reported that Willow Creek had a population of 1,720, all of whom lived in households. The population density was 56.7 inhabitants per square mile (21.9/km²). The racial makeup was 1,231 (71.6%) White, 10 (0.6%) African American, 183 (10.6%) Native American, 19 (1.1%) Asian, 4 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 54 (3.1%) from other races, and 219 (12.7%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 147 persons (8.5%).^[10]

There were 776 households, out of which 168 (21.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 308 (39.7%) were married-couple households, 83 (10.7%) were cohabiting couple households, 194 (25.0%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 191 (24.6%) had a male householder with no partner present. 276 households (35.6%) were one person, and 115 (14.8%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.22.^[10] There were 434 families (55.9% of all households).^[11]

The age distribution was 347 people (20.2%) under the age of 18, 72 people (4.2%) aged 18 to 24, 391 people (22.7%) aged 25 to 44, 458 people (26.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 452 people (26.3%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.3 males.^[10]

There were 984 housing units at an average density of 32.5 units per square mile (12.5 units/km²), of which 776 (78.9%) were occupied. Of these, 511 (65.9%) were owner-occupied, and 265 (34.1%) were occupied by renters.^[10]

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $43,056, and the per capita income was $29,595.^[12]

The 2010 United States Census^[13] reported that Willow Creek had a population of 1,710. The population density was 55.9 inhabitants per square mile (21.6/km²). The racial makeup of Willow Creek was 1,375 (80.4%) White, 6 (0.4%) African American, 167 (9.8%) Native American, 14 (0.8%) Asian, 6 (0.4%) Pacific Islander, 29 (1.7%) from other races, and 113 (6.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 108 persons (6.3%).

The Census reported that 1,699 people (99.4% of the population) lived in households, 11 (0.6%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.

There were 812 households, out of which 161 (19.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 353 (43.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 63 (7.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 32 (3.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 75 (9.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 7 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships; 283 households (34.9%) were made up of individuals, and 94 (11.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09. There were 448 families (55.2% of all households); the average family size was 2.65.

The population was spread out, with 287 people (16.8%) under the age of 18, 100 people (5.8%) aged 18 to 24, 366 people (21.4%) aged 25 to 44, 642 people (37.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 315 people (18.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 49.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.1 males.

There were 1,108 housing units at an average density of 36.2 units per square mile (14.0 units/km²), of which 812 were occupied, of which 525 (64.7%) were owner-occupied, and 287 (35.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%. 1,087 people (63.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 612 people (35.8%) lived in rental housing units.

In the state legislature, Willow Creek is in the 2nd senatorial district, represented by Democrat Mike McGuire,^[14] and the 2nd Assembly district, represented by Democrat Chris Rogers.^[15]

Federally, Willow Creek is in California's 2nd congressional district, represented by Democrat Jared Huffman.^[16]

Willow Creek was served for many decades by the weekly Klamity Kourier newspaper, which closed in 2006 and was quickly replaced by the Bigfoot Valley News.^[17] The Bigfoot Valley News has since closed, but the regional newspaper, Two Rivers Tribune (www.tworiverstribune.com), opened in 1994 and is still going strong.^[18][when?] Its news coverage area is from Burnt Ranch to Happy Camp, 97.5 miles (156.9 km) ^{[19][better source needed]} (by Routes 299 and 96) to the north.

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