About Eureka

Eureka is the principal city and county seat of Humboldt County in the Redwood Empire region of California. The city is located on U.S. Route 101 on the shores of Humboldt Bay, 270 miles (430 km) north of San Francisco and 100 miles (160 km) south of the Oregon border. At the 2010 census, the population of the city was 27,191, and the population of Greater Eureka was 45,034.

Eureka is the largest coastal city in California north of San Francisco and the westernmost city of more than 25,000 residents in the 48 contiguous states. It is the regional center for government, health care, trade, and the arts on the North Coast north of the San Francisco Bay Area. Greater Eureka is the location of the largest deep water port between San Francisco and Coos Bay, a stretch of about 500 miles (800 km). The headquarters of both the Six Rivers National Forest and the North Coast Redwoods District of the California State Parks System are in Eureka. As entrepôt for hundreds of lumber mills that once existed in the area, the city played a leading role in the historic West Coast lumber trade. The city has hundreds of Victorian homes, including the nationally recognized Carson Mansion. It is also home to California's oldest zoo, the Sequoia Park Zoo.

Eureka's Pacific coastal location on Humboldt Bay adjacent to abundant redwood forests provided a rich environment for the birth of this 19th-century seaport town. Beginning more than 150 years ago, miners, loggers, and fishermen began making their mark in this pristine wilderness of the California North Coast. Before that time the area was already occupied by indigenous peoples.

Eureka is ideally, if remotely, situated within California's Redwood Empire region due to its proximity to exceptional natural resources. These include the spectacular coast of the Pacific Ocean, Humboldt Bay, and several rivers in addition to Redwood National and State Parks and Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The location of Eureka on U.S. 101 is 283 miles (455 km) north of San Francisco and 315 mi (507 km)) north and west of Sacramento. Eureka is the closest city to the most central point of the United States' Pacific Coastline.