Willow Creek
Willow Creek is located in the rugged mountains of Six Rivers National Forest bordering the counties of Humboldt and Trinity in Northern California. Its original habitants were of the Athapascan tribe named the Hupa who lived there exclusively until 1855 when a military post was opened up that allowed the transport of supplies to the gold mines in Siskiyou, Trinity and eastern Humboldt Counties during the great California Gold Rush.
Gold mining was prevalent until the Great Depression in the 1930's. After World War II Willow Creek became known for its logging mills and logging operations until the 1970's, when companies eventually ceased operations due to lack of resources from non-stop logging.
Today Willow Creek is a peaceful and quiet community of 1,743 that is known for outdoor activities such as fishing, hiking and white water sports along the Trinity and Klamath Rivers.
Bigfoot Lore
Willow Creek is well-known for the 1967 Patterson-Gimlin film taken by Roger Patterson and Bob Gimlin during a bigfoot expedition in a nearby area known as Bluff Creek.
While Patterson and Gimlin's film helped put Willow Creek on the map, its connection to bigfoot did not start there. Native Americans mention a man-like creature in their folklore, and sightings were recorded as early as 1886. During the logging boom of the 1950's footprints were reported by workers on a consistent basis, along with related irregularities such as heavy equipment being disturbed and even moved.
Today Willow Creek proudly sees itself as the Gateway to Bigfoot Country and has erected a statue to honor its most famous inhabitant. It is also home to the Willow Creek - China Flat Museum where the area's colorful history has been preserved, including, most notably, its own history with bigfoot.
