by Jim Brown

Created on: August 03, 2010   Last Updated: April 18, 2011

Modoc County is one of the Northern California places least heard about, yet it is rich in history and has great places to see and many things to do. Since about 70% of the county is public land, recreation abounds.

On the north east side of Modoc County the visitor will find Surprise Valley.  This is a long valley running north and south as a result of giant earth movements 1000’s of years ago. The 3 lakes, often dry, are all that is left of the large deep lake of eons ago. Land sailing is one popular sport there. The west side of the valley broke away when the mountains raised leaving a spectacular eastern face to the Warner Mountains and burying the lake.

To the valley south is Eagleville, home of the annual Eagleville BBQ. The beef is wrapped and buried in hot rocks until it is just right to serve. The BBQ is followed by a dance under the stars.

To the valley north is Fort Bidwell where an army fort was built to protect the settlers. All that is left of the fort is the stone schoolhouse. This was a bustling community while the gold mine was in operation. There is an Indian reservation there with a great spa open to the public. Ft Bidwell has an annual BBQ too where they serve steak and chicken.

Between Lake City and Ft Bidwell is Fandango Pass. Fandango is the pass where the wagon trains crossed over the Warner Mountains toward Goose Lake. There is a nice elk herd living there. The pass was not an easy crossing for the covered wagons. You can still see the tracks of the side of the road.

Mid valley north is Lake City the originally voted as the county seat, but was later moved, after an announced election, to Alturas. The flour mill still stands. Lake City host one of the main access roads into the Warner Mountains.

In the middle is Cedarville, home of the Modoc District Fair and gateway to the Great Basin. Cedarville is also steeped in history as the Applegate Trail passed by here and many settlers on their trip from the east to the west stopped for supplies. Bonner & Cressler created the town and their original houses are still here as well as the building they built for their trading post. Some of the history can be viewed at http://www.jnrhotel.com/attractions-cedarville-ca.ph p and the current calandar of local activities at /http://www.jnrhotel.com/calendar.php

Using Cedarville as a base the traveler can head east to Nevada where the Big Basin begins and travel some of the back roads and byways where there are places to view antelope, petroglyphs, wild horses, rocks, other magnificent scenery and imagine the hardships of the settlers passing by. Be careful of the hot springs as they really are hot! If you have an interest in hunting, with a Nevada license, there are large game animals as well as good varmint hunting. One day a year Nevada has a free fishing day where you do not need a license. It is easy to spend a lot of time in the basin just site seeing. Of course the famous Black Rock Desert is there too. A giant flat playa and beside rocket launches and speed trial is home to the annual Burning Man Festival.

On the western side of Surprise Valley is the Warner Mountains home of the South Warner Wilderness Area. There are forest service roads and campgrounds for access. For links to Forest Service and BLM lands information see http://www.jnrhotel.com/cedarville-ca-links.php Patterson lake near the top of the mountain is a great place to fish but difficult to access unless you have a horse or good legs to hike on as there is no close auto access. The lake gets planted by carrying the fish in buckets by horseback as when they tried helicopter drops because of the terrain,  the fish didn’t survive.

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