FUN FACTS

Sometimes a little bit of background knowledge or trivia helps enhance your travel experience. Maybe you want to stay in the oldest hotel in town, or find out where the locals hang out, or what’s the difference between organic and biodynamic? Here’s some fun information that’s unique to Ukiah and the Ukiah Valley.

Ukiah is surrounded by more than 20 wineries making wine from organic and biodynamic grapes. Twenty-five percent of Mendocino County’s vineyards are certified organic.

1. ORGANIC GRAPES

Fetzer Vineyards is the first winery in the U.S. to receive CarbonNeutral® certification. The winery uses renewable energy from rooftop solar panels to power their facility, supplemented by purchased wind, geothermal and other certified renewable resources.

2. RENEWABLE ENERGY

The Sun House Museum is home to one of America’s first museums dedicated to the work of a female artist, Grace Hudson, whose works include depictions of native Pomo tribal life. The museum features one of the most extensive collections of native baskets in the country.

3. NATIVE ARTISTRY

Vichy Springs Resort just east of Ukiah is said to be Jack London’s favorite hot spot. Perhaps he stopped on his way down from Alaska to his digs on Sonoma Mountain. Regardless, the “champagne baths” and relaxing resort feel will make an impression on you, as well.

4. BUBBLE BATHS

The first Buddhist High School welcoming both girls and boys resides in Ukiah. The City of 10,000 Buddhas, established in 1977, is the first large Buddhist monastic community in the United States. In addition to being a pinnacle of Buddhist education encompassing 700 acres, the City includes a locally-favorite vegetarian restaurant.

5. DHARMA REALM

Ukiah is the County Seat of Mendocino County, the first County in the U.S. to ban the cultivation, production or distribution of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), by passing Measure H in 2004. The County continues to be a leader in organic, sustainable and bio-dynamic agriculture.

6. GMO FREE

Frey Vineyards in nearby Redwood Valley was America’s first winery to release certified organic and biodynamic, no sulfite-added wines in the 1980s. South of Ukiah, Bonterra Winery in Hopland produces all of its wines from organically-grown grapes.

7. SULFITE FREE

You can catch a wave “Golf Boarding” at the Ukiah Municipal Golf Course. The Pro Shop offers board rental and a short instructional video to keep surfing golfers upright and on track. Old fashioned golf carts are also available.

8. LAWN SURFING

Ukiah is “haiku” spelled backwards. The City hosts an annual Haiku contest for kids and youth countywide, with awards given across numerous categories – including Spanish language. Mendocino County’s sister city is Miasa-Omachi, Nagano, Japan

9. 5-7-5

Todd Grove Park started out as a military encampment in the late 1800s, turned into an “auto tourists free park” in 1921, and is now the site of “Concerts in the Park,” which brings major musical acts to town every summer.

10. FROM CAR PARK TO MUSIC

The Ukiah Observatory, built in 1900, housed a Zenith telescope. This was one of six observatories built world-wide to measure the wobble of the earth.

11. SCIENCE IN ACTION

The town of Hopland is so named because it was once the center of hop growing in Mendocino County. Hops were grown from Hopland in the south to Redwood and Potter Valleys in the north. The County was one of the largest suppliers of hops to breweries nationwide. A hop kiln, used to dry the hop flowers, still stands northeast of downtown Ukiah.

12. MORE THAN JUST WINE

Alex Thomas Plaza in downtown Ukiah is named after the Thomas family, once one of the largest suppliers of fresh Bartlett pears in the United States. Most of the pear orchards have been replanted to wine grapes.

13. FRUIT COCKTAIL

Ukiah High students first constructed the “U” at a barren spot on the mountain just west of town. Early versions were made of newspapers, but a foundation was laid for a permanent concrete in 1941.

14. JUST BE U

The local cannabis crop was included in the annual Mendocino County Crop Report for the first time in 1979. Value was estimated at $90 million, meaning cannabis was second only to timber industry, at $128 million.

15. GREEN BOUNTY

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