Welcome to Siskiyou County! (pronounced SISK-you) Siskiyou County is one of the most far northern counties located in California (adjacent to the southern border of Oregon). Those of us who live here believe Siskiyou County is the perfect place to live, work, and play.
The largest towns are found along Interstate 5 and include Dunsmuir, Mt. Shasta, Weed, and Yreka (the county seat of Siskiyou County). Mount Shasta (14,162 ft.) is situated at the center of the county.
Although we are located in a rural area, quick and easy access to larger cities is available. Interstate 5 and Highway 97 are situated in the middle of our county and there are five small, local airports as well as access to two larger regional airports located in Redding, CA and Medford, OR. Amtrak also runs through Siskiyou County with a station in Dunsmuir.
Siskiyou County offers affordable housing, first-rate educational opportunities (K-12 grade private and public schools as well as the College of the Siskiyous), medical facilities, and an abundance of recreational activities and opportunities.
The Siskiyou Economic Development Council (SCEDC) in Yreka is available for information on business opportunities and incentives and more.
Siskiyou County was created on March 22, 1852, and named after the Siskiyou mountain range. The County is the site of the central section of the Siskiyou Trail, which ran between California's Central Valley and the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, after the discovery of an important gold strike near today's Yreka thousands of prospectors flooded the area. The construction of the Central Pacific Railroad along the path of the Siskiyou Trail in the mid-1880s led to a first wave of tourism, as visitors came to "take the waters" at the county's many summer resorts, and to enjoy the hunting, fishing and other outdoor recreation activities. In the early 1940s, Siskiyou County was home to the semi-serious State of Jefferson movement which sought to create a new state from several counties of northern California, and several counties of southern Oregon. The origin of the word Siskiyou is not known. One version is that it is the Chinook jargon word for "bob-tailed horse." Another version, given in an argument before the State Senate in 1852, is that the French name Six Cailloux, meaning "six stones," because six large stones or rocks lay in the river where they crossed.
Siskiyou County features spectacular natural beauty and scenic cities, areas and towns including Yreka (the County Seat), Mt. Shasta, Weed, Dunsmuir, McCloud, and Tulelake as well as Butte Valley, Scott Valley, Shasta Valley, and the Klamath River Corridor. Visit the individual City Hall Offices or Chambers of Commerce to learn more about each community.
mySiskiyous
Athletics