Willits

Willits is a city in Mendocino County on the North Coast of California. It is best known as the Heart of Mendocino County. It offers an amazing array of shopping and amusements for a city with a population of 5,000 in 2020.

Understand
The City of Willits began as a town of loggers and ranchers. In the wake of San Francisco's Summer of Love, an influx of hippies changed the character of the populace to today's mix: first, second, and third generation hippies coexisting with third, fourth, and fifth generation settlers. Add a sizable cohort of the artistically and liberally inclined with a certain tinge of New Age beliefs, and you definitely have a town with people watching possibilities while shopping the local galleries and craft shops.

Many of these boutiques are not easily seen by the passing traveler. One has to stop and look about to wring the greatest satisfaction from the Willits experience.

Get in
The City of Willits is 135 miles north of San Francisco on Highway 101. The highway passes south to north, bisecting Willits as Main Street; highway addresses change to city addresses at the city line. In the center of town, just after passing under the Heart of the Redwoods arch over 101, Highway 20 runs its winding way westward to Fort Bragg.

Coming from the Sacramento Valley, take Williams exit 578 from I-5 westward onto California Highway 20. When it merges with Highway 101, turn north. Again, you are entering Willits from the south.

Get around
A visitor to Willits will find the majority of its attractions are located the two blocks before the Commercial Street light, or just around the corner on Commercial Street as far as the Center for the Arts. Downtown Willits is easily walkable; this less than half mile flat loop will take you past an eclectic array of shops, eateries, and galleries.

Willits' central location makes it an ideal hub from which to explore the rest of Mendocino County on day trips.


 * The 1 Willits Rider bus (Mendocino Transit Authority, or, MTA) supplies local flexible route service 10 times per day.

See
Attractions are listed from south to north.



Do
Besides Willits' good old-fashioned walkable downtown featuring shops full of arts, crafts, and goodies, it also offers other attractions. Handily enough, the attractions begin in that same downtown block that ends at Commercial Street and Main Street. An easy walk from shopping takes you to:



The other attractions are a bit further down; the traveler may want to drive to them:



Buy
Downtown Willits offers travelers a beggar's dozen shops in two short blocks; a quarter mile stroll can reach them all. From south to north, and back again:

Eat