6 Fairy-Tale Small Towns In Northern California

From skyscraping redwoods to jewel-encrusted beaches to medieval-style wineries to a folklore-based frog jumping festival, Northern California abounds with fairytalelike attractions. Unsurprisingly, many such sights are far from big NorCal cities like San Jose, Sacramento, and San Francisco. Rather, they inhabit small, secluded settlements inside forests, atop mountains, and along the sprawling coast. Learn in which NorCal towns you can find fantastical features fit for a fairy tale.

Fort Bragg

Hoards of colorful gems fill the beaches around Fort Bragg. There is a catch: the gems were once trash—literally. Said beaches were dumping grounds for Fort Bragg garbage. Over time, Pacific waves turned everything from red tail lights to blue apothecary bottles into shiny sea glass, which drew treasure hunters from around the world. So much sea glass was pilfered that, instead of a dragon, the law was invoked to protect Glass Beach in MacKerricher State Park. Collecting is legal but discouraged at other glass beaches to preserve their shimmery sanctity.

Following a fantastical foray into Fort Bragg, drive north about 35 miles to the Enchanted Forest. Set within the 957-acre Shady Dell property, this forest was named for a grove of "candelabra" redwood trees, which, like Fort Bragg's sea glass, gained their unique appearance via years of coastal climatic chaos. Wind, saltwater, and fire caused broken limbs to regenerate like a candelabra, making the grove magical to lookers and useless to loggers, who let these redwoods live unlike their tragically normal neighbors. End your day back in town with a waterfront dinner at The Wharf or Sea Pal Cove.

Ferndale

Each May, all manner of beasts from famous fairy tales—or fairy tales too strange for the collective consciousness—conquer Cali's coast between Arcata and Ferndale. They come courtesy of the Kinetic Grand Championship, a three-day, 50-mile triathlon of "all-terrain human-powered art vehicles" that are "engineered to race over road, water, mud and sand," according to the championship's website. As such, many drivers design their kinetic sculptures like fantasy characters. Among 2025's competitors were "Malice in Wonderland," "The Great and Powerful Ozzy," and "Never Ending Glory," a Falkor-headed vehicle that won the "Racer’s Choice" award.

The Kinetic Grand Championship may end in Ferndale, but that does not mean you should. Rather, keep your vacay going at the true "fern" fantasyland of Fern Canyon, which sits about 65 miles north in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Sure enough, this fernished canyon was used in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Or stay in town and explore Ferndale's colorful downton and enjoy a comforting meal at Poppa Joe's or The Boardroom Ferndale.

Crescent City

Located north of Ferndale and mere miles from Oregon's border, Crescent City is a remote retreat for real NorCal adventurers. It is home to about 6,500 people and the headquarters of Redwood National Park, which is managed alongside the California Department of Parks and Recreation as the Redwood National and State Parks. Besides the hundreds of feet tall, hundreds of years old trees inside said parks, Crescent City borders other fantastical features via the Darlingtonia Trail. A 0.3-mile trail inside the nearby Six Rivers National Forest, it is lined by carnivorous pitcher plants commonly called cobra lilies. The Battery Point Lighthouse is also a must-visit, offering dazzling seaside views. Stay in The Hobbit Hole, an earth-sheltered Airbnb, while exploring Crescent City's Middle-earth-style surroundings.

Angels Camp

Not all fairy tales are hundreds or thousands of years old. Those created within the last couple centuries, especially American ones that lack Euro-fantasy fare, are better known as folk tales. In 1865 in the Calaveras County mining town of Angels Camp, Samuel Clemens heard a folk tale about a celebrated jumping frog that he turned into a celebrated short story, which turned him into a celebrated writer named Mark Twain. Contemporary Angels Camp owes much of its charm to "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," since it annually hosts the Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee, AKA America's largest frog jumping contest. Winners are memorialized at the Frog Hop of Fame outside the Angels Hotel, where it is claimed that Twain heard the froggy tale 160 years ago. While in town, learn more about local history at the Angels Camp Museum, or drive 30 minutes out of town to the check out a tour of California Cavern.

Calistoga

In general, wine tasting can make you feel like an aristocrat. Doing so from Calistoga, however, can raise you to ruler of your own fantasy realm—especially while sipping "La Fantasia" at a literal castle. This Napa Valley city is replete with regal wineries, chief of which stands Castello di Amorosa, a 14th-century-Tuscan-style castle covering 121,000 square feet and 107 rooms ranging from an armory to a torture chamber. Outside are 171 acres of woodlands and vineyards that produce such wine as the aforementioned La Fantasia. Another Calistoga castle is Chateau Montelena, whose French-style Chateau Montelena Winery was founded in 1882 and won the 1976 Judgment of Paris wine competition.

After sampling fantastic wine in Calistoga, journey west to sample fantastic formations at The Petrified Forest. As if cursed by a mythical villain (but in reality transformed by a volcanic eruption), its redwoods turned to stone over 3 million years ago. Over 3 million years later, Robert Louis Stevenson included The Petrified Forest in his book The Silverado Squatters.

South Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is the perfect setting for a fairy tale. Big, deep, and crystal-clear, this alpine lake reflects a number of storybook-esque sights in waterfront communities across two states. Near New Washoe City on the Nevada side sits Thunderbird Lodge, the historic home of an eccentric millionaire and his pet elephant. In the city of South Lake Tahoe on the Cali side sit Valhalla Tahoe (AKA the Heller Estate), a Norse-inspired venue for magical weddings and the annual Holiday Faire; and the Tahoe Valley Campground, which hosts the Valhalla Renaissance Faire each summer. Just west of South Lake Tahoe on Emerald Bay stands another Scandinavian-style estate called Vikingsholm. Its 38-room castle is tourable from June to September. Enjoy lakeside views while dining at Boathouse on the Pier.

Pause the movie or close the book to experience a real-life fairy tale in Northern California. Start at the covetable Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, hop to the Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee in Angels Camp, avoid dinosaurs in Fern Canyon near Ferndale, battle dragons of intoxication at Calistoga's Castello di Amorosa, ascend to Valhalla in South Lake Tahoe, and then rest in The Hobbit Hole near Crescent City. You may never want to leave.