The remote town of Comptche lies between Ukiah and the village of Mendocino. Elevation 639 feet. The latitude of Comptche is 39.265N. The longitude is -123.59W The town is the northernmost city in the Anderson Valley region of Mendocino County and is literally off-the-beaten-track, difficult to reach from any major highways, including Highway 128, which travels through this picturesque valley. About 19 miles due north of Navarro, this town is actually more populated than others along the highway, with about 368 residents. It’s surrounded by the beautiful Montgomery Woods State Reserve, one of the most remote of California’s 31 redwood parks. You’ll find both the Sierra Redwood and the Coast Redwood in this reserve.
The park is 1,142 acres in size.
A search for Comptche on Google reveals little or nothing. I couldn’t find any of its history on-line after searching for over an hour. All I could find were these few pictures here on this page and a listing for the community center, grocery, doctor, dentist, church and saw mill. SOUNDS LIKE MY KIND OF PLACE! From what I can tell by the driving we did and the aerial maps it would appear to be a series of small valleys surrounded by redwood forest. There seems to be ample creeks and the Albion River headwaters start here I believe.
Quite honestly it is near nothing, but seems to be the perfect little hamlet. When Theo and I drove it to it after driving through many other small towns, we both looked at each other and said “this feels like home”. What we are looking for is a place near enough to the coast (16 miles away) to provide cool breezes and easy access to coastal resources like seaweed, fish, mussels, salt, etc… Based on our criterion this seems like an ideal spot. It has gently sloping or flat southern facing valleys, ample water, lots of timber and is uniquely isolated. Of course this is just a preliminary drive through, so we have to start doing are research now. We need to discover the folks that make up this place and what land may be available. We have a few leads on properties and we will start digging to learn more of this promising area!