## Laytonville

Named after Frank B. Layton, a blacksmith who settled there in 1875, Laytonville sits at 1,670 feet above sea level, giving it the highest elevation of any town along Hwy 101 in Mendocino County. Small yet lively, it is a federally designated Frontier Community and has a warm and friendly “Old West” feel to it. Home to the “Best Lil’ Rodeo Around,” the area also hosts the annual Kate Wolf Music Festival at a ranch 5 miles north of town. At one time a center of both the logging and ranching industries, today Laytonville’s economy relies primarily on service occupations and educational, community service and arts employment, along with some remaining ranching and agriculture.

Surrounded by beautiful mountains, dramatic redwood forests and rich prairie land graced with beautiful, gnarled valley oaks and canyon live oaks dripping California Spanish moss, this is a sleepy little hideaway where the frantic pace of modern city life gives way to the measured cadences of nature.

## Leggett

Approximately 25 miles north of Laytonville is the town of Leggett, located at the junction of Hwy 101 and Hwy 1. The former logging town attracts campers and travelers during the summer months, and hordes of fishermen when the salmon swim upstream to spawn in the late fall. The population of Leggett fluctuates between 350 and 500 depending on the season. Summer temperatures can hover in the 90s, but the Eel River is always nearby for cooling off. Piercy, about 9 miles northwest of Leggett and located on the South Fork of the Eel River, is an unincorporated area immediately below the MendocinoHumboldt County line.