Years ago William Randolph Hearst gave C. S. Howard of Ridgewood Ranch a breeding pair of fallow deer from his private zoo at San Simeon. Howard is better known as the owner of Seabiscuit, the stout-hearted racehorse that captivated America in the late 1930s. Today the descendants of the pair of deer can be seen in the hills of Mendocino County.
Herds of white deer gamboling high in the hills above Ukiah may sound like the stuff of pipe dreams, and there's no guarantee that every Ukiah visitor will catch a glimpse of the white deer of Mendocino County; but every fly-in visitor will see the Ukiah Municipal Airport.
Where?
Located in the heart of Mendocino County and the Redwood Empire, Ukiah is a two-hour drive north of San Francisco and a one-hour drive from the town of Mendocino. The Ukiah Valley features vineyards, peach orchards, and forested mountains.
The Ukiah airport
The airport features one 4,415-foot-long-by-150-foot-wide runway that is aligned up and down (runway headings are 330 degrees and 150 degrees) the Yokayo Valley — yokayo is an Indian word meaning deep valley. There is a 3,411-foot-tall mountain immediately west of the airport and a 3,924-foot-tall mountain within a few miles to the east. Because the Ukiah airport and town nestle in the west side of the valley, all patterns (including IFR approach circle-to-land transitions) are flown to the east of the airport. Pattern altitude is 1,600 msl for all aircraft.
The Mendocino VOR (112.3) is located on a mountaintop 5.5 miles to the southwest of the airport. Ukiah has a number of IFR approaches. The calm-wind runway is 15. Noise-abatement procedures are simple — if taking off on Runway 33, turn right when able to avoid flight over the town.
Both Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Hertz rent cars on the airport. Type the Ukiah identifier (UKI) into the box on AOPA's Airport Directory online ( www.aopa.org/members/airports/) for the latest airport information and contact phone numbers.
Ukiah is only a few flight minutes inland from the coast. During the winter months, valley fog may drift up the valley and shut the airport down until mid-morning — at these times coastal airports such as Ocean Ridge and Little River are usually fog free. During summer months the cycle reverses — the same coastal airports remain fogged in until mid-morning while Ukiah remains fog free. There are a number of clean, reasonably priced motels near the airport for travelers who get fogged in. But the best bet for fliers who want a unique experience is to spend a night (or a week) at the oldest continuously operated spa in California.
Vichy Springs resort and spa
Flowing from an ancient spring in the hills east of Ukiah are the effervescent waters of the Vichy Springs resort and spa. In 1854 William Day opened Vichy Springs resort and spa — its reputation grew and for a while Vichy Springs was a must-visit destination for the well-to-do from San Francisco.
Natural water spas fell out of favor and Vichy Springs was neglected for years until Gilbert and Marjorie Ashoff restored it. Today it's a peaceful, slow-paced, unpretentious resort nestled amongst 700 acres of land that has been lightly touched by the hand of man. With eight cottages and 17 "mountain view" and "creekside" rooms to choose from, energetic visitors can hike along miles of trails, stroke laps in the 124-year-old 25-meter swimming pool, or just vegetate to the sound of the rippling waters of Little Grizzly Creek.
Soaking in the naturally carbonated 90-degree Fahrenheit waters in the same concrete tubs that more famous visitors from the past, such as Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Jack London, presidents Roosevelt (Teddy), Harrison, and Grant, and professional boxer "Gentleman Jim" Corbett, have also enjoyed is an unusual experience. The warmth coupled with the invisible carbon dioxide gas in the water naturally expands the capillaries near the skin — thus promoting a feeling of warmth and well-being. Ashoff claims that he's seen it happen again and again — the most connected twenty-first-century man or woman just naturally eases down after as little as one soak in the waters of Vichy Springs. Outdoor tubs let guests enjoy a warm soak under the stars.
Ashoff flies a Cessna 172 out of Ukiah and will either provide transportation to and from the airport or make rental car arrangements for fly-in guests. For more information, call 707/462-9515 or visit the Web site ( www.vichysprings.com).
Grace Hudson Museum
Grace Carpenter was born near Ukiah in the late 1800s. Her parents encouraged her interest in art and sent her to schools in San Francisco to study. She returned to the Ukiah area and began painting the people of the Pomo Indian tribes that lived in and around Ukiah. In 1890 she married John Hudson and for the rest of their lives they chronicled the lives of the Pomo people of the Ukiah area — she through painting while he amassed artifacts such as the extensive collection of exquisite basketry now displayed in the museum.
Grace Hudson's paintings are unique since they show Pomo life from a feminine viewpoint, in contrast to other famous painters of western scenes such as Bierstadt and Remington.
In addition to Hudson's paintings and a magnificent display of Pomo basketry, the Grace Hudson Museum in downtown Ukiah also features an extremely well-documented display of early twentieth-century family artifacts. Adjacent to the museum is Sun House, the Craftsman-style home that the Hudsons lived in after its completion in 1911. Call 707/467-2836 or visit the Web site ( www.gracehudsonmuseum.org) for more information.
There's a largely unknown stand of coast sequoia and sierra redwood trees at the 1,142-acre Montgomery Woods State Reserve within a 40-minute drive over a narrow two-lane snake-buster of a road to Orr Hot Springs. These trees have never been logged and are in the most remote of the state's 31 redwood tree preserves.
High above Ukiah in the Mayacamas Mountains to the east is the 52,000-acre Cow Mountain Recreation Area administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Call 707/468-4000 or visit the Web site ( www.ca.blm.gov/ukiah) for the latest information.
It doesn't matter — you may be sitting out the fog on your way down to the Bay Area or out to a coastal airport, you may have flown your airplane to enjoy a restful time at the Vichy Springs resort, or you may have stopped in on a day trip to look back at yesteryear at the unique Grace Hudson Museum. Whatever the reason, the Ukiah airport will welcome you.
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