Fortuna is a city on the northeast shore of the Eel River, approximately 9 miles (14 km) from where it enters the Pacific Ocean, and is on U.S. Route 101 in west-central Humboldt County, California, United States. The population was 12,516 at the 2020 census, up from 11,926 at the 2000 census.
Main Street in Fortuna in the 1940s
The former Northwestern Pacific Railroad depot
River Lodge attracts meetings and events.
Twenty thousand visitors fill the town during Fortuna's Redwood AutoXpo.
The Eel River is a major river, about 196 miles (315 km) long, in northwestern California. The river and its tributaries form the third-largest watershed entirely in California, draining a rugged area of 3,684 square miles (9,540 km2) in five counties. The river flows generally northward through the Coast Ranges west of the Sacramento Valley, emptying into the Pacific Ocean about 10 miles (16 km) downstream from Fortuna and just south of Humboldt Bay. The river provides groundwater recharge, recreation, and industrial, agricultural and municipal water supply.
The river near Dyerville, California
Lake Pillsbury is formed by a dam built in 1921 near the headwaters of the Eel River.
Sediment-laden water from the Eel River after winter storms – NASA satellite image, 2012
The lower Eel River in May
