About our location
Dell’Arte is in Blue Lake, California, a very small town of 1,300 on the banks of the Mad River. We are in an area of incredible natural beauty-- part of an unique ecosystem including giant redwoods, the Pacific salmon, Roosevelt elk, and a dramatic Pacific coastline.
Once there was a lake in Blue Lake, but over the years the course of the river changed and now there is just a small patch in a cow pasture, which fills up in the winter rains. Until the early 70’s, Blue Lake was a real town with an economy based on the harvesting, milling, and transporting of timber. Now it is more a small, peaceful town where Dell'Arte is one of the largest employers. There are few services: 2 restaurants, a gas station, a laundromat, a casino, a microbrewery, a small industrial park and a video rental place, but no market. If you have the option of bringing a car you’ll probably want to do so.
7 miles southwest of Blue Lake, on the north end of Humboldt Bay, is the college town of Arcata (pop 16,000); home of Humboldt State University. It is a healthy, vibrant, liberal town with grocery stores, restaurants, shopping, movie theatres, hospitals, banks, a great farmers market, etc. 10 miles south of Arcata is Eureka, the county seat. It has a population of about 24,000 and a shopping mall. McKinleyville is another mid sized town about 8 miles north of Blue Lake. Arcata, Eureka and McKinleyville offer a full range of services and students carpool into these towns regularly.
How to reach Blue Lake
By Car
Blue Lake is located about 290 miles north of San Francisco; six (6) miles inland from the Pacific Ocean on Highway 299.
Driving From San Francisco to Dell’Arte:
It takes about 5 ½ hours to drive here from San Francisco. Take highway 101 north for about 270 miles. Just north of Arcata you will see signs for Highway 299 East. Take 299 East for about 5 miles. You will see the exit for Blue Lake. Exit to the right and stay to the right. Go straight through the roundabout and take the next right which is Greenwood. Greenwood runs in front of the elementary school. Once on Greenwood, follow the road as it curves to the left. Turn left at the second (2nd) stop sign. Dell’Arte is the large yellow and red building on your left.
Tip: Many students who are flying into San Francisco contact each other in advance and arrange to share the rental of an Avis/Hertz/National rental car which they can drop off at our local airport. One way rentals are more expensive, but when shared, can be way less than a flight. Bear in mind that whoever will be driving must be 25 and have a credit card to rent a car in California. Also, please be sure that the rental car agent knows you are going to the ARCATA airport (ACV), not the Arcadia airport.
Driving from Portland or Seattle to Dell’Arte:
It’s about 8 hours from Portland to Blue Lake. Take Interstate 5 South. At Grant’s Pass, OR, you will get on Highway199 West. This ends at Highway 101 in Crescent City, CA. Take Highway 101 South. It is about 80 miles, or an hour and a half to Highway 299. Take Highway 299 East and follow the directions above.
By Bus
The nearest Greyhound Bus station is in Arcata, just south of Blue Lake on Highway 101. The Greyhound bus line will get you to Arcata from San Francisco or Portland. It costs about $40 one way and takes about 12 hours from Portland and 8 from San Francisco. You can call Greyhound at 1-800-321-2222.
From Arcata to Blue Lake there is a taxi service called City Cab and their # is (707) 442-4551. The ride costs about $28. There is also a local bus that goes from the bus station to Blue Lake. It runs every hour on the half-hour beginning at 7:31AM to 7:31PM. It costs $1.35.
By Air
The nearest airport is located a few miles north on Highway 101 in McKinleyville and is served by United Express and Horizon Air. Its code is ACV. Please make sure to use this code when you are booking travel online. Also have it available for your travel agent. It is usually very expensive to fly to Arcata from anywhere so make sure you book at least 3 weeks in advance. If you are coming through San Francisco, booking on United may save you some money.
There is regular bus service between Arcata and Blue Lake on a line run by the Blue Lake Rancheria & Casino, but not from the airport. There is also an airport shuttle service which will bring you to Dell’Arte from the Arcata airport for $22. The reservation # is 1-888-338-5497. |