After being extensively logged from the 1880s to the middle of the twentieth century,[7] Brooktrails Township was founded under a special provision in state law.[8] It was marketed as a vacation mountain retreat for San Franciscans in the 1970s.[7] It has approximately 6,600 parcels varying in size from 0.3 acres (0.12 ha) to 10 acres (4.0 ha). The smaller parcels are mostly surrounded by the township-owned Brooktrails Redwood Park,[9] a 2,600-acre (1,100 ha)[10] forest green belt composed of tan oak, Douglas fir and redwood.[11] Brooktrails has over 30 hiking trails and two lakes, Lake Emily and Lake Ada Rose, that store and direct water to its water treatment plant.[12] There is also a small market and a deli. The Brooktrails Township Community Services District, governed by a five-member elected board of directors, provides water, sewer, and recreational services to the residents.[12][13]
In 2012, Mendocino County paid the back assessments on hundreds of abandoned Brooktrails lots; however, they stopped paying water, sewer and fire assessments for those lots.[8]
The entire community of Brooktrails was evacuated in September 2020 due to the threat of the Oak Fire.[14]
Geography
Brooktrails is in central Mendocino County, occupying hills to the west of Little Lake Valley. The fire department and golf course lie at an elevation of 1,634 feet (498 m), but the community's western edge rises to nearly 3,000 feet (910 m).[2] It is 3 miles (5 km) north of Willits. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 7.3 square miles (19 km2), 99.36% of it land, and 0.64% of it water.[1]
The Census reported that 3,235 people (100% of the population) lived in households, 0 (0%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0 (0%) were institutionalized.
There were 1,322 households, out of which 428 (32.4%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 628 (47.5%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 156 (11.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 84 (6.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 124 (9.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 11 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 344 households (26.0%) were made up of individuals, and 93 (7.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45. There were 868 families (65.7% of all households); the average family size was 2.90.
The population was spread out, with 752 people (23.2%) under the age of 18, 246 people (7.6%) aged 18 to 24, 894 people (27.6%) aged 25 to 44, 954 people (29.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 389 people (12.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.4 years. For every 100 females, there were 108.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.5 males.
There were 1,444 housing units at an average density of 197.3 per square mile (76.2/km2), of which 955 (72.2%) were owner-occupied, and 367 (27.8%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 3.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.9%. 2,353 people (72.7% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 882 people (27.3%) lived in rental housing units.
^ abAnderson, Bruce, Mendocino County Today: June 24, 2012, Anderson Valley Advertiser, 23 June 2012, accessed 08 March 2013, quote: "... the Brooktrails housing development outside of Willits where unsuspecting buyers were buying small, unbuilding lots in Brooktrails, not knowing that they had no water or sewer, and in some cases not even decent road access."
^IntroductionArchived December 14, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Greenbelt Stewardship Plan, Brooktrails Township Community Services District, accessed 8 March 2013
