Sasquatch Puts Willow Creek on Map : The Bigfoot Burger and Other Delights

If not for the legend of a smelly 8-foot tall human-like beast, little would set this Northern California town apart from thousands of other American hamlets.

Often called the “Bigfoot Capital of the World,” Willow Creek straddles California 299 about 50 miles from the Pacific Ocean amid lush groves of cedar, fir, pine and oak.

More than four dozen of Willow Creek’s 800 residents claim to have seen the reclusive man-ape, and a thriving industry has been built around the mystique of “Bigfoot,” or “Sasquatch,” as the Indians called the creature that leaves 16-inch footprints.

Willow Creek businessmen name their shops after the elusive creature and sell maps of sightings to tourists eager to clamber around in search of the beast.

Visitors can shop at Willow Creek’s Bigfoot Lumber & Hardware, search for clothes at Sasquatch Second Hand, examine antiques at the Bigfoot Curio Shop, enjoy a round of golf at Bigfoot Country Club and cap off the afternoon with a Bigfoot Burger.

As summer approaches, Willow Creek softball enthusiasts will organize tournaments and fire up barbecues for another round of Bigfoot Days.

Local beauties will preen, primp and sell raffle tickets.

She who sells the most tickets by the end of the season will be crowned Bigfoot Queen under the watchful eye of a huge Bigfoot statue in Bigfoot Square during a four-day celebration over Labor Day Weekend.

“It’s definitely helped the area,” said Terri Castner, president of the local Chamber of Commerce. “The legend has been fantastic for our town.”

The chamber’s tourist information booth sits a convenient two or three “Bigfoot steps” behind a massive redwood Bigfoot statue.

The legend has been part of Northern California Indian lore for centuries.

When a road-building crew in 1958 discovered 17-inch tracks, heavy 55-gallon metal barrels tossed about like toys, a 700-pound tire thrown over a cliff and large human-like droppings, Bigfoot entered the 20th Century here.

A story appeared in the local newspaper, wire services picked it up and Willow Creek found itself basking in Bigfoot glory. But an expedition by a New York zoologist and several magazine investigations failed to find concrete evidence of the creature.

According to legend and unsubstantiated modern sightings, the man-apes have slanted foreheads, broad nostrils, coarse body hair, a shrill scream and a putrid smell.

Several years ago, variety store owner Al Hodgson took plastic impressions of large tracks he found in a creek bed.

“All I can say is that the tracks were actually there. I couldn’t tell if they were fake or not,” he said. “One would think that by this time, there’d be some solid proof. A bone, a body, something.”

Despite the lack of hard evidence, sightings of the creature and his tracks keep pouring in, along with tourist dollars.

“Lots of people come up here just because of Bigfoot. We’re known as the gateway to Bigfoot country. They’re very interested in the statue and looking for Bigfoot in the woods,” Castner said.