Red Bluff

Town and administrative headquarters of Tehama County, north California; population (1990) 12,400. It is situated on the Sacramento River, near the north end of the Sacramento Valley, and 63 km/39 mi northwest of Chico. It was a busy river port during the 1850s, but declined as irrigation schemes lowered the Sacramento's level in succeeding decades. It is now a market centre for agricultural and livestock producers; the lumber and wood industry is also important. Red Bluff, noted for its summer heat, is a tourist centre. Mount Lassen is 80 km/50 mi to the northeast.