Woodland, the seat of Yolo County, is a relatively small city about five miles north of Davis. Since the late 1960s, there has been an increase of interest in preserving the town's historic buildings, and many of them have been restored for use as homes, offices, stores and museums. Woodland's annual "Stroll Through History" showcases many of the Victorian homes and other historical sites throughout the city. Most Davis residents go to Woodland for mass-market superstores, inexpensive housing, historic downtown, thrift stores and County Fair Mall.

The Yolo County Jail, Yolo County Animal Shelter, Woodland Community College, Juvenile Hall, Yolo County Probation Department and the Coroner's office are all within a mile of each other on the same stretch of Gibson Road. It can be observed with black humor that all on one road, you have the people nobody wants, the pets nobody wants, the students nobody wants and the corpses nobody wants. Woodland also bears the Number of the Beast — most of the phone numbers start with "666."

Looking for the Woodland Wiki? Here it is: woodland

Getting to Woodland

By Bike

Pole Line Road is a decent way to get out there. Although a high traffic, there are nice wide shoulders that look a lot like bike lanes. If you like it a little more scenic, then there are plenty of low-traffic county roads starting from West Davis that will take you out there. These roads, of course, have no bike lanes, only about a 6 inch shoulder (which most likely contains puddles or debris).

By Bus

Yolobus route 42A goes through Woodland hourly. Yolobus 242 also offers Commute Bus Service between Davis and Woodland twice daily. UCD undergrads can show their student ID to waive the $2.25 fare.

By Auto

Driving north on Highway 113 is the easiest way to get to Woodland. A more scenic route is to take Pole Line all the way up. Pole Line turns into County Road 102. Continue until you get to Gibson (left to County Fair Mall), or Main (left to Downtown and Wal-Mart).

Woodland is home to

Superstores found in Woodland

Restaurants

See Woodland Restaurants (a more extensive list along with reviews can be found at woodland)

Worth Checking Out

For a nightlife, The Stag on Thursday nights is a pretty good bar scene for Woodland. Tony's and Kenny's can be cool too. All these places have a small town feel, and it's a good way to get away from the fratboy scene in Davis. If you're heading up from Davis, don't drink and drive, it's dangerous and there are plenty of cops around that night.

Woodland is one of the several surrounding towns with 24 hour places to hang out. Not one, not two, but three Denny's make their home there.

Events

Other Sites

Comments:

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Actually, WCC has a lot of re-entry students and kids straight from high school who don't know what they want to do, so they go to the JC instead of wasting money at a 4-year school. Then there's the people who finished high school early but never took the standardized tests so they take advantage of the transfer agreement the college has with UCD and get an automatic acceptance into UCD, providing they hold up their end of the contract, of course. - J Petrik

2005-08-02 21:48:33   Here is a strange story coming out of Woodland: "Homeless man skins pit bull for food" THIS LINK IS NO LONGER VALID. Gross. —AnnieSirrah

"ew" —rocksanddirt

2006-03-28 02:07:00   According to Stan Forbes, candidate for Davis City Council, all students should live in Woodland rather than filling up his precious "middle class workforce" Davis. —AlyssaOlenberg

2006-04-05 12:33:23   Woodland is Davis's evil twin. —AlexPomeranz

2006-05-24 23:54:39   Woodland looks and feels like a Central Valley town, Davis is more like a Bay Area town. —DukeMcAdow

2006-09-11 11:33:54   If you're in Woodland and hungry for mexican food, most of the taco trucks are good. For a taco, I recommend El Jalisciense on Main street and East, next to 7-eleven. Head meat or Cabeza tacos are excellent. For a broader menu, you should try Super Burrito and Taqueria at 70 W Court street. This place is SO superior to taqueria guadalajara (which I got food poisoning from once) and has really good chile rellenos, good burritos, refreshing fruit "waters" and a beer selection. Cops eat here too, so you know it's good. —DianaChristofersen

2006-11-01 17:12:10   Woodland has the world's smallest Target, which is the town's claim to fame. Target should not move from Woodland to Davis. What will that leave Woodland? Nothing, but a bunch of rad thrift stores. —BrianTrott

  • The Woodland Target is not moving to Davis. It is actually moving to a (presumably larger) lot in the new Costco shopping center, on the other side of Woodland. - AndrewChen

2006-11-29 16:52:24   Hey, lots of UCD people live in Woodland. By the way, if you are a UCD affiliate and are interested in getting in shape at the group rate price at the Body COnstruction ZOne gym, please contact me. Signups for the 2007 are happening now. Thanks. —JaeRoss

2007-07-13 12:39:25   I would like to refute some of what has been written about Woodland by previous commenters. As an unfortunate resident of Davis and a former long-time resident of San Francisco, I must adamantly state that Davis feels NOTHING like the Bay Area. Nothing at all. Living in Davis is like living in the midwest: a flat, rural place full of conservative, narrow-minded folks. I really enjoy and appreciate Woodland because although the residents may not be as educated or well-off as many Davis-ites, they are GENUINE, FRIENDLY individuals who completely lack the pretentiousness that is so abundant in the Davis community. I agree with the comment about Woodland being a typical Central Valley town, but if the people are cool and the environment is comfortable and friendly, then who really cares? I am happy to spend my free time in Woodland (my partner is a resident, which is why I come here so often). Viva Woodland!

  • I think you may have read too much into my little quip comparing Woodland and Davis. I simply wanted to point out that each town has its own character, rather than the popular perception of one being an inferior or superior version of the other. As for comparing Davis to a Bay Area town? Sure, Davis may not reflect your experience in San Francisco...but SF is only one city in the much larger Bay Area. Woodland isn't the Mayberry you've made it out to be by a long shot, and neither is Davis. —DukeMcAdow

Maybe most of the mature Woodlanders are cool, I'm just used to seeing the young punks / bangers that Woodland loves to churn out —StevenDaubert

  • Davis is conservative? Have you ever lived in the midwest or the south? —JimEvans

2007-07-14 12:24:02   Woodland is the biggest shithole in the central valley. Hands down. It's full of nasty-ass pseudo-hillbillies, gangs, a really stupid police force, crumbling strip malls, disgusting food, old republicans, horrible "artists", a shitty newspaper, mean homeless people, auto malls on Main Street, Paul Petrovich and nearly retarded community activists. There is no argument: Woodland is the closest thing to hell since Fresno. —JoshFernandez

  • Josh, you need a thesaurus and a first-time visit to Woodland, because every adjective you employed imaginatively as Paul Petrovich designs buildings could apply to any place if you look at through a dark, twisted prism. —BrianJKenyon

2007-11-08 18:57:59   I grew up in Woodland my whole life and still commute from home. My only complaints about Woodland are the yolobus system and my parents. Woodland is a great community, we have a lot more access to corporate stores (I hate it when Davis residents complain about having to come "all the way" to Woodland to shop, why don't you guys get a box store and quit your crying?), friendly neighbors who are veeeery laid back (in comparison to Davis residents. Woodland is generally a really nice place to live. I take major offense to the negative feedback about Woodland. When I was in high school, it was Davis that we hated. Why? For starters: everyone is in a hurry, bikes don't follow traffic laws, and residents are waaaaay too uptight about certain things. etc. ect. GO WOODLAND! —ArianeMetz

2008-01-28 22:54:33   I do have to compliment the Woodland police department. The last two or three years that we lived there, our neighborhood went dramatically downhill and we had to call on them a lot. They always responded quickly and took care of things in a decisive manner. We really appreciated that. —DukeMcAdow

2008-02-10 07:06:16   Regarding gangs in Woodland and Davis, I've opted to not include a link here, but if one were interested, a quick google search with the obvious keywords will get you hits. Sorry Nick, now Woodland is mentioned so that should meet the criteria for commenting here I hope.] —aggie4life

2010-07-01 10:14:22   Re Woodland vs Davis: I lived in Davis for 30+ years and then moved to Woodland in 2005. Each has pros and cons. Davis has a younger, artsier vibe, while Woodland is more historic and calmer. Woodland feels more "real" to me than Davis (which seems to live in a bubble in which everyone is young, hip and highly educated), in that folks in Woodland hold a greater variety of jobs and points of view. There are areas in Woodland that are much the same as Davis (on my block in southwest Woodland, four of my neighbors are current or retired UCD, one is a retired judge and one is a nurse). There are also very rough neighborhoods near the railroad tracks with more crime and gang activity (which you can also find in Davis, BTW). The very best thing about Woodland IMHO is that a person making a normal income can actually afford a very nice house there. Cycling around town checking out the historical buildings (fine old Victorian and Italianate to Craftsman and even a few Art Deco) is a great cheap thrill. —mothersquid

Josh Fernandez, I'm gonna go ahead be whatever you think Woodland is. Shut up o we gon come up to yer hifalutin ma-yace rayanch and cut you with awr okie knives and horchata straws. Sincerely, a native Woodlander stuck living in your shitty hometown cause my Mom has to type up your university transcripts.

—TobinJones

2012-05-01 20:41:55   Winters > Woodland + Davis —CarlosOverstreet

2012-09-26 17:28:16   Woodland has more educated people than Davis residents would like to think. As the COUNTY SEAT it's where things like the County Courthouse, with its County District Attorneys and Public Defenders, are. It has the County Office of Education where they have, get this, TEACHERS of the Blind and Deaf, not just Juvenile Delinquents. And again, these days, a lot of people who live in Woodland commute to UC Davis so it's not completely uneducated illiterate morons the way Davis snobs would have one think. Neither is Dixon, by the way. I just got my car fixed there; the mechanic I had AAA tow me to to avoid having to let any Davis Scheisty-McScheister highway robbers touch my car again, found the right problem and fixed it THE SAME DAY and charged me way less for the whole day than anything in Davis would have charged PER HOUR. —PaigeKennedy

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