Located 6 miles (9.7 km) north-northwest of Likely Mountain, it is somewhat sheltered from prevailing southwesterly winds, and its microclimate is noticeably drier and less stormy than surrounding areas.

[10]: 47  The town was initially known as South Fork, named after the South Fork of the Pit River, and was renamed at the insistence of the United States Post Office, which insisted at that time that Post Offices could only have short, unique names.

The peat moss was strip-mined from the floor of Jess Valley and trucked 13 miles to Likely on the winding canyon road paralleling South Fork Pit River between Likely and Ivy, California.

The peat moss was processed and packaged and then shipped by both truck and by Southern Pacific Railroad until rail services to Likely were discontinued.

[10]: 139 [14] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP covers an area of 1.3 square miles (3.5 km2), with 99.66% land, and 0.34% water.

There were 46 housing units at an average density of 34.5 per square mile (13.3/km2), of which 29 (85.3%) were owner-occupied, and 5 (14.7%) were occupied by renters.

A long-running joke among residents is that the Gross National Product of this part of Modoc County is your choice of: rocks, junipers, or sagebrush.

Timber and peat moss industries collapsed in the 1980s due to increased costs and loss of railroad infrastructure.

Internet access in Likely is limited to dial-up service, provided by High Desert Online and Frontier Communications.