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Likely is an unincorporated census-designated place in Modoc County, in the far northeastern corner of California, sitting on the south side of the South Fork of the Pit River about 18 miles south of the county seat of Alturas, at an elevation of 4,449 feet.

Likely stands on the site of Hamawe (also spelled Hammawi), a village of the Achumawi people of the Pit River country.

The community was originally called South Fork after the river, but when the U.S. Post Office insisted that post offices have short, unique one-word names, residents deadlocked over a new name until a local rancher remarked that they would most likely never agree on one - and 'Likely' was voted in.

The South Fork post office operated from 1878 to 1882, and the Likely post office opened in 1886.

One of the last battles of the American Indian Wars was fought at Infernal Caverns, a short distance from Likely.

The Likely Peat Moss Company processed high-quality hypnum peat moss strip-mined from nearby Jess Valley and shipped it out by truck and rail until the supply was depleted and the company dissolved in 1987.

The 2020 census counted just 58 residents in Likely, down from 63 in 2010, living in 22 households with a median age of 59.4 years.

Sheltered from prevailing southwesterly winds by the southern edge of the Modoc Plateau, Likely has a microclimate that is noticeably drier and less stormy than the country around it, and ranching and tourism are its main industries today.