smom

My 83 yr old father has always wanted to see the"big trees in California" and I plan on taking him in September. Flying from Austin and I am not sure where I should take him. I can get non-stop flights into Oakland and San Fran. Hiking is out so we need car touring options. Plan on 3 night trip maybe 4 during the week. It will be a slow and easy trip for us with plenty of stops and rests. Where should we go?? He loves the great outdoors. He is also interested in local agriculture. He has been a farmer his entire life.
thanks

Suzie

There are 2 kinds of big trees in CA. There are the tall trees that are on the CA coast. Then there are the giant sequoia's in the Sierra.

Do you know which ones you want to see?

janisj

Big treas are all over -- Two different species but there are redwoods in places along the north coast and between San Francisco and Sants Cruz -- and -- in the Sierras in places like Calaveras county and Sequoia NP.

One good option would be to fly into Sacramento or Oakland and head to the North coast. See the Avenue of the Giants, and coastal agriculture and vineyards.

OR - Fly into San Francisco or San Jose and head south to the Santa Cruz Mountains Seeing Big Basin SP and vineyards and then farms down in the Salinas Valley.

Or - fly into Sacramento, San Jose or Fresno and head east to Calaveras Big trees or even farther SE to Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

My first choice would probably be to fly into SMF, and head up to the north coast. 3 to 4 days would be enough time for a fairly leisurely loop starting and ending in Sacramento.

1JAR

I just posted this on a post Sunday. Some nice links from one Farmer to another.Can your Father walk at all? My best suggestion is fly into OAkland, (Oakland is easier to navigate than SF, rent a car (all rental cars are off site, wait area for shuttle bus is across street all flat, but you can maybe get a w/c to help)...drive to Sonoma. Stay at Fairmont Mission Inn, drive to Armstrong PArk.http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450
Very flat, BIG trees right from parking lot... there is a paved trail for w/c...contiue out to the coast and see teh ocean...

http://www.farmtrails.org/

http://www.localharvest.org/search.j...&nm=&zip=95476

http://www.forkandbottle.com/secrets_of_wine_country/

spirobulldog

I have been to several groves.

Sequoia National Park- Giant Forest Area is what I would rank #1. The trees there are just super. You do need to be able to walk just a little to really see them. You can see plenty of them without walking, but it would be good if you had a wheelchair, or could walk maybe 1/4 mile.

Stout Grove in Redwood National Park would be my #2 pick and the drive thru them is very nice on a really good dirt road.

Yosemite-Mariposa Grove- The trees here are great and you can take a tram/train tour of this grove, so this makes it easy. If you went to Yosemite, you would want to at least drive thru the valley and see the waterfalls as they are very impressive as well


I am going to Prairie Creek section in Redwoods this next week, and I think it will be super nice as well. If you went to the Redwoods, the trees are taller-but not as impressive because they aren't nearly as big in diameter. You do have the added bonus of seeing the coast with the Redwoods. All around the Fresno area there is tons of agriculture. Sequoia and Yosemite are in that general area.


If you have never seen the trees, you will be blown away. They rank in the top 5 things I have ever seen in my life. Right up there with the Grand Canyon or Niagra Falls, in other words.

spirobulldog

sorry, didn't see you were going in Sept, Waterfalls might not be all that great at that time, not sure about this year as they had a lot of extra snow

smom

I really don't think it matters which trees we see. He does want to see a tree that you can drive through. thanks for the info. I think alot depends on the non-stop flights.I can leave from another Texas airport, Housston or San Antonio. He can walk but not long distances. He is quite active but has to rest often. Actually he still farms...bails hay, but limited by his walking. The info is great and I will plan the trip with 2 options and let him decide.

smom

janisj when you say coastal ag what do you mean? I am not familiar with the area. Also how long is the loop from Sacremento?

FrankS

With such a short trip, get a connection and fly into Fresno. Take him to Sequoia Natl Park and drive through(literally) the giants. Next, visit the many agricultural areas of the area. That Valley grows everything, and Im sure there are some CoOps or Churches in the area that will let him visit their working farms firsthand

logandog

The giant Sequoias are the most impressive. The redwoods are taller but don't give the same awe inspiring image as the sequoias.
They are almost shocking to see for the first time,it looks like something from another planet. For a farmer to see the largest(by weight) living thing in the world would be memorable.

Dayenu

Muir Woods is an easy accessible hike, it's not a trail, but a wooden boardwalk.

If going to Sequoia, Yosemite - check the altitude if you father may have a problem with it (how is his blood pressure?)

november_moon

Here is a link about the drive through trees:

http://redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=2464

janisj

Both are wonderful of course --but I personally would choose the north coast over Sequoia in September. That is a very dry time in the sierras and the waterfalls and everything else won't really be at their best.

Whereas -September is the VERY best month along the coast. The weather is the best of the entire year. That is why it would be my first choice - timing of the trip. Plus Sacramento/SMF is the easiest of all the airports to navigate(other than Fresno but that would only be for Sequoia).

I also would not go to Muir Woods - very close to SF so it gets VERY crowded. They are lovely but it is pretty small area.

Ag in the northern areas would include vineyards, cattle, dairies, lots of pear orchards, Walnuts -- and other small scale fruit/veg operations.

rednikki

There's one other trip not on the list that is wonderful: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park just outside of Santa Cruz. There is a 1-mile path through the redwood grove that is wheelchair-accessible and absolutely magnificent. My mom is mobility challenged, but she thought it was amazing. (Much to my surprise, she actually walked the whole thing; I think it's the first time she's walked that far in at least 10 years.)

janisj

And -- down around Santa Cruz are vineyards, artichokes, strawberries, vegetables.

bkluvsNola

Some ideas:

Drive him to Santa Cruz and take the open air train that goes through the Santa Cruz mountains. It goes up to Henry Cowell State Park which is a short distance away. They also have a chuckwagon barbeque. If he can't walk to the grove from the depot (I think it's 500 feet) then at least he got to see the trees from the railroad.

Another idea is there is a park somewhere on the road to Yosemite where they have sequoias and you can take a tractor ride through the grove. There is a guide that tells you about each of the memorable trees, including the one you can (or could) drive through. He would probably love that, but I can't remember the name of the park. On the way to Yosemite and back is the central valley where great views of the agriculture are to be had, of every imaginable crop.

Yosemite is beautiful in and of itself, with large trees but not the size of the redwoods nor the girth of the sequoias. But the park and its waterfalls are not to be missed, and they have a nice shuttle bus which requires no walking.

spirobulldog

Muir Woods are very nice and give the rain forest type feel. I don't think the trees are anywhere near as good as Sequoia, Redwoods, or Yosemite. The tree at Muir aren't that super compared to the others. The bark alone on the Giant Sequoia's is 2-3 ft think.

smom

Thanks for all of the info. I have been busy researching and here is what I came up with....appreciate any comments

Sequoia-Pros-could stay put in on place for lodging the entire trip, Cons-no direct flights

Avenue of the Giants Pros-32 mile drive with lots of pullouts plus ocean, Cons-logistics from Sacremento and loop drive.

Santa Cruz area-Pros-ag tours in the valley, Cons-I am not sure the trees will have enough wow factor compared to other places

logandog

I would use Oakland and try to book a Southwest Airlines to Sacramento.
I think you could get your dad around to many of these trees in 3 nights in a rental car from Sacramento.
Although the redwoods are remarkable, they are often densely packed together and their relative size is diminished.
You guys could cover a lot of ground in that time.

christy1

Smom, you are right in your assessment that the redwoods near Santa Cruz don't pack the same punch. It's a lovely area but if your goal is big trees, that area and Muir Woods just aren't the best. I also don't think there are any drive-thru trees there.