I’m sure this has been covered before (and what I have written below is probably a bit general) but some friends of mine were visiting San Francisco and asked me if I had any information on where to go near SF to see the giant redwoods. This isn’t a real trip report or anything, but I put together a quick list for them of my all-time favorite places to see the giant old trees (We used to go camping regularly in these places when I was a kid). Thought it might be helpful for folks. Since I wrote it anyway, I thought I might as well post it. Please feel free to add on to the thread with suggestions, B&B recommendations, or even childhood camping experiences, etc.

Cheers,
Magellan

1. When I think of the California Redwoods, the first area that comes to mind is where I spent practically every summer of my childhood: the Redwood Coast (also known as the Avenue of the Giants) and the Redwood National Park. The Redwood Coast is far north of San Francisco off of Hwy 101. This area is located in Humboldt County near Crescent City and Eureka. Crescent City is about a 5-6 hour drive each way from San Francisco, but well worth it if you have the time. I would spend a night or two in a B&B rather than trying to do this trip in one day. Parts of the forest are so quiet and peaceful that it’s absolutely sublime. If you have 2-3 days, this trip would be ideal. See http://www.nps.gov/redw and http://www.redwood.national-park.com/info.htm and http://www.redwoods.info/?gclid=CNGh...FRFjYAodiToF5A

*My absolute favorite place to go in this area when I was a kid was through the famous drive-through trees on the Avenue of the Giants in Klamath. I remember fondly one particular incident in 1973 when my dad got the VW bus stuck in one of the trees, and part of the roof was scraped off. They wouldn’t let us back into the park after that (I wonder if our antenna is still there, forever lodged in the tree…) http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/CAPHItree.html

2. Much, much closer to San Francisco is Muir Woods http://www.visitmuirwoods.com/, which has old-growth redwoods. Muir Woods is about 20 minutes away from San Francisco - 12 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge off of Hwy 1 on a spectacular scenic route. This would be a nice trip on a weekday. Some guides warn that because it’s the closest redwood forest to San Francisco, it can get really crowded on the weekends. Now, that may be true, but what the heck - if you do go on the weekend, just remember that half the fun is the drive itself. That is, if you’re not car-sick (Note for car-sick prone adults: whatever you do, do not sit in the very back of an 8-seat Ford van, especially after drinking red wine. You will regret this immediately). Bring some tennis shoes or hiking boots (and a warm jacket and, on second thought, maybe some Dramamine and a barf bag too) – once you get off the winding road, this place is filled with pretty hiking trails and beautiful trees. I’ve ridden my bike from San Francisco to Muir Woods, so that’s also a fun option for the daring (read: you sometimes share the road with cars) See Blazing Saddles for bike rentals http://www.blazingsaddles.com/sf_bicycle_tours.html

Stinson Beach http://stinsonbeachonline.com/ is right next to Muir Woods. Stinson is one of my favorite beaches. There’s a funky little deli that you can stop at for lunch - has good sandwiches, great pickles, and coffee - and a there’s a little B&B close to the beach. No big redwoods here, but a very relaxing place to go, especially if you’re playing hooky from work (not that I would do that or anything), and you need a little get-away.

* Here’s a little article in Via (the magazine you get when you have AAA insurance) http://www.viamagazine.com/weekender...e_giants02.asp about various drives. See the sidebar for good information and on Muir Woods and Fort Bragg (a bit further north) http://www.fortbragg.com/index.php

3. If you want to head south instead, another great option is Big Basin Redwoods State Park, http://www.bigbasin.org/ – located about 2 hours south of San Francisco on a different highway (about 15 miles north of Santa Cruz). According to Lonely Planet, this park has 25 square miles of the largest redwoods in the Southern Coastal Mountain Range. If I remember correctly, they have trees there that are over 1,000 years old. We used to camp there when I was little. My most vivid memory is that all along the camp grounds lived these little cotton-tail rabbits – which I thought belonged solely to me, so I threw a fit when my parents explained that, no, we couldn’t bring the bunnies in the van. (“No, you already have your two hamsters and your cat in the van. If we bring the bunnies, where would we put your sister?” At the age of 5, the answer to this question seemed very clear to me, though apparently it was not quite so clear everyone else). My second most vivid memory is of someone placing a humungous banana slug in my hand - and me issuing forth a scream that (legend has it) woke the dead in several of the western states.

Banana Slugs:
For a sweet shot of one of these puppies (and yes, one such slug DID actually appear to be the size of a small dog) check out the California Academy of Science link at
http://www.calacademy.org/exhibits/c...t_redwoods.htm
(Also provides an overview of the ecosystem and conservation efforts).


4. Another great drive is to the fantastic Big Sur State Park, south of San Francisco on Hwy 1 near Monterey (about 2.5-3 hours from San Francisco). The trees and views are fantastic. Be aware that there can be some pretty gnarly stretches of hair-pin turns on this road. Speaking from (ahem) personal experience, take it easy on this road if you get car-sick easily. On non-foggy days, the views are beautiful. We used to go to Big Sur every fall to see the monarch butterflies and to get pumpkins from nearby patches http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/ This park is one of my favorites. I think Big Sur is one of the prettiest places in California.


That’s all folks. Happy tree-ing.

Excellent post magellan, and some sweet memories! It will be very helpful to many.
All soo impressive but my personal fav is Redwood Nat'l Park. Just something surreal about it; maybe the fog? How cool you got to drive thru the famous tree! We were very surprised at the condition of Crescent City - altho the holiday inn express was ok - and altho its the closest city, i would definitely recommend staying somewhere else when exploring the park. And luckily we have yet to encounter a banana slug, ewww!

Thanks for posting!

Brookings is a much better choice than Crescent City.
http://www.brookingsor.com/
Jedediah Smith State Park
is a lesser known Gem that many prefer to the national park.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=413

Jedidiah Smith Park is unbelievably beautiful. Probably because it attracts fewer visitors than other parks. I didn't want to leave when we visited. It helped that it was a stunningly gorgeous day!

The Boy Scout Trail:
http://archive.mailtribune.com/archi...ies/02life.htm

bookmarking

Great post by Magellan,

Forgotten, however, as I skimmed, was Armstrong Grove Redwoods State Park near Guerneville, on the Russian River.

And Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, 7 miles north of Santa Cruz.

Arnold's world:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl.../MN5TUF5D3.DTL
http://govbud.dof.ca.gov/BudgetSumma...FG-RES-01.html

bookmarking

I have only been once and am no expert. But the Redwoods seemed to have more unusual kitschy stuff than other tourist areas do. We found it humorous, particularly the Paul Bunyan:

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/attract/CAKLAtrees.html

Here are a few more links regarding the Redwoods in Humboldt County.

http://www.humboldtredwoods.org/index.htm


http://avenueofthegiants.net/index.php

I recommend the Bull Creek area.

Have Fun
GP

I would add, a great way to combine a quick visit to the wine country and even a coastal drive with redwoods is Armstrong Redwoods State Park in Sonoma County. Just outside of Guerneville, along the Russian River, this park has some of the State's tallest trees.

excuse my bookmark. took a trip to the redwoods 4 years ago, most magical trip of my life (for any tree-lover)and want to return. Wonder if the Olympic national forest, old growth trees also, can possibly evoke that kind of feel?

This is a great list. Thanks so much. I am planning my first trip to California some time in 2011 (in the very early stages of planning). This will be most handy!

soliera - I haven't been to the Olympic Peninsula, but from what I've seen, it looks like it would have a similar feeling. The Twilight movies were/are filmed up there - watching them makes me want to hop on a plane and go.

Good post, Magellan. Here's a link to some info I posted after our trip to Redwood National Park, Jedediah Smith, and Avenue of the Giants couple of months ago.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...erendipity.cfm
Contains links to a few photos also.

My favorite park is Jedediah Smith but most all the parks in Humboldt & Del Norte Counties are spectacular. This past July we camped at Prairie Creek and did the day hike over to Fern Canyon, which has to be one of the most unique geographical formations in the world (do a Google Image search). Fern Canyon doesn't get as much press as the drive through trees but, no contest, it is a much better way to spend your time and money.

Also love the smoked salmon sold by the Yurok tribe in Klamath, can't get it anywhere else.

Big Basin is the best redwood park in the Bay Area, followed by Portola in San Mateo County. I don't care too much for Henry Cowell, it's sort of scrubby and has more manzanita, oak and pine than I like. For daytrips I'd recommend either Big Basin or Portola over Muir Woods.

Unfortunately, California budget cuts are really a problem for these state parks, last July one of the two campgrounds at Prairie Creek was closed and not because of lack of interest, it was simply lack of resources to keep it open, very sad. I think the same was true for other campgrounds throughout the area.

Don't want to evoke politics here, but a YES vote on California Prop 21 on Nov. 2 would go a long way towards refunding our state parks.