Redwoods – northern CA coast itinerary
Aug 13th, 2008, 11:18 AM
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Redwoods – northern CA coast itinerary
Six adults and one van had 4 days to get from Portland, OR to a northern suburb of San Francisco. We spent 2 days in the Portland area, 1 day traveling through central OR, and 1 very packed day driving through northern CA. That was crazy. The 4th day we left Granite Pass, OR at 6AM and got to our hotel in Fairfield, CA at 2AM. Would I do this route again – yes, but I would take 3 days getting from Portland to the Bay Area instead of 2. We saw and recommend everything in the following gazillion paragraphs unless noted:
Fri was a very long day. We drove right past Oregon Caves National Monument, @ Cave Junction, as we had just done a lava cave the day before @ Newberry Lava Lands. Finally – the Redwoods country in northern CA. I had always read that if I wanted to see some of Oregon's tallest redwoods, head for Loeb State Park, 10 miles north of the CA/OR border. But, there are only a few Redwoods in Loeb so I’m betting it's definitely nothing like the redwoods in CA. In 1968 three parks were combined to be Redwood National Park. All are located in the foggy and rainy environment, conducive to optimum redwood growth. Redwood National Park is not a huge wilderness park and generally not the destination for multi-day backpackers. Each person in our group had to give up something because we couldn’t see it all. From north to south:
1. Jedediah Smith, the largest coast redwoods by bulk, and known for its fishing in the Smith River.
2. Del Norte, the most impressive redwoods are here @ Del Norte and Humboldt counties.
3. Prairie Creek, noted for its Fern Canyon, herds of Roosevelt elk, and a long beach with gold cliffs. The very tallest measured tree is here near Orick.
4. Even though it’s a state park, the Rockefeller Forest in Humboldt reportedly has the greatest concentration of trees over 328-ft tall.
Somewhere before we hit Jedediah Smith Park we stopped for a bathroom break and found big juicy blackberries along the side of the road. We took our chances & ate, but remembering to beware of poison oak. "Leaves of three, let them be…"
We did not hike the highly recommended Stout Grove, reportedly an easy 5-mile hike through the river bottom grove & one of the best hikes in JSP. But we did drive the 9-mi dusty dirt Howland Hill Road, allegedly the best redwood road in JSP. It used to be a stagecoach road that snakes in and out of the big trees. It was amazing - such beauty and the trees were magnificent. Many places to stop, look, take a photo.
Howland road is not the best, but you don’t need a 4x4. If you drive slowly and patiently you shouldn’t have a problem. I would drive this in my own car, but not if it’s after a rain or in the middle of winter when it could be muddy and full of potholes. It is narrow, winding, curvy, & dirt (not gravel). The 9 miles took over an hour due to hairpin turns, multiple stops, and driving 10-20mph the whole way. The road is narrow at times and very narrow when someone is coming the other way, so a small vehicle with enough ground clearance would be best. A low-slung sports car should be avoided on the Howland. That said this is an incredible drive around massive trunks and through absolutely amazing huge redwood trees with a canopy of a thousand feet tall. Or so it seemed.
Before reaching Crescent City we were advised to start our redwood experience with a stroll in the one-mile Simpson-Reed Nature Trail (located on U.S. 199, three miles east of U.S. 101/199 junction) where we would encounter large redwoods & octopus trees (hemlock). Sadly, we didn’t have time.
After Jedediah we drove through Crescent City, CA & headed south on highway 101. Northern CA has a soothing chill of rugged coastline. It’s not the place for swimming or sunbathing. The ocean is cold, grey and dangerous, with strong currents and sudden waves that knock you off your feet.
We saw this from a distance - The Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City. Built in 1856, the museum at the lighthouse is open only during irregular hours. The sturdiness of this lighthouse, perched on a rock and sometimes cut off from land during high tide, became apparent in 1964. On Good Friday on that year an earthquake in Alaska sent a 20-foot-high tsunami wave over the lighthouse, but failed to dislodge the structure, while devastating buildings in Crescent City.
A gorgeous place, not to miss: Enderts Beach/Crescent Beach Overlook. 2 miles south of Crescent City on U.S. 101, turn right or towards the coast on Enderts Beach Road. Outstanding Pacific Ocean views from the overlook. A 1-mile walk to Enderts Beach provides access to tide pools, but unfortunately we reached it at high tide, so no tide pools. We were advised to look for gray whales, but no luck. It is a wonderful place to dip your toe in the Pacific. Beautiful views.
Del Norte Redwoods Park begins 7 miles south of Crescent City. This is the least-developed park in the Redwood National Park system. Recommended but not done was the ‘easy, one-mile Alder Basin Trail’ in the eastern part of Del Norte. It allegedly offers good fall color, a rarity in CA.
We stopped in Klamath (about 30-min south of Crescent City and 4-mi north of Klamath on Hwy 101) at The Trees of Mystery and Sky Trail. You are still in the Del Norte Redwoods. You can not miss the place, as there is a 49-foot tall hairy-chested Paul Bunyan statue by his giant blue bull, Babe. This family-owned attraction includes a self-guided walk along a dirt path through a redwood forest with stops at unique trees complete with hokey commentary from speaker boxes. If one spends any time hiking in the Redwoods, you should be certain to see everything you would here. The only cool thing about this spot--after a ½-mi of walking, you can hop on an authentic Swiss gondola and get perspective on just how tall the trees are. This bird’s-eye view was amazing. You unload at the top to see great ocean and forest views from the summit observation deck. You can either walk down, less than ½-mi of almost nothing but steps, or ride the gondola. After the ride or hike down you walk a short distance to the exit, and the end of the path conveniently drops you into the gift shop. Would we do this again? Definitely not.
There are three redwood drive-through trees on the coast. All are private businesses, which charge a small fee to drive your car through the tree. From north to south they are: Klamath Tour Thru Tree, Myers Flat Shrine Tree, and Leggett Chandelier Tree. We did the tourist thing & paid $4 to drive through the tree at Klamath.
The Yurok Loop Trail was a thing of dissension. Those of us who wanted to do the short 1-mile walk to the beach will have to hike it another time. It is reportedly one of the most scenic and enjoyable in the Del Norte Park. This looped trail interprets the culture of the indigenous Yurok people and follows an ancient path above the sea, from where you can see three large sea stacks that are sacred to the Yurok. The trailhead is located just north of the Lagoon Creek picnic area, not far from the Redwood Hostel, along Highway 101 in Klamath.
Our favorite area was the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The most beautiful redwoods, in my observation. Do the very picturesque one paved route into the park - the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway. It rejoins US 101 after 9 miles.
One of the pull-offs is called "Big Tree" and though it got hit with some lightning, it is still huge. Do not stop at the sign. Instead see the Big Tree on the Circle Trail, a short .3-mi trail. The trailhead is close to the Prairie Creek Visitor Center. The Big Tree is one of the largest trees in the park. I was the only one who saw this and the rest of my party honked at me to hurry up.
In the PC Visitor's Center there is a rare oddity. Long ago, an elk got its antlers stuck in the crook of a tree and died as a result. The tree grew around the antlers creating a tragic, natural sculpture; a memorial to the unfortunate elk.
A few miles after the PC Visitor Center turn right and head west or toward the beach on the unpaved Davison Road. Look for elk. This is a narrow, rough, dusty, very well-traveled 8-mi dirt road to Gold Bluffs Beach and then Fern Canyon. 30 minutes one way. The foliage/leaves/grass along the road looked almost white because it is so covered with dust and exhaust fumes. You reach the coast after 4 miles.
Gold Bluffs Beach & Campground is allegedly the best beach campground on the CA coast. It is right off Davison Road. There are 25 sites, first come, first served, all in the dunes a hundred yards back from the beach. Swimming is not an option--the water is too rough and cold. The campground has running water, flush toilets and even a solar-heated shower. We drove by the beach early afternoon and the campground was full. Look for elk along the 4-mile beach. We saw elk twice.
At the end of Gold Bluff Beach is a parking lot, bathrooms, and a 0.1-mile trail to Fern Canyon. This is an easy & popular walk for all ages. Fern Canyon is a very narrow, very steep canyon, with lush ferns growing on the canyon walls. You approach the canyon from the west, and begin by following the creek east or upstream. We were able to keep our feet dry due to the low water and due to the logs laid across the stream in narrow places by previous hikers. FC is a taste of the rain forest. Parts of Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World was filmed here. After ½-mi, FC joins with the James Irvine Trail. Okay, FC is an easy & appealing hike. But it just does not compare with hiking the Narrows in Zion UT or Oneonta Gorge along the Columbia River in OR. I had read FC may be one of the best-kept non-secrets of Northern CA. That is selling NO CA short. The next time I visit this area I will do the 5-mi JIT which goes through a mature forest, then FC, and ends at the coast. We turned around after ½-mile.
The highlight of Prairie Creek Redwoods was our visit to Gold Bluffs Beach north of the campground. We watched dolphins off the shore. Very cool.
One of the most popular hikes in all of the Redwood Parks is one the majority in our group did not want to do-- Lady Bird Johnson Nature Loop. So we did not. This interpretive trail has been described as more remote than Stout Grove trail in Jedediah and highly recommended. Sounds like it would be a great easy 1-mi loop with numerous benches en route for a chance to rest. While hiking the trail you emerge from the redwoods to gaze out past an ugly clear-cut to the coast.
Jan 2007 there was a recent mountain lion attack in Prairie Creek Redwoods. Check out this interesting website: List of Mountain Lion Attacks On People in California -
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_ca.html
The next "must stop" - Redwood Information Center, the main visitor center for all the Redwood National Parks. It is located on the beach, to the west of the highway at Freshwater Lagoon, south of the town of Orick (north of Eureka).
We continued south on highway 101. Twenty miles south of Gold Bluffs Beach and after driving past a couple of lagoons, we stopped at Patrick's Point State Park, the highlight of our day. Trails.com said PPSP was the, “most beautiful of all California’s state parks.” It has night & morning fog almost all year and it was foggy our whole time there, too. The dramatic shoreline ranged from sandy beaches to sheer cliffs. The campground has 124 family campsites and the sign said full, even though It is 300+-mi from the Bay Area.
While in PPST, you must head to Palmer’s Point where you see tidepools to the right, sea lions and harbor seals to the left. We watched calves, bulls and cows all huddled together, barking & pushing each other off the rocks. The sea lions are buff-to-brown & look black when wet; harbor seals are white with black spots. On a bulletin board at the parking lot we saw the park posts the hourly tide level projections on a daily basis. We got extremely lucky--we hit it at low tide--5PM. The tide pools were awesome. Truly spectacular. We wanted to stay longer but could not; after an hour we left.
At PPST hike to Wedding Rock, a very popular site for weddings. The path is very narrow, but I did read of a grandma who was carried out to the site in her wheelchair to witness her granddaughter's wedding. Those must have been buff groomsmen.
Also hike the Octopus Tree Trail or Grove that loops by "octopus trees", old-growth Sitka spruce that grew up on fallen logs and their long roots now look like octopus tentacles.
There is also a replica Yurok Indian village here, but we did not visit it.
Still heading south on highway 101 we went through the city of Trinidad. We wanted to watch the fishermen’s catch at the harbor, but we didn’t have time.
The Pacific Lumber Company built the lumber village of Scotia for its employees. Part of the town burned in a 1992 fire. The town has the largest redwood lumber mill in existence, which you can tour self-guided. At a park in the center of Scotia you can see a cross section of a redwood tree 1285 years old. There is an old logging locomotive on display at the park and children can scramble on it.
Finally we were at Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is 135 miles south of Crescent City or 70 miles from Patrick’s Point. The Avenue of the Giants was the original Hwy 101 and now parallels new Hwy 101 for 33 miles. 5 of the 10 tallest trees in the world are supposed to be here. Okay, maybe we are the only ones, but we thought the Avenue of the Giants map stunk, and could not find signs to anywhere (but then it was getting dark). Maybe that is the point--the area is so popular that the park suits do not want everyone to find the trails? After getting home, I googled the directions to the hikes we wanted to do, because when we were there either we could not find it & drove past it or ran out of time. We did one hike at Humboldt--Founders Grove @ 8PM. It was beautiful. So, the following hikes are often listed as the best of the best in Humboldt:
1) Northern Avenue of the Giants.
The Grieg-French-Bell grove (0.3 miles). Immediately after Pepperwood. Might be called the Percy French Loop Trail.
2) Bull Creek - The best and most unspoiled part of Humboldt Redwoods. See the large sediments deposited by Bull Creek and reportedly the world's most impressive redwood groves.
The Homestead and Big Tree loop (2.4 miles). This hike around Upper Bull Creek Flat starts on the Homestead Trail, which runs along the edge of the flat through lush but relatively small redwoods, then cuts through the center of the flat, passing through an outstanding lowland redwood grove.
The Big Tree area (0.6 miles). It doesn't have the huge trees and the open, cathedral-like look of the Rockefeller or Homestead loops, but at the Big Trees area there are three 10-minute hikes to three magnificent trees:
Tall Tree of the Rockefeller Forest - circumference: 42 feet; height: 359 feet; measured in 1957.
Giant Tree - circumference: 53 feet; height: 363 feet; designated "Champion Coast Redwood" in 1991.
Fallen giant Flatiron Tree- diameter in one direction: 7.5 feet; diameter in the other direction: 17.5 feet; fell in January 1995.
The Rockefeller loop (0.7 miles). If you want to see big trees, this is supposed to be the place to do it. The trail passes through a very dense stand of large redwoods that grow on an alluvial flat alongside Bull Creek. The grove is not far from the Avenue of the Giants, yet traffic noise is minimal, so you can actually appreciate the serenity of the grove. Directions to the Rockefeller Forest Loop Trail: From the north-central part of the Avenue of the Giants, four miles north of the park visitor center and just south of the hamlet of Redcrest, turn west on Mattole Road (to the east would be Founders’ Grove) and drive 1.5 miles to the parking lot.
3) Central Avenue of the Giants
Founders' Grove (1.3 miles). This was the one hike we did. Beautiful even @ 8PM. We noticed the garbage cans were bear proof. This is listed as Humboldt Redwoods' largest and most impressive grove and by far the most popular attraction in the park. We did not notice the constant roar of traffic from the 4-lane freeway that skirts the grove as other people have warned. Nor did we experience the crowds - not another sole in sight. FG is reportedly the most easily accessible groves of ancient forest.
We are lucky any trees are left for the public when you consider 96 percent of the original old-growth coast redwoods have been logged. The average age of the redwood trees is 500-700 years old.
We headed south to San Francisco and drove through Napa Valley at midnight. Since half of our group had seen it before, it wasn’t a big thing. We made it to Fairfield, north of San Francisco @ 2AM. A very, very long rushed day.
Fri was a very long day. We drove right past Oregon Caves National Monument, @ Cave Junction, as we had just done a lava cave the day before @ Newberry Lava Lands. Finally – the Redwoods country in northern CA. I had always read that if I wanted to see some of Oregon's tallest redwoods, head for Loeb State Park, 10 miles north of the CA/OR border. But, there are only a few Redwoods in Loeb so I’m betting it's definitely nothing like the redwoods in CA. In 1968 three parks were combined to be Redwood National Park. All are located in the foggy and rainy environment, conducive to optimum redwood growth. Redwood National Park is not a huge wilderness park and generally not the destination for multi-day backpackers. Each person in our group had to give up something because we couldn’t see it all. From north to south:
1. Jedediah Smith, the largest coast redwoods by bulk, and known for its fishing in the Smith River.
2. Del Norte, the most impressive redwoods are here @ Del Norte and Humboldt counties.
3. Prairie Creek, noted for its Fern Canyon, herds of Roosevelt elk, and a long beach with gold cliffs. The very tallest measured tree is here near Orick.
4. Even though it’s a state park, the Rockefeller Forest in Humboldt reportedly has the greatest concentration of trees over 328-ft tall.
Somewhere before we hit Jedediah Smith Park we stopped for a bathroom break and found big juicy blackberries along the side of the road. We took our chances & ate, but remembering to beware of poison oak. "Leaves of three, let them be…"
We did not hike the highly recommended Stout Grove, reportedly an easy 5-mile hike through the river bottom grove & one of the best hikes in JSP. But we did drive the 9-mi dusty dirt Howland Hill Road, allegedly the best redwood road in JSP. It used to be a stagecoach road that snakes in and out of the big trees. It was amazing - such beauty and the trees were magnificent. Many places to stop, look, take a photo.
Howland road is not the best, but you don’t need a 4x4. If you drive slowly and patiently you shouldn’t have a problem. I would drive this in my own car, but not if it’s after a rain or in the middle of winter when it could be muddy and full of potholes. It is narrow, winding, curvy, & dirt (not gravel). The 9 miles took over an hour due to hairpin turns, multiple stops, and driving 10-20mph the whole way. The road is narrow at times and very narrow when someone is coming the other way, so a small vehicle with enough ground clearance would be best. A low-slung sports car should be avoided on the Howland. That said this is an incredible drive around massive trunks and through absolutely amazing huge redwood trees with a canopy of a thousand feet tall. Or so it seemed.
Before reaching Crescent City we were advised to start our redwood experience with a stroll in the one-mile Simpson-Reed Nature Trail (located on U.S. 199, three miles east of U.S. 101/199 junction) where we would encounter large redwoods & octopus trees (hemlock). Sadly, we didn’t have time.
After Jedediah we drove through Crescent City, CA & headed south on highway 101. Northern CA has a soothing chill of rugged coastline. It’s not the place for swimming or sunbathing. The ocean is cold, grey and dangerous, with strong currents and sudden waves that knock you off your feet.
We saw this from a distance - The Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City. Built in 1856, the museum at the lighthouse is open only during irregular hours. The sturdiness of this lighthouse, perched on a rock and sometimes cut off from land during high tide, became apparent in 1964. On Good Friday on that year an earthquake in Alaska sent a 20-foot-high tsunami wave over the lighthouse, but failed to dislodge the structure, while devastating buildings in Crescent City.
A gorgeous place, not to miss: Enderts Beach/Crescent Beach Overlook. 2 miles south of Crescent City on U.S. 101, turn right or towards the coast on Enderts Beach Road. Outstanding Pacific Ocean views from the overlook. A 1-mile walk to Enderts Beach provides access to tide pools, but unfortunately we reached it at high tide, so no tide pools. We were advised to look for gray whales, but no luck. It is a wonderful place to dip your toe in the Pacific. Beautiful views.
Del Norte Redwoods Park begins 7 miles south of Crescent City. This is the least-developed park in the Redwood National Park system. Recommended but not done was the ‘easy, one-mile Alder Basin Trail’ in the eastern part of Del Norte. It allegedly offers good fall color, a rarity in CA.
We stopped in Klamath (about 30-min south of Crescent City and 4-mi north of Klamath on Hwy 101) at The Trees of Mystery and Sky Trail. You are still in the Del Norte Redwoods. You can not miss the place, as there is a 49-foot tall hairy-chested Paul Bunyan statue by his giant blue bull, Babe. This family-owned attraction includes a self-guided walk along a dirt path through a redwood forest with stops at unique trees complete with hokey commentary from speaker boxes. If one spends any time hiking in the Redwoods, you should be certain to see everything you would here. The only cool thing about this spot--after a ½-mi of walking, you can hop on an authentic Swiss gondola and get perspective on just how tall the trees are. This bird’s-eye view was amazing. You unload at the top to see great ocean and forest views from the summit observation deck. You can either walk down, less than ½-mi of almost nothing but steps, or ride the gondola. After the ride or hike down you walk a short distance to the exit, and the end of the path conveniently drops you into the gift shop. Would we do this again? Definitely not.
There are three redwood drive-through trees on the coast. All are private businesses, which charge a small fee to drive your car through the tree. From north to south they are: Klamath Tour Thru Tree, Myers Flat Shrine Tree, and Leggett Chandelier Tree. We did the tourist thing & paid $4 to drive through the tree at Klamath.
The Yurok Loop Trail was a thing of dissension. Those of us who wanted to do the short 1-mile walk to the beach will have to hike it another time. It is reportedly one of the most scenic and enjoyable in the Del Norte Park. This looped trail interprets the culture of the indigenous Yurok people and follows an ancient path above the sea, from where you can see three large sea stacks that are sacred to the Yurok. The trailhead is located just north of the Lagoon Creek picnic area, not far from the Redwood Hostel, along Highway 101 in Klamath.
Our favorite area was the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. The most beautiful redwoods, in my observation. Do the very picturesque one paved route into the park - the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway. It rejoins US 101 after 9 miles.
One of the pull-offs is called "Big Tree" and though it got hit with some lightning, it is still huge. Do not stop at the sign. Instead see the Big Tree on the Circle Trail, a short .3-mi trail. The trailhead is close to the Prairie Creek Visitor Center. The Big Tree is one of the largest trees in the park. I was the only one who saw this and the rest of my party honked at me to hurry up.
In the PC Visitor's Center there is a rare oddity. Long ago, an elk got its antlers stuck in the crook of a tree and died as a result. The tree grew around the antlers creating a tragic, natural sculpture; a memorial to the unfortunate elk.
A few miles after the PC Visitor Center turn right and head west or toward the beach on the unpaved Davison Road. Look for elk. This is a narrow, rough, dusty, very well-traveled 8-mi dirt road to Gold Bluffs Beach and then Fern Canyon. 30 minutes one way. The foliage/leaves/grass along the road looked almost white because it is so covered with dust and exhaust fumes. You reach the coast after 4 miles.
Gold Bluffs Beach & Campground is allegedly the best beach campground on the CA coast. It is right off Davison Road. There are 25 sites, first come, first served, all in the dunes a hundred yards back from the beach. Swimming is not an option--the water is too rough and cold. The campground has running water, flush toilets and even a solar-heated shower. We drove by the beach early afternoon and the campground was full. Look for elk along the 4-mile beach. We saw elk twice.
At the end of Gold Bluff Beach is a parking lot, bathrooms, and a 0.1-mile trail to Fern Canyon. This is an easy & popular walk for all ages. Fern Canyon is a very narrow, very steep canyon, with lush ferns growing on the canyon walls. You approach the canyon from the west, and begin by following the creek east or upstream. We were able to keep our feet dry due to the low water and due to the logs laid across the stream in narrow places by previous hikers. FC is a taste of the rain forest. Parts of Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World was filmed here. After ½-mi, FC joins with the James Irvine Trail. Okay, FC is an easy & appealing hike. But it just does not compare with hiking the Narrows in Zion UT or Oneonta Gorge along the Columbia River in OR. I had read FC may be one of the best-kept non-secrets of Northern CA. That is selling NO CA short. The next time I visit this area I will do the 5-mi JIT which goes through a mature forest, then FC, and ends at the coast. We turned around after ½-mile.
The highlight of Prairie Creek Redwoods was our visit to Gold Bluffs Beach north of the campground. We watched dolphins off the shore. Very cool.
One of the most popular hikes in all of the Redwood Parks is one the majority in our group did not want to do-- Lady Bird Johnson Nature Loop. So we did not. This interpretive trail has been described as more remote than Stout Grove trail in Jedediah and highly recommended. Sounds like it would be a great easy 1-mi loop with numerous benches en route for a chance to rest. While hiking the trail you emerge from the redwoods to gaze out past an ugly clear-cut to the coast.
Jan 2007 there was a recent mountain lion attack in Prairie Creek Redwoods. Check out this interesting website: List of Mountain Lion Attacks On People in California -
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/lion_attacks_ca.html
The next "must stop" - Redwood Information Center, the main visitor center for all the Redwood National Parks. It is located on the beach, to the west of the highway at Freshwater Lagoon, south of the town of Orick (north of Eureka).
We continued south on highway 101. Twenty miles south of Gold Bluffs Beach and after driving past a couple of lagoons, we stopped at Patrick's Point State Park, the highlight of our day. Trails.com said PPSP was the, “most beautiful of all California’s state parks.” It has night & morning fog almost all year and it was foggy our whole time there, too. The dramatic shoreline ranged from sandy beaches to sheer cliffs. The campground has 124 family campsites and the sign said full, even though It is 300+-mi from the Bay Area.
While in PPST, you must head to Palmer’s Point where you see tidepools to the right, sea lions and harbor seals to the left. We watched calves, bulls and cows all huddled together, barking & pushing each other off the rocks. The sea lions are buff-to-brown & look black when wet; harbor seals are white with black spots. On a bulletin board at the parking lot we saw the park posts the hourly tide level projections on a daily basis. We got extremely lucky--we hit it at low tide--5PM. The tide pools were awesome. Truly spectacular. We wanted to stay longer but could not; after an hour we left.
At PPST hike to Wedding Rock, a very popular site for weddings. The path is very narrow, but I did read of a grandma who was carried out to the site in her wheelchair to witness her granddaughter's wedding. Those must have been buff groomsmen.
Also hike the Octopus Tree Trail or Grove that loops by "octopus trees", old-growth Sitka spruce that grew up on fallen logs and their long roots now look like octopus tentacles.
There is also a replica Yurok Indian village here, but we did not visit it.
Still heading south on highway 101 we went through the city of Trinidad. We wanted to watch the fishermen’s catch at the harbor, but we didn’t have time.
The Pacific Lumber Company built the lumber village of Scotia for its employees. Part of the town burned in a 1992 fire. The town has the largest redwood lumber mill in existence, which you can tour self-guided. At a park in the center of Scotia you can see a cross section of a redwood tree 1285 years old. There is an old logging locomotive on display at the park and children can scramble on it.
Finally we were at Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is 135 miles south of Crescent City or 70 miles from Patrick’s Point. The Avenue of the Giants was the original Hwy 101 and now parallels new Hwy 101 for 33 miles. 5 of the 10 tallest trees in the world are supposed to be here. Okay, maybe we are the only ones, but we thought the Avenue of the Giants map stunk, and could not find signs to anywhere (but then it was getting dark). Maybe that is the point--the area is so popular that the park suits do not want everyone to find the trails? After getting home, I googled the directions to the hikes we wanted to do, because when we were there either we could not find it & drove past it or ran out of time. We did one hike at Humboldt--Founders Grove @ 8PM. It was beautiful. So, the following hikes are often listed as the best of the best in Humboldt:
1) Northern Avenue of the Giants.
The Grieg-French-Bell grove (0.3 miles). Immediately after Pepperwood. Might be called the Percy French Loop Trail.
2) Bull Creek - The best and most unspoiled part of Humboldt Redwoods. See the large sediments deposited by Bull Creek and reportedly the world's most impressive redwood groves.
The Homestead and Big Tree loop (2.4 miles). This hike around Upper Bull Creek Flat starts on the Homestead Trail, which runs along the edge of the flat through lush but relatively small redwoods, then cuts through the center of the flat, passing through an outstanding lowland redwood grove.
The Big Tree area (0.6 miles). It doesn't have the huge trees and the open, cathedral-like look of the Rockefeller or Homestead loops, but at the Big Trees area there are three 10-minute hikes to three magnificent trees:
Tall Tree of the Rockefeller Forest - circumference: 42 feet; height: 359 feet; measured in 1957.
Giant Tree - circumference: 53 feet; height: 363 feet; designated "Champion Coast Redwood" in 1991.
Fallen giant Flatiron Tree- diameter in one direction: 7.5 feet; diameter in the other direction: 17.5 feet; fell in January 1995.
The Rockefeller loop (0.7 miles). If you want to see big trees, this is supposed to be the place to do it. The trail passes through a very dense stand of large redwoods that grow on an alluvial flat alongside Bull Creek. The grove is not far from the Avenue of the Giants, yet traffic noise is minimal, so you can actually appreciate the serenity of the grove. Directions to the Rockefeller Forest Loop Trail: From the north-central part of the Avenue of the Giants, four miles north of the park visitor center and just south of the hamlet of Redcrest, turn west on Mattole Road (to the east would be Founders’ Grove) and drive 1.5 miles to the parking lot.
3) Central Avenue of the Giants
Founders' Grove (1.3 miles). This was the one hike we did. Beautiful even @ 8PM. We noticed the garbage cans were bear proof. This is listed as Humboldt Redwoods' largest and most impressive grove and by far the most popular attraction in the park. We did not notice the constant roar of traffic from the 4-lane freeway that skirts the grove as other people have warned. Nor did we experience the crowds - not another sole in sight. FG is reportedly the most easily accessible groves of ancient forest.
We are lucky any trees are left for the public when you consider 96 percent of the original old-growth coast redwoods have been logged. The average age of the redwood trees is 500-700 years old.
We headed south to San Francisco and drove through Napa Valley at midnight. Since half of our group had seen it before, it wasn’t a big thing. We made it to Fairfield, north of San Francisco @ 2AM. A very, very long rushed day.
Aug 13th, 2008, 12:09 PM
#2
Join Date: May 2005
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Wow, I'm amazed you got as many hikes/walks in as you did given how far you traveled that day! Your post brought back great memories of my trip to the area last year. Fern Canyon was closed so I did a short hike near the visitor's center, and then also did the Lady Bird Johnson Grove (beautiful) and Founder's Grove which was awesome. I also did a hike along the bluff at Patrick's Point the next morning (I stayed in Trinidad) and was wowed by it as you were.
I'll definitely have to do the Howland Hill drive and Fern Canyon/James Irvine trail next time I'm down there. Thanks for the report!
I'll definitely have to do the Howland Hill drive and Fern Canyon/James Irvine trail next time I'm down there. Thanks for the report!
Jan 14th, 2009, 06:01 AM
#5
Join Date: Jan 2009
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Thank you so much for this report! I am planning our road trip for this summer and was wondering how many days to spend in the Redwoods area. I have planned three full days. I hope that will be sufficient.
May 18th, 2009, 04:43 PM
#6
Join Date: Jun 2007
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I really enjoyed your report and especially that you included the places you did not have time for as well as those you did see!
Thanks so much.
We are heading up the coast in July (from Palo Alto to Redwoods NP staying two nights in Arcata. We have three days and now I wish we had more!) We will use your account as our tour guide, it is better than anything else I have read in a book!
We hope to visit some of the places you didn't have time for and will report back after the trip (which continues north to Seattle and then across to the Eastern Cascades)
Thanks so much.
We are heading up the coast in July (from Palo Alto to Redwoods NP staying two nights in Arcata. We have three days and now I wish we had more!) We will use your account as our tour guide, it is better than anything else I have read in a book!
We hope to visit some of the places you didn't have time for and will report back after the trip (which continues north to Seattle and then across to the Eastern Cascades)
