San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip is the one you will remember for a very long time.
“I approach these noble trees always with reverence. As giants and patriarchs of the forest they stand alone. Nowhere throughout the world can be found living trees that are more majestic and inspiring…. It is a pleasure to linger in the redwoods to contemplate their greatness…. The trees are grand without being oppressive; noble but not arrogant; lords of the soil that do not impoverish the land”. ~F.H. Clark, “Forestry; Redwoods,” Annual Report of the State Board of Horticulture of the State of California, for 1891
San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip is probably one of the most rewarding road trips you could do in California. Sure, you can embark on a popular road trip to Yosemite, which in theory is a shorter drive but in reality is very congested (both the ride and the Park). Alternatively, you can spend your vacation in Sequoia and King’s Canyon National Parks, which can be pretty crowded too. Redwood National Park offers peace and quiet that is very rare these days – for comparison, have a look at the California National Parks graphic I created below:
Our San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip lasted 5 days and we never encountered traffic jams or crowds. What we did encounter is lots of great hikes, cool water features and many surprises. Our detailed itinerary for this amazing California National Park is below.
San Francisco to Redwood National Park: Day 1
We departed Bay Area in the morning. The whole San Francisco to Redwood National Park drive is a little more than 5 hours, without stops and traffic jams. But why wouldn’t you want to stop and enjoy some great attractions on the way?
We decided to take a break en route from San Francisco to Redwood National Park and stop for lunch and exploration at Standish-Hikey State Recreation Area. The main attraction of the area is South Fork Eel River which is warm enough to swim in summer. The beach here has lot of space, the river is shallow at the banks and the current is not fast, which makes it perfect even for small kids.
Kids were mostly excited to find small fish and frogs in the river 🙂
After about 2 hours at Standish-Hikey State Recreation Area we continued our journey to Arcata, which would be our base for the next 5 days. As usual, we chose to stay at Hampton Inn by Hilton. The prices are very affordable, amenities are excellent and you can always rely on Hampton to offer you several perks, such as: use promo code LWP
to save 50% on a Sunday night stay when you book 3 nights weekend getaway OR save up to 15% if you book in advance on Hilton website.
We arrived at Hampton Inn in time for dinner and quality time at the pool.
San Francisco to Redwood National Park: Day 2
Since we did a long drive from San Francisco to Redwood National Park the day before we decided to minimize our time in the car on Day 2 and spend most of the time hiking in the nearby areas.
There are plenty great hikes in Redwood National Park. It is important to know, however, that the redwoods “kingdom” does not consist just of Redwood National Park, it is a compilation of the National Park and several adjacent state parks managed by National Park Service. Some of the best hikes in Redwood National Park are located not in the National Park itself but in some of those redwood state parks.
We started the morning by hiking the famous Lady Bird Johnson Grove trail in Redwood National Park proper, which has some of the tallest and most majestic trees on the planet. I created this infographic just to put things in perspective:
We joined a 50-minute long ranger-lead walk and it was amazing. We learnt so much about redwood trees! Did you know that a giant redwood will find its own offsprings under ground through its root system and will provide them nutrients through the roots to support them and help them grow?
Lady Bird Johnson hike in Redwood National Park is less than 2 miles long, level and easy to do even for small kids. After the end of the ranger-lead hike we explored the grove on our own.
Our second hike of the day on this San Francisco to Redwoods National Park trip was planned at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, home to Fern Canyon where “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” was filmed. Even if you are not a fan of Jurassic Park franchise (which our family totally is 😉 ), Fern Canyon hiking trail will amaze you and leave you in awe. Fern Canyon is a deep narrow canyon formed by Home Creek. Its walls are covered with thick ferns from top to bottom. It is truly a sight to behold.
Please, note, however, that the drive to Fern Canyon is not for the faint of heart. A narrow, uneven, almost one-lane road leads down to the canyon. Those 7 miles will seem like an eternity. In addition to all that the road has several potholes which get filled with water (there is lots of standing water in them even in the middle of dry summer). You have to have 4WD vehicle to navigate this terrain. When rain season starts the whole road can be impassible. Alternative is to drive a portion of the road, leave your vehicle at a designated parking spot and hike about 2.5 miles to Fern Canyon.
When you turn from HW 101 towards Fern Canyon, there is a picnic area at Elk Meadow. You can have lunch there before or after the Fern Canyon hike. The meadow is called so because, supposedly, you can see elks congregating there. We did not see them at the meadow in all 5 days of our San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip but we did encounter them in other areas of Redwood National Park – keep your eyes open and drive carefully!
Our third and last hike for the day was along Trillium Falls trail in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park that starts from the Elk Meadow. It is a loop trail which is a little less than 3 miles long. If you want just to see the falls, walk the loop counter clockwise and it will be about half a mile or so up the trail and then you can retrace your steps back to the parking lot. The best specimens of redwood trees are also on this part of the trail, after the bridge they are not as spectacular but still nice.
On the way back to Arcata we stopped at Orick that has a couple of gift stores selling cool household items made from redwood. Lots of them are pure works of art. Garden décor is especially amazing. So if you are looking for gifts to take home – that is the place to get them.
San Francisco to Redwood National Park: Day 3
When I was planning our San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip I was mostly thinking about magnificent trees and hiking. I did not realize that the area is as much about water related attractions as it is about woodland ones. We decided to squeeze at least some exploring near the ocean on Day 3.
A stop at Redwood National Park visitor center in Orick is a must. It has a beautiful beach with gorgeous views when the weather is right, which is not every day, unfortunately. It is often foggy along the coast so if you are lucky to get a clear day, just head to the beach!
The most interesting beach for kids in the area is a public beach near town of Trinidad which is called Agate Beach. All treasure hunters must visit Agate Beach at least once. Here you can find some really cool rocks, minerals and drift wood pieces. As its name suggests, this beach is especially famous for agates. Below you can see just a small portion of agates and fun drift wood that we found here. Does the top two pieces of wood look like whale and narwhal to you or is it just me? 😉
After a couple of hours of beach combing we went for lunch in Trinidad. The area around Trinidad fishing pier is a known “playground” for sea otters. Unfortunately, we did not see any this time, but the coastline here is gorgeous and the food at the Seascape restaurant is yummy – so all in all Trinidad was worth a trip.
My golden rule of thumb building an itinerary is leave room for improvisation. I am glad I did it this time. We got some free travel brochures in our hotel, through which my kids discovered that we were staying in Bigfoot territory so they insisted on seeing Bigfoot exhibition.
Bigfoot exhibition is located in Willor Creek China Flat Museum in a tiny town of Willow Creek about 30 miles drive East of Eureka. Apparently, Willow Creek and surrounding areas are an epicenter of Bigfoot sightings and well as the location of the first and only Bigfoot video footage.
The museum and exhibition are small but interesting for a Bigfoot enthusiasts. People who live around the area believe in its existence. When I asked the museum clerk if Bigfoot was dangerous, she responded, matter-of-factly, that it was friendly and known for bringing children home who were lost in the forest.
I don’t know what to believe but a detailed map with nearly 400 sightings (in different places and by different people) speaks volume. A couple of people can be mistaken but 400?
So it goes without saying that the remaining 2 days of our San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip we spent on the lookout for Bigfoot. We did not see it this time but our kids fully intend to come back and continue the search.
San Francisco to Redwood National Park: Day 4
Our plan for the 4th day of San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip was to drive to the northernmost part of the Park and stop at several attractions on the way.
We started with the Trees of Mystery in Klamath. It is a privately owned attraction which has some interesting redwood trees specimens, artistic wood carvings and our favorite – Sky Gondola – a scenic ride up to the forest canopy.
We loved Trees of Mystery and all its unique exhibits. It is totally worth your time and a moderate entrance fee.
Our second stop was at Crescent City. This is where we had a nice lunch at Fisherman’s Restaurant and proceeded to Ocean World. Ocean World is a small aquarium which offers a guided tours and intimate interactions with its inhabitants. I believe it was one of the most exciting stops for kids on the whole San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip.
Here you can hold a star fish, pet a shark and see seals and sea lions performance. My kids absolutely loved it and I strongly recommend spending at least an hour at Ocean World.
Our final destination was Jedidiah Smith State Park. It is the most remote part of the redwoods kingdom if you are travelling from San Francisco to Redwood National Park but we were told that the most awe inspiring trees are located there so it has the best hiking trails in Redwood National Park area.
We only had time for 1 hike and we chose the Stout Grove trail. In essence it is a huge outdoor natural playground for kids with lots of cut down giants and humongous tree stumps which make for excellent climbing opportunities.
The growing trees are so tall that you cannot see where they end, they kind of protrude into infinity.
A nice surprise waited us next to the Stout Grove – the Smith River. I wish we knew beforehand that there is an easy access to the river and that the water gets warm enough to swim – we would have taken our bathing suits with us. But I am passing this knowledge to you so that you are prepared when you go there.
Smith river is very clean and just simply stunning. The Park is very peaceful and unspoiled. A local park ranger informed us that this park is favored by black bears. Sometimes they come to the river to fish. They also like wild blackberries, which are abundant in the area. They are not aggressive but you still need to be vigilant. We were told that if you see a bear, you need to raise your hands up, clap and say loudly: “Shoo bear, shoo!” We did not have a chance to put this knowledge to practice but I hope this information will be helpful to my readers.
San Francisco to Redwood National Park: Day 5
Driving home at the end of a trip is not our favorite thing to do but I try to make it as fun as possible. So on the last leg of our San Francisco to Redwoods National Park road trip we visited a couple of local curiosities.
One of them was a One Log House located right on HW 101 in Garberville. You can’t miss it but just in case here is a specific address: 705 US-101, Garberville, CA 95542. It is a cool house made inside a hollowed redwood tree log. The age of the tree as the time of demise was estimated at 2600 years old! It has everything needed to house 2 people comfortably: a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, a dining room and even an office nook. I totally could see myself using it as a summer cabin!
Another curiosity was a drive-through tree. There are at least 3 of them in the area that I know of for sure. We chose Chandelier Tree. It is a living old growth redwood tree which is so big that when a tunnel was carved in it a car could easily fit in and it did not affect the tree in any way. It gives you a great sense of perspective of how gigantic these trees really are.
Our very last stop in this San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip was at Francis Ford Coppola Winery. We has a great time there, both kids and adults. – for more details about the fun experience at the winery check out my article Unique Wineries in Sonoma.
We returned home with two sensations: we had seen a lot AND we definitely must come back to explore more. So we will be bribing you more exciting redwoods adventures. Stay tuned!
Additional Tips for San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip
1.There are several good places to eat in Arcata. Our favorites were: Pho Hoang (Vientamese) and Bencharong Thai House, 600 F St, Arcata, CA 95521
2.The weather in redwoods national park is very changeable. So the question is what to wear in Redwoods National Park? You need to get dressed in layers and always have rain gear with you even in summer because thick morning fog feels like a drizzling rain. You will also need pants that get dry quickly. Finally, you will need great sturdy hiking boots because you will be hiking a lot on various terrain.
One of my most favorite clothing items to take with me when I am traveling is Kuhl hiking pants. They are true to size, lightweight, stretchable, comfortable top to bottom, and quick drying. They move with my body instead of constraining it and somehow even dirt doesn’t stick to them (or may be it does a little bit but no one can see it because I choose Earthy colors like grey or brown-ish color that I am wearing in the photo below). Out of all types of Kuhl pants I personally favor Freeflex (it is all in the name – super flexible!)
3. Things you will definitely find useful on this trip: good binoculars for wildlife viewing, blanket with waterproof backing for beaches and picnics, rocks and minerals identification guide and a Sasquatch field guide :-).
4. If you would like to prepare your kids for this wonderful San Francisco to Redwood National Park road trip, have them watch this video I recorded – it is the read aloud book about redwoods by Jason Chin, called “Redwoods”
If you would like to know where is the best place to see redwoods closer to San Francisco, this article, appropriately called Best Place to See Redwoods Near San Francisco, is for you.
Also check out my YouTube video from Memorial County Park, famous for its redwoods:
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