California north coast, Redwood state and national forests, and Avenue of the Giants
Last week we took you on a tour up California’s near North Coast, Bodega Bay up Highway 1 through Jenner, Fort Ross, and north onto Mendocino.
This week, we give you a further look at northern California, from the redwood forests north to Scotia, Eureka and a stop in the old logging company town of Samoa.
Come along to scenic northern California for the ride!
Your immediate destination is Humboldt Redwoods State Park to truly admire these forest marvels, located about 100 miles north of Ft. Bragg. This lovely state park encompasses 53,000 acres, including 17,000 acres of old-growth redwood forest, much within easy walking or hiking distance along the 32 mile Avenue of the Giants parkway. The park owes its existence to the Save the Redwoods League, formed in the 1920s, and two donations of $1 million each by John D. Rockefeller in the late ‘20s, to purchase and set aside this wonderful treasure.
With over 100 miles of hiking and biking trails, 250 campsites (use reserveCalifornia.com) and the Avenue of the Giants auto-tour, it's a park with easy access to some of the largest trees and stunning vistas in the world. Most of the trails were broad and relatively flat, with good access even to those with disabilities.
Enjoy the Avenue of the Giants auto tour; grab a brochure that defines the eight noteworthy stops along the way. Starting at the Avenue’s south end, near Phillipsburg, stop first at the F. K. Lane Grove, featuring the greatest accumulation of biomass (living and dead organic material) ever recorded in a coast redwood forest, the result of dense redwoods both growing and those toppled like ‘pick-up sticks’ by storms and lightning.
Make a stop at the visitor center (just south of Weott), which explains that coast redwoods are taller than any living thing, reaching an age over 2000 years, heights to almost 370 feet and able to withstand fires, floods and insects. Wander through the native garden area where you'll see three species of redwoods planted for comparison, the Giant Sequoia, Coast Redwood and Dawn Redwood. Redwoods prosper due to both significant rainfall, 80 inches/year in this part of the state, and moist, foggy weather flowing inland from the Pacific.
That heavy rainfall occasionally causes remarkable flooding. Along the Avenue of the Giants auto-tour, stop #4 highlights the town of Weott on the Eel River with evidence of the 1964 flood - a 35 foot-tall pole shows the high watermark of that frightening event. Dyersville, stop No. 6, once a stagecoach stop, crossroads town and shipping port, was completely destroyed by the flood of 1955.
Rockefeller Forest is directly west in the Bull Creek basin, along Mattole Road. It’s the oldest coast redwood forest, preserved by Rockefeller with his donations more than a hundred years ago. This forest is considered one of the finest in the world; a short walk takes you to Giant Tree, recognized in 1991 as the tallest in the world at 363 feet, with a circumference of 53.2 feet (it has since been beaten out by a slightly taller coast redwood in another part of the north state).
The Drury-Chaney Grove, stop No. 8, was our favorite, featuring a 2.5 mile loop trail through majestic, old growth redwoods and a forest floor carpeted in redwood sorrel and sword fern, making it look almost prehistoric. You’ll run the risk of developing a sore neck, gazing up at these giants, many over 300 feet tall.
Additional campgrounds dot the Avenue of the Giants drive; the area also offers a number of private campgrounds and restaurants - the Chimney Tree Grill offers delicious food and craft beers in shadows of towering redwoods.
Several interesting tours are just beyond the park: Trek north to Scotia (about 15 miles north of the park on Highway 101), a factory town owned by Pacific Lumber, the county’s largest employer with 1600 employees. Admire the grand Hotel Scotia, and tour the museum flanked by a Pacific Lumber Company locomotive and two huge steam donkeys (oversized steam engines used in the forest for logging operations).
Another company mill town, Samoa, is about 35 miles north of the park, just off Hwy. 101 past Eureka. Stop for a sumptuous lunch at the Samoa Cookhouse, which has been continuously serving meals, first to resident mill workers and loggers, then to the public, for over 130 years! In addition to huge portions of delicious food served family style, the cookhouse has a full logging museum adjacent to the dining room. The history and meal are not to be missed!
The park is 250 miles from San Joaquin County, roughly a 4.5 hour drive; take Hwy. 12 west from Lodi, then go north on Hwy. 101. Even further north is Redwood National Park, but that tour awaits another trip.
For more info: Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Humboldtredwoods.org; Samoa Cookhouse, samoacookhouse.net (temporarily closed for remodel); for camping reservations, reservecalifornia.com.
Contact Tim, [email protected]. Happy travels in your world!
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: California north coast, Redwood state and national forests, and Avenue of the Giants