The first time I walked into Tall Trees Grove, I actually stopped talking mid-sentence. I was on the phone with my mom, trying to describe where I was, and I just trailed off, because there is no describing a coast redwood the first time you stand underneath one. These are the tallest living things on the planet, some of them pushing 370 feet, older than the Roman Empire, and the light that filters down through the canopy has a green, underwater quality that no photo I have ever taken comes close to capturing. If Big Sur is about the drama of the coastline, the Redwood Coast up in far Northern California is about scale and silence. It is a completely different register of awe, and it deserves its own dedicated trip.
This guide covers Redwood National and State Parks, which is actually a partnership of one national park and three California state parks (Redwood National Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods, and Prairie Creek Redwoods) all managed cooperatively, plus the famous Avenue of the Giants further south in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. I’ll walk you through where to fly, how to get around, and a clear day-by-day route through the very best groves, viewpoints, and coastal stops.
Where to Fly Into for a Redwoods Road Trip
This is genuinely remote country by California standards, and picking the right airport matters a lot here because your options are more limited than in, say, the Bay Area.
California Redwood Coast–Humboldt County Airport (ACV)
The closest airport to the heart of the redwoods is California Redwood Coast–Humboldt County Airport, located in McKinleyville, about 20 minutes from Arcata and Eureka. It has direct flights from a handful of hubs including San Francisco (via United and other carriers) and sometimes Los Angeles or Denver depending on the season. This is by far the most convenient option if you can find a flight that fits your schedule and budget — it drops you within a 30-45 minute drive of most of the major redwood groves.
San Francisco International Airport (SFO)
Most people, myself included on my first redwoods trip, fly into SFO instead, both because flights are cheaper and more frequent, and because it lets you turn this into a proper multi-day road trip up Highway 101, taking in wine country, the Sonoma coast, and the Avenue of the Giants on your way north. The drive from SFO to the southern edge of the redwoods (Avenue of the Giants) is about four and a half hours, and it’s another two and a half hours north from there to the main Redwood National and State Parks complex near Crescent City. I recommend budgeting this as a proper road trip rather than trying to compress it.
Portland International Airport (PDX)
If you’re coming from the north, or combining this with an Oregon coast trip, Portland International Airport is about a five hour drive south to Crescent City, which puts you right at the northern edge of the redwoods parks. This is a great option if you want to bookend a Pacific Northwest and Northern California trip.
Getting Around — Why You Need a Car and What Kind
There is essentially no public transportation connecting the redwood parks, the individual groves, or the small towns along this stretch of coast. Amtrak doesn’t reach this part of California at all, and Greyhound service is minimal and won’t get you to trailheads. A rental car (or camper van) is not optional here — it’s the entire mechanism by which this trip works.
Book through Hertz, Enterprise, or a comparison site like Kayak. All three of the airports above have rental counters, though selection is more limited at the smaller ACV airport, so book ahead if you’re flying in there.
Do you need 4WD?
No — all the main roads and grove access points covered in this guide are paved or well-maintained gravel, accessible in a standard sedan or SUV. The one exception is Coastal Drive near Klamath, a narrow unpaved road that RVs and trailers are advised to avoid, but any regular rental car handles it fine in dry conditions.
Van life and RV rentals
The redwoods are one of my favorite regions in the country to do in a van, because the campgrounds here are gorgeous and genuinely affordable compared to somewhere like Big Sur. Jedediah Smith Redwoods and Prairie Creek Redwoods both have developed campgrounds you can book through ReserveCalifornia, and Redwood National Park’s backcountry and Gold Bluffs Beach campground are bookable through Recreation.gov. For van rentals, I like Outdoorsy and Escape Campervans, both of which have San Francisco pickup locations that work well as a starting point for this drive. Note that RV length restrictions apply on some of the narrower park roads — Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway is fine for standard RVs, but Coastal Drive and Davison Road out to Gold Bluffs Beach are not RV-friendly.
The Route: Navigating Highway 101 and the Redwood Parks
Your backbone road for this entire trip is US Route 101, which runs the length of the redwood parks north to south. From this main highway, several scenic detours branch off — the Avenue of the Giants, the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, and Coastal Drive — and hitting these in the right order is what turns a highway drive into a proper redwoods pilgrimage.
Day 1: The Avenue of the Giants and Humboldt Redwoods State Park
If you’re driving up from San Francisco, this is your first major stop, about four and a half hours north of the city.
Stop 1: The Avenue of the Giants
The Avenue of the Giants is a 31-mile scenic alternate route that parallels US-101 through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California’s largest redwoods state park and home to the largest remaining contiguous old-growth redwood forest on Earth. Exit 101 at the signed turnoff near Phillipsville and take the old highway instead — it is slower, narrower, and infinitely more beautiful, weaving directly among trunks that are older than written history.
Stop 2: Founders Grove
Roughly midway along the Avenue, stop at Founders Grove Nature Trail, an easy flat loop of about half a mile that takes you past the Dyerville Giant, a massive fallen redwood that gives you a genuinely humbling sense of scale lying on its side. This is one of the best short introductions to old growth in the whole park system.
Stop 3: Rockefeller Forest
A short drive from Founders Grove is Rockefeller Forest, the single largest old-growth coast redwood forest remaining anywhere. The Bull Creek Flats Trail here is longer (about 12 miles if done in full, though you can walk any portion and turn back) and takes you through truly cathedral-like density of ancient trees with almost no crowds compared to the more famous northern groves.
Stop 4: Eternal Tree House and Shrine Drive-Thru Tree
For a bit of classic, kitschy Americana, stop at the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree in Myers Flat, a living redwood with a tunnel cut through its base wide enough to drive a car through — a small fee applies, and it’s touristy in the best possible way.
Overnight in Garberville or Miranda, both small towns along this stretch with basic motels, or camp at one of Humboldt Redwoods State Park’s campgrounds via ReserveCalifornia.
Day 2: North to Redwood National and State Parks
Continue north on US-101 for about two and a half hours to reach the main event: the true Redwood National and State Parks complex near Orick and Crescent City.
Stop 5: Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway
Just after entering the park complex near Orick, exit onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, a 10-mile alternate route through Prairie Creek Redwoods that is one of the most beautiful drives in the entire national park system — a two-lane road canopied by old growth the whole way, and you have a real chance of spotting Roosevelt elk grazing in the meadows along the route.
Stop 6: Fern Canyon
From the Drury Parkway, take Davison Road (unpaved, no RVs or trailers, small day-use fee) out to Fern Canyon, an otherworldly slot canyon with 50-foot walls completely covered in ferns, made famous as a filming location in Jurassic Park 2. There is a creek crossing involved, so wear shoes you don’t mind getting wet, or bring sandals. Fern Canyon requires a permit reservation in peak summer season through Recreation.gov — check current requirements before you go, since the park has changed this system in recent years.
Stop 7: Gold Bluffs Beach
Right next to Fern Canyon is Gold Bluffs Beach, a wide, wild stretch of sand backed by golden bluffs, with a campground if you want to sleep within earshot of the surf.
Stop 8: Tall Trees Grove
This is the one that stopped me mid-sentence. Tall Trees Grove requires a free permit obtained at the Kuchel Visitor Center or in advance online, because access is limited to protect the grove, and you’ll need the gate access code they provide. The hike is about 4 miles round trip with roughly 800 feet of elevation change, and it takes you to a grove containing some of the tallest trees ever measured on the planet. This is, without question, the single best hike in this entire guide, and it’s the one I’d prioritize above all others if you have to cut something from your itinerary.
Stop 9: Kuchel Visitor Center
Stop at the Thomas H. Kuchel Visitor Center near Orick for maps, current trail conditions, permit pickup, and a good introduction to the ecology of the redwood forest from the rangers, who are some of the most knowledgeable I’ve met anywhere in the park system.
Overnight in Klamath or Crescent City. I like Requa Inn in Klamath for something with character, or basic motels in Crescent City for budget travelers.
Day 3: Coastal Drive, Jedediah Smith, and Crescent City
Stop 10: Coastal Drive
Coastal Drive is a narrow, unpaved, partly one-way loop road near Klamath with sweeping ocean bluff views and almost no other cars — one of the best-kept secrets in the whole park. Not recommended for RVs or trailers, but any standard rental car handles it fine in dry weather.
Stop 11: Klamath River Overlook
The Klamath River Overlook, just off Coastal Drive, is one of the best whale-watching spots on the entire Northern California coast during the gray whale migration (roughly December through April), and it’s a stunning viewpoint even outside migration season.
Stop 12: Trees of Mystery
Back on 101, you can’t miss the giant Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues marking Trees of Mystery, a private, ticketed attraction with a gondola ride through the canopy and some genuinely strange and wonderful tree formations. It’s touristy, but it’s a fun, kid-friendly break from hiking, and the on-site Native American museum is worth a look.
Stop 13: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
End your trip at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, near the Oregon border, home to the Stout Grove — widely considered one of the most beautiful and accessible old-growth groves in the entire park system, with a short, flat, half-mile loop trail that’s stunning at any time of day but especially gorgeous in late afternoon light filtering through the canopy. The Smith River running alongside is one of the last major undammed rivers in California and a beautiful spot to cool off in summer.
Stop 14: Crescent City
Wrap up in Crescent City, the northernmost coastal town in this stretch, with the Battery Point Lighthouse and a good final seafood dinner. Try the local harbor-front spots for fresh Dungeness crab if it’s in season (roughly December through July on this stretch of coast).
Practical Tips Before You Go
Permits and reservations
Fern Canyon and Tall Trees Grove both require advance permits obtained through Recreation.gov or the park’s own system — do not skip this step, as rangers do check, and the whole point of the permit system is to protect these fragile, irreplaceable groves.
Weather and fog
The Redwood Coast is famous for fog, and honestly, fog among the redwoods is one of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see — it’s part of what keeps these trees alive, since coast redwoods draw a significant portion of their water directly from fog drip. Bring layers regardless of season; summer highs rarely break 65°F right on the coast even when inland areas are baking.
Elk safety
Roosevelt elk are common throughout this region, especially around Prairie Creek and the meadows along the Drury Parkway. They are wild animals and can be dangerous, especially bulls during fall rutting season — admire from your car or from a safe distance, never approach for a photo.
When to go
Late spring through early fall is the most reliable window, though the redwoods are genuinely beautiful year-round and see far fewer crowds outside summer. I personally love visiting in the shoulder season of September and October, when the summer fog starts to lift a bit more and the crowds thin dramatically.
Where to Eat Along the Redwood Coast
This is not a foodie destination in the way, say, Napa or Big Sur can be, but there are some genuinely wonderful, unpretentious places to eat scattered through the small towns along this route, and I’ve come to look forward to a few of them as much as the trees themselves.
Garberville and the Southern Redwoods
In Garberville, your gateway to the Avenue of the Giants, stop at one of the local diners on the main strip for a hearty breakfast before your first day of grove-hopping. This is also a good town to stock up on groceries and gas, since options thin out considerably as you head further north toward the national park complex.
Eureka and Arcata
If your route or flight schedule takes you through Eureka or Arcata (both near the ACV airport), don’t skip them. Eureka has a genuinely charming Victorian-era Old Town with excellent seafood right on Humboldt Bay — local seafood spots here serve some of the best fresh crab and oysters on this whole stretch of coast. Arcata, home to Humboldt State University (now Cal Poly Humboldt), has a lively, youthful food scene around its central plaza worth a wander if you have an extra afternoon.
Klamath and Crescent City
Up near the main park complex, options get sparser, but the Requa Inn’s restaurant in Klamath is worth planning a dinner around, with river views and a small, thoughtfully prepared menu. In Crescent City, the harbor has several no-frills seafood counters serving fish and chips and fresh crab that hit the spot after a long day of hiking among the trees.
What to Pack for a Redwoods Trip
The redwood forest has its own microclimate, and packing for it is genuinely different from packing for a sunny California road trip. Here’s my list after many trips up this coast.
- A proper rain layer, even in summer — fog drip inside the groves can feel like light rain even on a technically dry day.
- Warm layers, since coastal temperatures here rarely climb much above the mid-60s Fahrenheit even at the height of summer.
- Waterproof or quick-dry shoes if you’re planning to do Fern Canyon, since there’s an unavoidable creek crossing.
- A headlamp or flashlight, especially if you’re camping — the forest gets genuinely, wonderfully dark at night with almost no light pollution.
- Offline maps downloaded in advance, since cell coverage is minimal to nonexistent through most of the park complex.
- Bug spray, particularly near river and creek areas in summer.
- A printed permit confirmation for Fern Canyon and Tall Trees Grove, in case you lose signal and can’t pull up the digital version at the gate.
A Little Redwood Ecology, Because It Makes the Trip Better
I think understanding a little bit about how these trees actually work makes standing among them even more remarkable. Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) are different from their cousins, the giant sequoias found in the Sierra Nevada — redwoods are taller and more slender, built for a coastal fog climate rather than the dry mountain air where giant sequoias thrive. A mature coast redwood can draw a significant percentage of its water needs directly from fog condensing on its needles, which is part of why this narrow coastal fog belt, rarely more than a few miles wide, is the only place on Earth these trees grow naturally.
These forests were once nearly continuous along more than two million acres of the Northern California and southern Oregon coast. Logging in the 19th and 20th centuries removed roughly 95 percent of the original old growth before the conservation movement — led significantly by the Save the Redwoods League, founded in 1918 — succeeded in protecting the remaining groves you’re driving through today. Redwood National Park itself was established in 1968, one of the newer national parks, specifically because so much old growth had already been lost by the time protection efforts caught up. Knowing that history changes how you look at Rockefeller Forest or Stout Grove — you’re not just looking at old trees, you’re looking at one of the last surviving fragments of an entire ecosystem that used to blanket this whole coast.
Frequently Asked Questions About Visiting the Redwoods
How many days do I need for Redwood National and State Parks?
Three days is the sweet spot for the itinerary in this guide, covering both the Avenue of the Giants in the south and the main park complex near Crescent City. If you can only manage two days, I’d prioritize the main park complex (Days 2 and 3 above) over the Avenue of the Giants, since Tall Trees Grove and Fern Canyon are the standout experiences of this entire trip.
Can you see redwoods without hiking?
Absolutely. The Avenue of the Giants and the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway are both drivable roads that put you directly among old-growth trees without leaving your car, and several of the groves mentioned in this guide (Founders Grove, Stout Grove) have flat, easy loop trails well under a mile. Tall Trees Grove is the one genuine exception that requires real hiking effort.
Is it safe to drive an RV through the redwood parks?
Yes, on the main roads. US-101, the Avenue of the Giants, and the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway are all suitable for standard-length RVs. Avoid Coastal Drive and Davison Road (the route to Fern Canyon and Gold Bluffs Beach), which are narrow, unpaved, and explicitly not recommended for RVs or trailers.
Do I need a permit to visit the redwoods?
General park entry doesn’t require a permit for most of the sites in this guide, but Fern Canyon and Tall Trees Grove both have specific permit systems due to their popularity and fragility. Check current requirements on the official NPS Redwood National and State Parks site before you go, since these systems are updated periodically.
Can I bring my dog on redwood trails?
Dog policies are more restrictive here than many travelers expect. National Park Service sections generally limit dogs to campgrounds and paved roads, not trails, while some of the California State Parks sections allow leashed dogs on a wider set of trails and fire roads. Because the rules vary grove by grove, check the specific trail’s page before you go if you’re traveling with a dog — the last thing you want is to drive out to a trailhead only to find it’s off-limits.
What’s the best month to see fall color or avoid crowds?
September and October are my personal favorite months here. The heaviest summer fog has usually lifted a bit by then, crowds thin out significantly once school is back in session, and the bigleaf maples and vine maples scattered through the forest understory add a real splash of yellow and orange color against the deep green of the redwoods themselves — a nice seasonal contrast you won’t see in peak summer.
Is it worth visiting the redwoods if I’ve already seen giant sequoias in Yosemite or Sequoia National Park?
Yes, without hesitation. I’ve done both, more than once, and they are genuinely different experiences rather than a redundant version of the same thing. Giant sequoias feel monumental and singular — massive, ancient individuals you walk around and admire one at a time. Coast redwoods feel like a whole vertical world; the experience is less about any one tree and more about the density, the height of the canopy disappearing far overhead, and the particular hush and dampness of the fog-fed forest floor. If you love one, I’d bet you’ll love the other for entirely different reasons.
Is this trip suitable for families with young kids?
Yes, and I’d argue it’s one of the best family road trips in California precisely because so many of the standout groves — Founders Grove, Stout Grove, the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree — involve short, flat, stroller-friendly walks rather than demanding hikes. Fern Canyon and Tall Trees Grove are the exceptions, requiring more stamina and, in Fern Canyon’s case, a willingness to get shoes wet, so plan those for families with slightly older, more adventurous kids.
Should I visit the redwoods before or after Big Sur on a longer West Coast trip?
Either direction works, but I generally recommend doing Big Sur first if you’re heading north to south along the California coast, or the redwoods first if you’re headed south to north, simply because it lets you build toward increasingly dramatic scenery rather than the reverse. That said, both regions are so different in character — Big Sur’s cliffside drama versus the redwoods’ cathedral hush — that visiting them back to back never feels repetitive, no matter which order you choose.
What wildlife might I see?
Roosevelt elk are the marquee sighting, especially around Prairie Creek and the Elk Meadow area near Orick. Black bears are present throughout, though sightings are less common. Along the coast, keep an eye out for gray whales during migration season and harbor seals hauled out on rocky points.
Combining This Trip With the Rest of the West Coast
If you have more time, the redwoods pair beautifully with a broader Northern California and Pacific Northwest itinerary. Heading south, you can connect this trip to a Big Sur road trip (covered in a separate guide on this blog) via Highway 101 and Highway 1 through the Bay Area, turning this into a full Golden State coastal odyssey. Heading north, Crescent City is only about a five-hour drive from Portland, making it easy to fold in an Oregon coast leg — Highway 101 continues north through beautiful, less-visited stretches of coastline the whole way.
A Sample Two-Day Version, If Three Days Isn’t Possible
If your schedule only allows two days, here’s how I’d restructure this trip to hit the very best of it without spreading yourself too thin.
- Day 1: Drive straight to the main Redwood National and State Parks complex near Orick, skipping the Avenue of the Giants entirely. Spend the day on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, Fern Canyon (permit required), Gold Bluffs Beach, and Tall Trees Grove (permit required) — this is the core, unmissable experience of the whole trip. Overnight in Klamath or Crescent City.
- Day 2: Do Coastal Drive and the Klamath River Overlook in the morning, then finish at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park for the Stout Grove before heading back south or continuing north toward Oregon, depending on your onward plans.
You’ll miss the Avenue of the Giants and Humboldt Redwoods State Park this way, which is a real loss if you have the time, but the two days above still deliver the single most awe-inspiring parts of this entire region.
A Bit of History That Makes the Trip Mean More
It’s worth knowing a little about how close this whole ecosystem came to disappearing entirely before you set foot in it. Commercial logging began in earnest along this coast in the mid-1800s, accelerating dramatically after railroads and later trucks made it possible to move enormous redwood logs out of increasingly remote canyons. By the early 20th century, entire watersheds that had held old growth for thousands of years were being clear-cut within a matter of years, and it became clear to a small group of scientists and conservationists that without intervention, none of this forest would survive.
The Save the Redwoods League, founded in 1918 by a group including conservationists Madison Grant, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and John C. Merriam, began purchasing and protecting individual groves — often named after the donors who funded their purchase, which is why you’ll see so many groves named after specific families and individuals as you drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. This piecemeal, grove-by-grove protection effort continued for decades before Redwood National Park itself was finally established by Congress in 1968, later expanded significantly in 1978 specifically to protect upstream watersheds that were still being actively logged right up to the original park’s boundary. The cooperative management agreement between the National Park Service and California State Parks that governs the area today, unusual in the park system, dates to 1994, and it’s the reason you’ll see NPS and California State Parks signage intermixed throughout your drive.
Redwoods vs. Giant Sequoias: Don’t Mix Them Up
A question I get constantly from readers planning their first California big-tree trip: are these the same as the giant sequoias in Yosemite and Sequoia National Park? No, and the distinction matters for trip planning. Coast redwoods, the trees in this guide, are the tallest trees on Earth, growing in a narrow fog belt along the immediate coast from central California up into southern Oregon. Giant sequoias, found in the Sierra Nevada mountains at Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon, and groves within Yosemite, are the most massive trees on Earth by total volume, though shorter than coast redwoods, and they grow in a completely different climate — a mid-elevation mountain zone rather than a coastal fog belt. If you want to see both in one trip, you’re looking at a significant drive between the two regions (roughly seven to eight hours from the redwood parks to Yosemite), so plan accordingly rather than assuming they’re a quick hop apart.
Photography Tips for the Redwoods
Photographing these trees well is genuinely difficult — a standard lens simply cannot capture the scale, and I’ve watched countless visitors get frustrated trying. A few things that have helped me over the years: include a person or a recognizable object in the frame for scale, since a photo of just trunks and canopy tends to flatten out and lose the sense of size entirely. Shoot on overcast or foggy days when possible — the soft, diffused light inside a redwood grove is far more flattering and even than harsh midday sun breaking through gaps in the canopy, which creates blown-out highlights and deep shadow patches that are hard to expose for. A wide-angle lens helps enormously if you have one, and shooting straight up the trunk toward the canopy is a classic composition that never gets old, even after you’ve done it a hundred times, which I have.
Budgeting for a Redwoods Road Trip
Compared to Big Sur or Joshua Tree, this is one of the more affordable regions of California to road trip through, which is one of the reasons I keep coming back. Small-town motels in Garberville, Klamath, and Crescent City run considerably cheaper than anything comparable in the more famous tourist corridors further south, and state park campgrounds through ReserveCalifornia are consistently in the $35 per night range. Gas is your biggest variable cost given the driving distances involved, so factor that into your budget, especially if you’re driving a larger RV rather than a fuel-efficient sedan. Groceries in the small towns along this route are reasonably priced, and picnicking creekside or at a grove picnic area is one of the best, cheapest lunches you’ll have on the whole West Coast.
Frequently Asked Questions, Continued
Is there an entrance fee for Redwood National and State Parks?
The national park sections (much of what’s covered in Day 2 and 3 above) are free to enter, unusual among major national parks. However, the California State Parks portions — Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creek — do charge a day-use vehicle fee, typically in the $8–$12 range, payable at self-serve kiosks. Check current rates on the California State Parks site.
Can I see redwoods on a day trip from San Francisco?
Technically yes if you limit yourself to the Avenue of the Giants and Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which is about a four and a half hour drive each way — a long day, but doable if that’s genuinely all the time you have. Reaching the main park complex near Crescent City in a single day from San Francisco is not realistic given the additional driving distance.
What should I do if a permit for Fern Canyon or Tall Trees Grove is sold out?
Don’t despair — both groves have alternates nearby that don’t require a permit. Skip Fern Canyon for the James Irvine Trail through Prairie Creek Redwoods, which passes through similarly lush old growth without the permit requirement, and if Tall Trees Grove is unavailable, Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods and Rockefeller Forest along the Avenue of the Giants both deliver comparably awe-inspiring old growth without any reservation system at all.
There’s a particular kind of quiet up here that I haven’t found anywhere else on the West Coast — not silence exactly, since the forest is always moving and dripping and creaking, but a stillness that puts your whole trip in perspective. Give yourself the full three days if you can. These trees have been standing for two thousand years; the least you can do is not rush past them.