California Northern Coast Part I

The California Northern Coast has so much to offer that I have needed to divide it into Part I and Part II. This post, Part I covers Avenue of the Giants, the Chimney Tree and the Tunnel Tree. In Part II, which will publish on Thursday will include our trip to Ferndale, Trinidad Beach and Eureka

On our way to our RV park in Eureka, we were greeting by beautiful horses, cattle and farms. Eureka CA got on our radar through the Netflix Original show Virgin River. The “big” city closest to the little town is Eureka. It always seemed like a lovely place to be. And our instincts were spot on.

From what I have read about Eureka, it’s full of stories. At one time it was a raucous lumber town and fishing village. In the early days Eureka bustled with saloons and brothels as well as a mix of entrepreneurs who were looking to settle the North Coast. Today the boats still bring in crab and salmon to the docks and historic buildings at the edge of Humboldt Bay form a walkable enclave of shops, restaurants and bars. You can enjoy a stroll along the waterfront trail or simply lean on the railing of the Old Town boardwalk and watch the boats parade in front of you. And the first Saturday of each month they have Arts Alive, weather permitting! The streets if Eureka fill up with people who are touring the shops, restaurants and galleries for local art and wonderful live music.

Once we were settled in we researched “Things to do in the Eureka area” and found that there was plenty to keep us occupied. And since we have become enthralled with Redwoods we made seeing more of them a priority by beginning our tour with a drive down Avenue of the Giants.

Even people who live among the redwood giants look upward now and then in amazement. As we drove along the Avenue of the Giants on the California Northern Coast something new was revealed to us around every corner. Things that our photos can’t quite do justice. I have used words like majestic and breathtaking to try to describe them, but it’s really impossible to get a true sense of their magnitude without witnessing these giants yourselves. You really need to be there, under the ancient, towering canopy to fully understand what I’m talking about. But I will do my best to help you appreciate these spectacular trees.

If you go, I should say when you go, take it slow and plan on making lots of stops along the way. That’s what we did. We stopped to see chainsaw sculptures as well as fine wood work. The shops are filled with an assortment of locally crafted goods.

This world famous scenic drive is a 31-mile country road which parallels Highway 101. You will travel though over 51,000 acres of magnificent redwood groves. Humboldt Redwoods State Park is by far the best display of these giant trees in the entire 500 mile redwood belt. The Avenue of the Giants meanders through Humboldt Redwoods State Park which has the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world. Along the route there are places to picnic, camp, hike, swim, fish, raft, bike ride, or just plain experience the peace and tranquility in the cool hush of these ancient old growth forests.

Our first stop on our California Northern Coast excursion was at the living Chimney Tree. You can actually walk through the bright orange door and enter the inside of the hollow tree. Looking straight up you can see the sky and the sunlight streaming in. This tree was last measured in 1978 and was 78-feet tall at that time, with a circumference of 50-feet 4-inches. The center burned out in 1914 and left a hollowed room with a diameter of 12-feet six-inches. It was just gorgeous inside with the sun streaming from the “chimney” onto the stunning wood.

Next, we drove through the quaint tiny town of Miranda and quirky Myer Flats with it’s Tunnel Tree and  Fernando’s Hideaway, then on to the remaining groves along the Avenue of Giants.

Driving through this enchanted part of the California Northern Coast we couldn’t help but imagine how these giant redwoods stood amongst dinosaurs in the Mesozoic Era, 248 to 65 MILLION years ago.

Hope you enjoyed Part I! Please stay tuned for California Northern Coast Part II on Thursday. But right now I want to leave you with this excellent quote from John Steinbeck: “The redwoods once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always…from them comes silence and awe. The most irreverent of men, in the presence of redwoods, goes under a spell of wonder and respect.”