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Avenue of the Giants Scenic Drive
Through Humboldt Redwoods State Park

You’ll never forget your time spent along the sublimely beautiful Avenue of the Giants scenic drive in Humboldt Redwoods State Park north of San Francisco. Few roads in the world rival the scenery of this highway, and you can use this guide to maximize your enjoyment of it.

We start with a little background of the area, the approach to the Avenue of the Giants from the south, and then move on to this gorgeous scenic drive along the Avenue of the Giants.

Avenue of the Giants

The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic route easily accessible from U.S.101 just north of Garberville. Since trucks and the majority of traffic stay on U.S. 101, the Avenue of the Giants is quiet as well as beautiful.

For more than 30 miles, the Avenue of the Giants passes through stunningly gorgeous areas of Humboldt Redwoods State Park but also through some privately held areas that were not saved from clear cutting. The contrast is heartrending.

The Avenue transits nearly the entire length of the park and offers numerous opportunities to pull over. Be careful not to get back on the freeway before the Avenue ends—that’s easy to do at several intersections.

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Generally, the further north you travel in California, the better the redwood groves, until you reach their peak of grandeur at Humboldt Redwoods State Park (main information site). You won't find better than this.

Although not as well known as Redwood National Park, Humboldt Redwoods State Park (official state park site) has the largest remaining collection of redwoods in the world. According to the Times of London, an acre in this park was found to contain a greater density of organic material than anywhere else in the world—some 7 times the greatest density found in the Amazon rain forest.

Many activities to enjoy

Along the Avenue of the Giants, you can pull over and enjoy peaceful, exquisite scenery at various waysides. Some spots like Williams Grove offer picnic tables.

There are more than 100 miles of trails accessible from the Avenue of the Giants in the park, short, long, horse, nature, and bicycle trails. The park's Eel River offers swimming, fishing, and canoeing (although the river usually becomes shallow by midsummer). And various kinds of camping are available, such as semi-developed, environmental, primitive, and horse camps. For more details, see the park information site.

I especially love the shorter trails in the park. See Part V for a variety of fine hikes you can enjoy in about an hour, such as the gorgeous Drury Trail (handicapped-accessible).

How to get to the Avenue of the Giants

Most travelers reach the Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park from the south along U.S. Highway 101.

North of Ukiah, you’ll begin to notice second growth redwoods. These are newer trees planted to replace virgin redwoods that have been cut. Virgin means old, in many cases more than 2,000 years old.

Think about that. Some of these trees were already tall before Christ walked the earth. They were already remarkably old when Prophet Mohammed was born.

Clear cutting left less than 5%

Sadly, before reaching the Avenue of the Giants, you’ll pass miles of former forests that have been clear-cut without being replanted.

Shortsighted and greedy lumber interests often did not spend time or money to replant. How future generations would make a living didn’t enter their minds.

As a result, less than 5% of the virgin redwood forests remain that once blanketed the coast from southern Oregon to near San Luis Obispo. The redwoods were almost decimated in little more than 150 years of extensive logging, first for the Gold Rush and then because the West continued to grow so fast.

That’s one reason why the redwoods you'll see along the Avenue of the Giants are so special.

Battles over remaining trees

These days, there’s a robust movement to significantly limit redwood cutting and to completely ban the cutting of any of the few remaining old growth redwoods not in parks or preserves.

Passions run high. As you read this, environmental activists may be living atop trees (link to photos may open slowly) while trespassing on private lands, in order to prevent the remaining unprotected virgin redwood groves from being cut down.

Several strong groups are involved in the efforts to conserve these trees, such as We Save Trees and Save the Redwoods League, which, with Lady Bird Johnson and the Sierra Club, led the fight to establish Redwood National Park.

Nevertheless, high levels of preservation are a hard sell in a stagnant local economy that lacks alternative high-paying jobs, especially with the demand for redwood lumber higher than ever.

Redwoods offer fine-looking, resilient wood that seems perfect for decks and other weather-impacted outdoor uses. Evolving for millenniums in a damp marine climate, redwoods are resistant to insects and rot.

And, adding more pressure to cut, vineyard interests in Mendocino and Sonoma counties want to clear groves for a product fetching ever-increasing prices: wine.

Richardson Grove State Park

If you are approaching Humboldt Redwoods State Park from the south on 101, you will first come to the virgin redwoods of Richardson Grove State Park. What a sight.

Note how the trunks of giant redwoods touch the pavement. If you let your mind wander a moment while driving, you might run into one! Road builders cut as few trees as possible. Consequently, there's no shoulder along the highway here.

This is a lovely area, but don’t linger, because it’s impossible to get away from traffic noise and enjoy the silence found in these redwood groves.

Garberville

Garberville, the largest town in the area, just off the U.S. 101 freeway, provides a good stop for a meal, picnic provisions, and fuel. You'll also find accommodation here, but we prefer to camp in the park.

Take the first Garberville exit, which leads directly onto Redwood Drive, the main street.

Try the Woodrose Cafe on your right at 911 Redwood Drive, just after you come into town, for great breakfasts until it closes in the early afternoon. The nicely spiced organic potatoes and eggs are especially good. Most of the food served at Woodrose is organic, and the menu includes items for vegans.

You’ll find more than a dozen other places to dine along or just off of Redwood Drive, as well as grocery and natural food stores in this small town.

Return to northbound U.S. 101 at the north end of town.

Avenue of the Giants exit

Six miles north of Garberville, you'll take Exit 645, Avenue of the Giants, off Highway 101.

Drive north on the Avenue of the Giants, where you will find that the traffic on U.S. 101 has now become a trickle and the looming quiet of the redwoods can be felt.

Entering Humboldt Redwoods State Park

After going through the village of Phillipsville, you’ll reach Humboldt Redwoods State Park. At times in this area, you’ll see virgin redwoods preserved in Humboldt State Park on one side of the road and clear-cut private lands on the other.

Soon, though, you’ll be only among the majestic trees.

Watch for bicyclists. Although there’s no room for a bicycle lane without cutting many trees, lack of much traffic and lack of steep grades, as well as the fantastic scenery, make this a popular bicycle route.

Humboldt State Park entrance fees

There are no fees for bicycling, driving, or walking into most California state parks, such as Humboldt. In addition, many parking areas along the Avenue of the Giants are free. You only pay fees at the most popular parking lots.

Once you have paid a parking fee at one lot, it is good that same day at any other parking area in the same park. Just keep the receipt visible.

In fact, once you've paid a parking fee in a California state park, it is valid that same day at all other California state parks, as long as their fees are not higher. Again, keep the receipt visible.

You'll find this especially useful along the redwood and Mendocino coasts, where state parks are close together (some just minutes apart) and their fees often the same.

Visitor Center

Continue north until you reach the Humboldt Redwoods State Park Visitor Center. This is a must stop. The Visitor Center pops up on your right just after the Hidden Springs Campground. The volunteer rangers are exceptionally helpful. I always offer a donation. Buy the cheaper trail map.

If you wish, also ask about other activities in the park, such as guided nature walks, more challenging hikes than the ones listed here, or equestrian trails. We talk about camping in this park in Part 12: Camping along your redwood scenic drive.

In front of the center stand three varieties of young redwood trees:

The coastal redwood you see throughout the park,
A not-yet so Giant Sequoia from the Sierras, and
A Chinese dawn redwood, a species thought to be extinct until the 1940’s.

Side by side, the trees provide a nice way to compare the three types.

In the next section

In the next section, Part V, we’ll explore the central and northern portions of the Avenue of the Giants, as it travels through Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

You’ll find descriptions of a variety of short hikes easily accessible from the Avenue of the Giants, including an exceptionally lovely one that is wheelchair-accessible.

Go to Part 5: Avenue of the Giants scenic drive, and continue your scenic drive!