Redwoods & Northern CA

Want to feel teeny tiny? Stand next to a Redwood tree in the Redwood National Park (most are technically called Coast Redwoods in the area we visited).

For me, it wasn’t so much the standing trees, which are like 300-350 feet tall, but those that had toppled over for various reasons and had their entire root systems exposed. And…. they have extremely shallow root systems relative to their size. Only like 6-12 feet. So, how do they not constantly fall over, one might ask? They are intertwined and connected with all the trees around them. Don’t even get me going on the millions of analogies this evokes…..

It was really pretty incredible to explore. The girls loved climbing all over absolutely everything they could on our hikes in the Redwood Forest (to be honest, so did I!) The redwoods area felt unique to me because it really spans a large area of California coastline and you kind of weave in and out of the park as you travel. We stayed in a teeny tiny town called Redcrest (not even sure it was an actual town) along the Avenue of the Giants. Avenue of the Giants is a span of about 30 miles of road that drives through the towering redwoods. It’s actually kind of amazing. I think technically this part of the redwoods is a state park, but again, it’s kind of different and is a mix of state and national park and I’m not completely sure how they all interact.

We left Redcrest for a few days while we were in Northern California and went to Crescent City, which we had heard wonderful things about. However, Northern California was not quite the paradise we had envisioned (after telling my brother about the area he quickly asked, “Haven’t you seen ‘Murder Mountain’ on Netflix?!?! It’s literally based on that area.” I had no idea.)

That said, we still had some exciting experiences while we were in the area. We dined with the sea lions for lunch one day at an excellent fresh seafood place, The Chart Room. I have to think it’s been around for a million years and it is regionally famous and everyone loves it. At least we did!

We got up early one morning to hike a not-so-secret path down to Enderts Beach on the Pacific Ocean and saw the most incredible display of ocean life. I could have sat there and watched and stared and admired the tide pools and all the creatures for hours, or at least until the ocean swept me to shore. It was worth waking up early, worth the hike, worth it all. (Pro tip, take dry clothes for your kids so they can fully immerse themselves in the experience. I’ll do this next time. Oops.)

All in all, we really enjoyed our time in Northern California and would return, but maybe just to a slightly different part of the state. Sequoia National Park is for sure on our list for next time. First we need to sell a limb so we can pay for gas in California.

*we visited Northern California September 2023