From San Francisco to the Redwood National Park, the key to this perfect road trip is making all the right pit stops. My trip itinerary is 4 days and 3 nights of exploring the coast of Northern California. There's beer, wine, beaches, hikes and tall, tall trees.
Follow my footsteps to the Redwoods with this Google Maps List
Follow my footsteps to the Redwoods with this Google Maps List
Day 1
Fort Bragg, CA: Beach, beer & sunset
Leaving early from San Francisco our first stop was Fort Bragg.
*Recommendation: Take the 101 out of SF then cut over to the coast via Highway 20 through Jackson State Forest. This is a slow, windy, steep and wooded drive, but exciting and beautiful nonetheless!
Glass Beach
Glass Beach
I've had my eye on Glass Beach for a while, so we drove right there! I had heard beautiful rumors about all the sea glass, but I also heard that it had dwindled down over time, so I was pleasantly surprised by what we saw. Little specks of sea-glass littered the entire shoreline, it was so fun to sift through it all and watch the light hit the colorful pieces.
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| Glass Beach, Fort Bragg |
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Fort Bragg is home to the first of many breweries we'd visit this weekend. We enjoyed:
- Tasting flights at North Coast Brewing
- Pints on the patio at Overtime Brewing
- Pizza and beer for dinner at Piaci (which was decided on after much Yelp digging, and it was delicious)
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*We stayed the night at Grey Whale Inn, which is now closed. I recommend finding a local BnB to spend the night here.
Day 2
Scenic drives, Redwood walks, hidden beaches
Humboldt Redwoods State Park:
We got on the road early morning, to finally see the much anticipated Redwoods! Taking Highway 1, we cut inland back to the 101, heading towards the Southern entrance of the Avenue of the Giants.
This 31 mile scenic drive is incredible. Windows down, sunlight streaming through the trees, can only be described as magical. We pulled over several times when we saw an opportunity to explore the forest or a cool tree (or tree root) caught our eye.
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| Avenue of the Giants |
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A couple favorite pitstops we made along the way were Rockefeller Loop, Founders Grove and Drury Chaney Trail. There were a couple times I saw an opportunity to walk down to the creek/river that runs parallel to the avenue of the giants. Never did this, but it looked very cool!
These tall trees are no joke. For perspective...
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| Avenue of the Giants |
Eureka
Once we made it through to Eureka (where we'd spend the night) our first stop was of-course more beer! Lost Coast Brewery is a funky, fun and unique place with lots of yard games, outdoor seating, and just a fun eclectic vibe.
Trinidad
With the daylight still around, we headed a little bit north of Eureka to explore Trinidad. I intended to see the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse but to my disappointment it was gone and under restoration. But instead, in that same spot, I spotted a path to the beach. Starting up on a hill looking out over all the fishing boats, we hiked down a path, somewhat covered in brush, to Old Home Beach, which was empty and beautiful in its solitude.
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| Old Home Beach, Trinidad, CA |
Beaches
Next we hopped over to College Cove Beach, which was always part of the plan. College Cove Falls wasn't active at the time, though I imagine it's pretty cool when it is. We kinda scrambled our way down this strange and steep "path" to the secluded beach. **(Parking lot we used is located off of Stagecoach Road)
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Eureka
With the sun now setting, we headed back to Eureka for the night, stopping at Redwood Curtain Brewing. This was a trip favorite! Lots of games to play and a food truck on site. We went back twice!
*never made it to Samoa peninsula but the Samoa cook house and Samoa Dunes Recreation Area
were places I marked to visit in this area.
Day 3
Redwood National and State Park:
After fueling up on coffee at a local shop, we set out for our first real hike, after all that's what we came for.
All my research about Redwood Forest hikes pointed towards the Tall Trees Grove hike. For this hike you need a permit, it's more of a formality from what I understand, but there is a limited amount of permits distributed each day. You can pick this up at at Thomas H Kuchek Visitor Center). From there, you'll wind through the forest to the trailhead, unlock a private gate to the access road, and proceed to the trail. It's an out & back trail - while you're out there, I highly recommend stepping away from the tree cover for a minute and explore the creek.
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| Tall Trees Grove |
Part of Jurassic Park was filmed right here.
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Day 4
Drive, wine, drive
Unlike our 3 day drive to get up here, we headed home in 1.
I suggest going back down Avenue of Giants a second time, via the North entrance, to soak it all in from a different angle
It was a last minute decision and perfect timing to make a wine pit stop at Pacific Star Winery which has a tasting room and a yard with seats that literally look out over a cliff to the Pacific. It was a heavenly closing stop to our 4 day weekend.
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| Pacific Star Winery |
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