Imagine the length of a football field. Next, image a tree as long as that field. Stand the tree upright and you’ve got the monster redwood trees of Northern California. I’d been arguing with myself for a few weeks about driving further north from San Francisco. It’s once thing to do a 7 hour drive there and another thing to do 4 more hours north of that. Once I got outside the city the hills, forest and fog made themselves known.
I started seeing the great trees sooner than I expected (only 2 hours into my drive). One of my favorite photos shows the scale of my car next to one of these biological marvels.
A little further up the road I found myself at Richardson’s Grove State Park. Once again I stopped to hike and admire what nature can do. This place was beyond anything I have ever imagined.
I returned to my car and continued my drive. Eventually I would find the Avenue of the Giants and enjoy nearly 20 miles of pristine redwoods. I recommend this route to anyone that wants to experience this.
I eventually ended up so far north that I found the Shasta/Trinity National Forest. Why not explore this one too?
It was a long day of exploring, but I ended it very happy with what I had experienced. Someday, I will return and explore further.