Most visitors enter the redwoods from the South, coming up US 101 from San Francisco. This approach gives you a bit of a gradual introduction to the big trees; you see a few mixed in with the pines and firs in Mendocino County, then the redwoods become more frequent and the stands denser as you drive North. Coming in from the West, the transition is more abrupt. One minute you are in the rolling hills and dry grass valleys of the King Range, and then suddenly you plunge into the back side of the state park that protects the largest forest of coastal redwoods left in the world.
Humboldt Redwoods State Park
About 1600 years ago while the Visigoths were busy sacking Rome, the biggest trees in the Rockefeller Grove were just pushing their first roots into the rich moist soil of what is now called Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Today they are among the oldest living things on our planet, and we can thank the early tree huggers of the Save the Redwoods League for buying this land from the Pacific Lumber Company back in 1918. Had they not, the only place to see these big trees today would be as part of an old picnic table or deck somewhere in suburbia.
A quick PSA here – the coastal redwood creates the largest burls on earth. These gnarled bumps are made into beautiful ornamental wood, which has become somewhat too popular with tourists. As a result there is now a problem with poaching of redwood burl; short-sighted people invade old-growth groves and cut off burls from protected trees for profit. This damages the trees and shortens the life of the big redwoods. If you should buy something made from redwood burl, please ask about the seller’s source. Don’t purchase if they don’t have a good answer or seem at all sketchy. Thank you for helping to preserve the Big Trees for generations to come!
Avenue of the Giants
When I was a kid, there was a particularly treacherous section of US 101 in this part of the County. A constant war was waged between those that advocated “progress” (particularly lumber and trucking interests), and those that wanted to preserve the old growth forest. Battles were fought and decided year by year and tree by tree as more vehicles tested their metal against the giant trees along the road that wound between them.
Over the course of several decades, a sort of balance evolved, and the road divided into two separate courses – Highway 101 was rerouted and widened, avoiding many of the oldest groves and largest trees, and the most scenic and dangerous sections of the old highway became Avenue of the Giants. This road not only services spectacular parks such as Richardson Grove, it also preserves tourist access to old-school private attractions like the Drive-Through Tree. If you’re making a day trip out of the Bay Area or quick transit up the coast to Oregon, the Avenue is a perfect way to slow down for a few minutes and take a break among the redwoods.
This post concludes the series from Humboldt County for 2018. I hope you’ve enjoyed them, and that it encourages you to come visit this unique place that I call home. For most of my life my address has been elsewhere, but my this is where my soul lives. Come and spend some time with the Big Trees. You’ll understand then.