Crescent City, CA

Trinidad, CA - Crescent City, CA
5/18/24 - 5/21/24

Miles Traveled     63
Trip Total          4267
Travel Time       2:00

States visited: FL, GA, AL, MS, LA, TX, NM, AZ, UT, NV, CA

The drive from Trinidad to Crescent City was the shortest drive so far in this trip, but it packed  a ton of scenery into that short drive. We also took a short detour on the scenic path.  One could question our sanity after the last "Scenic Route" we took, but this time we stopped by the visitor center to confirm that the route we choose was "RV Friendly".  We also found a couple of places along our route where there would be ample RV parking.

Highway 101 is a beautiful drive  along the coast and through some of the Redwood Park.  One minute you are looking a couple hundred feet down a cliff at the ocean, then you are fifty feet from the water, and before you know it you are drive side by side with giant Coastal Redwoods.  What a amazing experience!!!  It really brings meaning to the words of "This Land Is Your Land"  From the Redwood Forest to The Gulf Stream Waters!

One of the stops we made was Trillium Falls Trail where we hiked through an old-growth redwoods, ferns and hugh fir trees to the falls.  The falls were almost anti-climatic after seeing all the redwoods.  It is incredible how tall they are.  Some of the trees are over 300 feet tall and between 2000 and 3000 years old.  

After arriving at our campground, Ramblin' Redwoods Campground and setting up we headed right back out to explore.  Our first stop was Battery Point Lighthouse.  Battery Point is only accessible by foot, and then only at low tide.  The lighthouse first went into service in 1856 and remain an active lighthouse until 1965.  In 1964 the light keepers were stranded on the island during a tsunami watching waves wreaked havoc on the mainland.  After the lighthouse was shutdown in 1965, it was reactivated in 1982 as a museum and private aid to navigation.    Because we arrived later in the afternoon we could not take the tour of the lighthouse but we were able to tour the grounds.

Leaving the lighthouse we headed to the Anchor Weigh Pier to see watch the sea lions.  About 100 yards off the pier there are several floating docks where the sea lions hangout.  The are very entertaining to watch and listen to.  Most off them just layed there, but there were a few that would sit up and bark. One would bark and then a couple of docks down another one would bark back.   It was windy and cold out, but even over the wind you could clearly hear the barking.

On Sunday we headed went to Trees Of Mystery.  Trees of Mystery is 80 acres of redwood forest with over a mile of trails and a skywalk 100 feet off the ground through the canopy of the redwoods. As amazing as it is seeing the trees from the ground, it is even more amazing looking down the trees from the walkways as bridges suspended from the trees.  

Monday took the Howland Hill Road tour through the Jedidiah Smith Redwoods Park.  This is a ten mile dirt road through the redwood forest.  No RV's, trailers or vehicles over 8' or 24' long are allowed (they will not fit) on the road.  There are some parts where you can touch the redwoods from both sides of the car as you pass through.  We stopped along the road for another mile long hike where we able to stand inside a hollowed out redwood and see redwoods that had been struck by lightning and burned from the inside while leaving the shell of the tree still standing.

Our next stop will add another state to the trip as we head to Prospect Oregon to explore Crater Lake.