The Coastal Redwoods of Northern California

After spending so much time in a dry climate, the Redwoods was akin to a rain forest for us. Most of the precipitation in this region falls in the winter and a significant percentage is in the form of fog. Philip and I were very fortunate to have three days of sunshine. However, because of the thick forest canopy, very little of those rays reach the forest floor. No need for sunscreen here.

The coastal redwoods can live more than 2000 years reaching diameters of 22 feet and soaring upwards to 350 feet. Our first two days were in the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park which has some of the largest groves of ancient trees. We biked on Howland Hill Road (quiet dirt lane) through amazing woodlands including the Stout Grove.







The campground sits next to the beautiful Smith River, the longest uninterrupted Californian river.




I had a chance to road bike along the coast and through farmlands of Crescent City before we headed south to Elk Prairie Campground in Prairie Creek State Park. Here is a sampling of the sites as we traveled through the redwood area including the Avenue of the Giants.
























Too small for our van, but plenty of room for the two of us.






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