How many times have you thought you planned the perfect trip and arrived to only have to completely change everything you planned?

Keep reading for the list of all of the things I learned after arriving to explore the Redwoods in Northern California.

1. Where the Redwoods actually are

When planning the trip with some searching on google maps we (my boyfriend and I) noticed there are about 10-15 different locations that pop up on the search. Only one of those locations is labeled ‘Redwood National and State Parks’ so it would make sense to head to that location right? Well, not quite. If you head to this location you will find redwoods but only a small cluster of the ‘old generation’ (I’ll explain the difference in a moment) called the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Which is beautiful but includes a small one mile loop that won’t take you a whole day to see. When looking for ample MASSIVE redwoods you need to look for the old generation which is defined as the large trees that sit far apart from each other with ample foliage and sounds of wildlife, as this is where they choose to make homes because the trees are studier and the foliage is thicker. So if you want an easy quick trip to see a ton of large redwoods, beautiful foliage, and the occasional wildlife spotting, stay closer to Crescent City. If you want a bit more of an adventure to find more groves of the ‘old generation’ of trees, follow highway 101 or the Redwood Highway and pull off on every exit that has a Redwood sign marker to find the perfect little pockets.

2. Permits 

Some of the pockets of Redwoods require a permit for access and can be for either driving or hiking. For instance, Tall Tree Grove, which is not far from Lady Bird Johnson Grove requires a permit to drive to but not to hike to. However, the entrances for driving and hiking in are in totally different locations. The permit for Tall Tree Grove must be reserved 48 hours prior to the start of your drive, so do research and reserve your spot at least one week (ideally much earlier than that) prior to make sure you have your required permits or know the actual start to your hike or drive.

3. What is close by

The beach is SO CLOSE! We stuck around Orick, CA exploring the redwoods and all of the highway pull offs, which gave us ample opportunity to hit all of the beaches as well. None of these beaches are swimmable, but the hiking and backroads to get to them are STUNNING because of the Redwoods. On top of that the beaches themselves are virtually untouched (at least in November). We had most of the beaches to ourselves and each one was so magically different making this Redwoods trip seem so long because we were able to see so much along the way!

Bonus Information:

We found a bypass in a pull off from highway 101 that was completely blocked off with no explanation. It could have been time of year, the weekend, or COVID, but we aren’t sure and couldn’t find any information on it so keep that in mind on your trip!

To see more images from the Redwoods National & State Parks, click here.