what to do in avenue of the giants with kids
Visiting the Avenue of the Giants and Humboldt Redwoods State Park has been on our bucket list for a long time. Concluding year we booked a military camp at the park for Thanksgiving, but as the temps dove down to nearly freezing and the forecast showed zip by rain, we begrudgingly decided to cancel our trip. That's why a couple of weeks ago, when I was looking for a weekend getaway and came across this lovely cottage on the Artery of the Giants, I didn't hesitate to book information technology!
The Artery of the Giants is located in Humboldt Canton, almost four hours due north of San Francisco. The Artery runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, dwelling house to the largest expanse of aboriginal redwoods left on the planet with about 17,000 acres of it being old-growth redwood forest!
Visitors tin relish Humboldt Redwoods State Park by car or by human foot. Many people drive the full 32-mile-long Avenue of the Giants and brand quick stops forth the way. Others prefer to explore the park on human foot, wandering around the old-growth groves while admiring these incredible giants. Nosotros did both! We drove the unabridged Avenue of the Giants AND did a handful of hikes, which were some of the best nosotros've ever done just because of the scenery itself.
If you are hiking with kids, the redwood woods is one of the best places to hike with them. In that location are endless opportunities for climbing and for their imagination to accept over. We practice move a lot slower when we hike in the redwood because the kids really take it all in, so in full general we choose shorter hikes that even so take a while to complete.
If you are planning a trip to the Artery of the Giants and Humboldt Redwoods State Park, hither are some of the things nosotros did while nosotros were there. I'm including hikes as well as scenic stops on the style to and from San Francisco.
Founders' Grove
Founders' Grove is the park's most visited grove because of how expansive information technology is (the large redwoods extend as far as yous can see in every management!), and too because the archway is located close to the road. Despite being popular, we didn't see a single person on the trail while doing the loop. The park was probably this repose considering nosotros were there in November!
Highlights of this trail include: Founders' Tree, which you run into shortly after starting the hike, setting the tone for the hike. The fallen 362-foot Dyerville Giants, which we think we found. The trail is as well filled with fallen logs, and at points you walk betwixt the cut ends of huge fallen trees. It was actually amazing to walk in betwixt these log walls that were way taller than any of us!
Rockefeller Grove hike
This was our favorite hike! If you only have time to exercise one hike in the park, we strongly recommend you lot cull the Rockefeller Loop.
The parking surface area is very small, and you'll exist blown abroad as soon every bit you step out of your car into the forest. The forest here is spectacular! The copse are so tall, you can't see where they end. Because these trees are so large, they cast big shadows on the wood floor. Non much grows below the tree tops other than ferns. Whenever we saw a fallen tree, we could spot the open space on the sky that it used to occupy. Speaking of fallen trees, this trail also goes between the cut ends of a huge fallen tree!
When hiking this loop, proceed an eye out for a little detour to the river (this actually connects to a unlike trail too). Our kids loved skipping rocks on the river, and walking across the huge log that crossed the river.
Exploring the Rockefeller Grove was the biggest highlight of our time exploring Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It'south hard to explain what we felt walking next to these aboriginal giants. One of u.s.a. described it at "feeling at dwelling house," and I agree with it. The feeling of joy and appreciation at seeing these trees was transcendental.
Immortal Tree
The immortal tree is a fun place to check out but because of the quirky gene. This 248-foot tall and 1,000 years-old tree survived lightning (that removed 50 feet from its top), loggers and a forest burn in 1908, and a large flood in 1964. There is a marker on the tree for each issue. The kids thought information technology was fun to run across!
Right next to the tree nosotros constitute a hollow log the kids loved climbing through and playing in. The inside was so large, we could all fit inside, and to even have a dance party.
Shrine Drive Thru Tree and Tree Houses
The Shrine Drive Thru Tree is a slap-up terminate on the Avenue of the Giants! Information technology costs 10 dollar for a car to drive through the tree, which is super fun! There is also two ii-story tree houses and a children'south walk-through stump that our kids loved! This is definitely a fun end, especially if visiting with kids.
Chandelier Tree Park
It's and then funny that nosotros went from never having driven through a tree to driving through two in ane twenty-four hours!
While I had my doubts about whether the Shrine Tree was alive or not, you can definitely tell the Chandelier one is live and doing well. The tree gets its proper name from it'southward shape and its also a lot of fun to drive through information technology! It costs 10 dollars to get into the park, which was not crowded at all on a Lord's day afternoon.
There is more than to this park than just the drive-thru tree. The grounds are full of cute wood-carved statues of forest creatures and also a few of Big Human foot! Nosotros just drove through it slowly and looked at them, just I retrieve it'd be a lot of fun to walk around and interact with the carvings more than directly.
Confusion Hill
On our style up to the Avenue of the Giants we saw signs for Confusion Hill and were confused past the sign. Because nosotros were driving at night we didn't get to see what this place was. On our way back abode, we decided to check information technology out and took the exit ramp to it, which was only a couple of minutes off the highway.
Confusion Hill started operations in 1949, and in 2010 it became a California State Indicate of Historical Involvement. The Gravity House and the Mountain Railroad train (which was airtight and set to reopen Leap 2021) are the principal attractions. There was also a super cute (but a bit erstwhile) playground with a couple of slides, swings, and a pit total of rocks to build rock towers. There were lots of huge copse all over the playground.
The Gravity House is one of those places that plays with your perception of reality and the laws of nature. There are balls that roll up, chairs that are hard to stand up from, and other tricks like that. Overall it was a fun cease. We got a couple of books at the gift store, which had lots of fun trinkets.
While at Humboldt Redwoods State Park we would've loved to check out the Visitor Center, but information technology was closed due to Covid restrictions. We hope it will be open up next time we visit the expanse.
Finally, in difficult times like these, we believe it'south very important to do our best to support local businesses as they are really struggling. We are intentional nearly our spending and always choose locally-owned places over chains when it comes to buying nutrient or souvenirs. It would be a very dull globe if simply mega chain survive this crunch, so endeavour to do your part in supporting local businesses wherever y'all tin!
For more fun places to explore in California, click hither.
Source: https://backpacksrugrats.com/2020/11/18/avenue-of-the-giants-and-humboldt-redwoods/
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