Anyone been to The Redwood National Park in California?

Mfc79

Well-known member
Looking for advice from anyone who has been? Is it child friendly? Where is the best place to stay? And any other advice or tios would be most welcome.
 
Looking for advice from anyone who has been? Is it child friendly? Where is the best place to stay? And any other advice or tios would be most welcome.
Yes, I went about 10 years ago.

It was a badly planned long weekend. You need a lot of time (weeks) to really do it properly. The roads north from San Francisco are picturesque but slow, and it's 300 miles from SF to Eureka. If you like hiking through forests and discovering deserted beaches it's great. There aren't many facilities though, or at least there weren't. May be better now. Anyway we didn't allow enough time, so spent too long in the car and not long enough outside of it.

There are plenty of printed guides available. If you like being in the great outdoors it's ideal.
 
Yes, I went about 10 years ago.

It was a badly planned long weekend. You need a lot of time (weeks) to really do it properly. The roads north from San Francisco are picturesque but slow, and it's 300 miles from SF to Eureka. If you like hiking through forests and discovering deserted beaches it's great. There aren't many facilities though, or at least there weren't. May be better now. Anyway we didn't allow enough time, so spent too long in the car and not long enough outside of it.

There are plenty of printed guides available. If you like being in the great outdoors it's ideal.
Thanks for taking the time to respond mate.
 
A mate of mine has been and his take was "loads of driving and you need to take everything you will want with you because there's nigh on nothing there for huge stretches. Remember the saying, does a bear sh*t in the woods? Well you will be, so take bog roll."

Not much I know, but there you go
 
Looking for advice from anyone who has been? Is it child friendly? Where is the best place to stay? And any other advice or tios would be most welcome.
Go to (stay at) Curry Village, Half Dome, Yosemite National Park.. book in for the star gazing tour.
 
Is it child friendly? Where is the best place to stay?
I re-read your post again. Child friendly? Hmm, depends on the age of your kids. I doubt any under 10s would find much to amuse them. 10+ would be ok if they are into hiking, nature, camping, beaches etc. Some of the walking trails are pretty long for kids - 10 miles or so.

Klamath and Crescent City are to the north end of the park, and Eureka to the south. I don't think there are any hotels or motels anywhere outside of the few small towns. There are campsites if you like camping, but they are pretty basic. (or they were, may be better now).

Finally, I wouldn't think about it other than Jun, Jul and Aug - it's very wet up there for 9 months of the year. My trip was the Labor Day weekend, and it rained hard for 3 of the 4 days.
 
Yes. We hired an RV and went to Redwood, Yosemite, Big Sur and Joshua Tree before bezzing into Nevada and Utah...and took in Zion and the Grand Canyon (and Vegas en route), before returning to Joshua Tree - because its so good there! - we found campsite facilities to be great, and boon docked here and there too. Lots of driving and took us 3 weeks but definitely, definitely worth it.
 
Looking for advice from anyone who has been? Is it child friendly? Where is the best place to stay? And any other advice or tios would be most welcome.
Sorry, I cannot help. If it's anything like the one in NZ it will be amazing.
 
it is really not too bad to get there from the Bay Area where I am now. Roads into it bendy and slow. 101 is freeway most of the way with the two scenic drives running at the side of it. The Avenue of the Giants is actually in Humbolt Forest and the Redwoods park a bit further North. As stated not much to do once you have seen the trees (And the Elk which took us 3 times passing to see) if you are not into hiking / deserted beaches. We had one to ourselves even on 4 July at the appropriately named Lost Coast and the dog loved it but it was bloody freezing (62 and a cold breeze when it was near 100 inland). Also the Eel and Smith Rivers will be low even by June this year and likely blue green algae by July.
Places to stop can be dicey. We have stopped at Arcata OK and Garberville not so good. Lots of druggies and homeless people everywhere. Eureka has gone badly downhill apparently. We like to go to Oregon, Washington and finding a decent place to stop so we dont have a long drive home on the last day is a bit of a problem. We have the dog which restricts our choice but even without not a great selection.
 
it is really not too bad to get there from the Bay Area where I am now. Roads into it bendy and slow. 101 is freeway most of the way with the two scenic drives running at the side of it. The Avenue of the Giants is actually in Humbolt Forest and the Redwoods park a bit further North. As stated not much to do once you have seen the trees (And the Elk which took us 3 times passing to see) if you are not into hiking / deserted beaches. We had one to ourselves even on 4 July at the appropriately named Lost Coast and the dog loved it but it was bloody freezing (62 and a cold breeze when it was near 100 inland). Also the Eel and Smith Rivers will be low even by June this year and likely blue green algae by July.
Places to stop can be dicey. We have stopped at Arcata OK and Garberville not so good. Lots of druggies and homeless people everywhere. Eureka has gone badly downhill apparently. We like to go to Oregon, Washington and finding a decent place to stop so we dont have a long drive home on the last day is a bit of a problem. We have the dog which restricts our choice but even without not a great selection.
Thank you for taking thd time and effort to respond mate. Very helpful
 
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