The Avenue of the Giants is a portion of what once was the only overland route between Eureka and San Francisco - built originally in 1880 as a stagecoach and wagon road. Today it is a pleasant byway that meanders through the giant redwoods of southern Humboldt County between Pepperwood and Garberville.
One thing that hasn’t changed since the 1880s is the sense of awe and grandeur a person feels while traveling along what is known officially as California State Route 241 but is better known as the Avenue of the Giants.
When Highway 101 was made a freeway providing a faster, straighter route to the south, a 32-mile segment of the former Highway 101 route was retained for those who still wanted to take the quieter, more tranquil trip through the big trees. The popularity of the route has resulted in
The eight-stop tour is just a sampling of what can be seen along the entire route, starting at Phillipsville, some seven miles north of Garberville, and terminating at Jordan Creek in Pepperwood, where
motorists continuing northward rejoin the freeway to Fortuna, Eureka, and beyond.
The Avenue of the Giants is like the Smithsonian Institution in one respect in that a single visit is not nearly enough. There are 142 million objects in the Smithsonian’s 14 museums and National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and two museums in New York City. It has been noted that if a person were to spend just one minute looking at each object, it would take 2.4 million hours, or 98,611 days, or 270 years to see everything!
There is so much to see along the Avenue of the Giants that the tendency might be to hurry along in order to try to take it all in. A better plan, if your schedule permits, would be to divide the trip on the Avenue into at least two visits, devoting as
much of the day as possible to exploring the groves, parks, visitor centers, attractions, and gift shops for souvenirs of the memorable occasion. To assist the visitor on a limited schedule, we have prepared an almost mile-by-mile review of the highlights of what the Avenue has to offer. More detailed information can be gleaned from the Redwood Park’s auto tour guide and other books, pamphlets, and brochures available at park visitor centers.
So, fasten your seat belts and let’s begin our trip up the Avenue. Franklin K. Lane redwood grove is the first stop on the auto tour. It is important to know that many of the groves of ancient redwood giants you will be passing through have never been timber harvested.
The next place along the route is the town of Miranda, which is the home of Southern Humboldt’s only high school, South Fork High, which borders the southern end of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, at 52,000 acres the largest redwoods park in California. You will pass Pioneer Grove and Lansdale Grove, and a short distance before Myers Flat, Hidden Springs Campground, one of three in the park.
Myers Flat is home of the historic Myers Inn, which survived the 1964 flood that wiped out much of the rest of the town. Also at Myers Flat is the Shrine Drive-Through Tree and associated attractions.
Continuing northward, you will find Bolling Grove, and then in succession, Children’s Forest, Williams Grove, and Garden Club Grove included in the second stop on the auto tour map. Bolling Grove once abounded with grizzly bears - now extinct in California. A few black bears still inhabit the park.
Each grove has space for limited roadside parking to allow walk-in visits, and motorists are encouraged to park as far off the Avenue as possible. Unique features of each grove make taking a few minutes to walk through well worth the time.
Next comes Burlington Campground, third stop on the auto tour. This is where Humboldt Redwoods State Park headquarters and Visitor’s Center are located. This is a must-see location where ample time should be allowed for browsing the exhibits, historical and cultural video programs, and realistic displays of fish and animals in their forest environment.
Here the volunteers from the Humboldt Redwoods Interpretive Association will add to the enjoyment of your trip by providing informational materials and offering directions to local roads, trails, accommodations, and attractions.
Association members invite all visitors to have a free cup of coffee and visit their native plant garden or have a picnic lunch on the deck. Among the exhibits on the Visitor’s Center grounds is a section of a redwood tree that fell in 1987 at Jordan Creek near the northern terminus of the Avenue of the Giants. A ring count showed the tree to be 839 years at the time it fell, meaning that it started growing in the year 1148. Metal markers have been placed on the face of the cross-section to indicate the size of the tree - which was nine feet in diameter and 300 feet tall when it fell - at various stages in history, including 1215 when the Magna Charta was signed, 1492 when Columbus discovered America, 1579 when Sir Francis Drake landed in California, 1620 when the Pilgrims landed at Declaration of Independence was signed, and 1849 when Humboldt Bay was discovered by land.
Visitors are invited to take a walk on the trail along the South Fork of the Eel River to see the wildlife that visits the river by viewing the tracks left in the silt.
Two miles up the road is the community of Weott, where access to the river offers opportunity to float in a kayak or canoe on the river, or have a picnic on the sandy beach, go for a swim, or do some bird watching. This is the fourth stop on the auto tour schedule. Two miles farther north, the Avenue crosses to the east side of the freeway. At this junction, there are two side roads. Bull Creek/Mattole Road goes west, ultimately to the community of Honeydew after passing a loop trail where Giant Tree, Tall Tree, and Flat Iron Tree are located. Women’s Grove is also in this sector. This road also takes you past Albee Creek Campground and into Bull Creek Basin and the Rockefeller Forest, considered by many to be one of the world’s finest forests. A short walk into the forest at the junction of the Avenue of the Giants with the eastern offshoot road brings you to the Mahan Plaque, fifth auto tour stop, where a marker honors a husband and wife who were instrumental in preserving this section of the forest.
The eastern byway, known as Dyerville Loop Road, goes to Founders Grove, an area worth at least the half hour required to take a self-guided walking tour around Founders Tree and the many examples of forest ecology present there. The Dyerville Giant, at one time the tallest tree in the world, fell during a storm in 1991. Its height before it fell was estimated to be 362 feet. It was measured at 370 feet after it fell. It is 17 feet in diameter, 52 feet in circumference and is estimated to weigh more than a million tons. The trail walk is about a half mile in distance. An illustrated interpretive handbook for the trail is available at the site for a 50-cent donation. A half mile further north is Dyerville Overlook, which is the sixth stop on the auto tour. From here you can see the confluence of the South Fork and the main branch of the Eel River and the site of the former thriving town of Dyerville, another victim of the 1964 flood. There are interpretive information tables around the overlook, as well as picnic tables.
This area has had many famous visitors, including President Herbert Hoover, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and financier and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, who was so taken with the redwoods in the Bull Creek Basin that he donated the money to buy the area for preservation. The area is now the 10,240-acre forest that bears his name.
From the overlook, a short 2.2-mile trip takes you to Chandler Grove, the seventh stop on the auto tour. The only real way to experience this grove is to take a walk in the forest and observe on and in the trees and on the ground the many forms of both animal and plant life that are supported by this old-growth forest. A short distance north from Chandler Grove is the community of Redcrest where two places of special interest are worthy of attention. Traveling north, the first spot is the Eternal Tree House at Redcrest Resort. Admission is free to visit this 20- foot room in a living giant redwood estimated to be 2,500 years old - which would have made it approximately 500 years old when Jesus Christ was born.
Next in line a stone’s throw up the Avenue is Immortal Tree, a 950- year old redwood that earned its name by surviving lightning, winds, storms, fires, floods, and the logger’s ax. Marks on the trunk of the tree clearly show scars from at least one attempt to cut it down, and much higher up is a marker in the shape of a fish to indicate the high-water mark in the 1964 flood that washed away much of the Redcrest community. There are free picnic tables at this site.
At the top of the Avenue, passing the Allen Trail and Arbor Grove, is Pepperwood, where the Avenue of the Giants Visitor Information Center is located. Pepperwood also is the eighth and final stop on the auto tour, visiting Drury/Chaney Grove. In this area, early settlers, recognizing the richness of the soil as a result of the alluvial silt brought in by the Eel River, cleared trees in the flatlands and planted fruit trees, corn, tomatoes, and other crops. Large, sweet berries were found on bushes growing in the area, which is still known for the quality of its vegetables.
From Pepperwood, the traveler has a choice to make: head over to the freeway and continue north to Fortuna, Eureka, and beyond; take the south onramp and return to Garberville; or turn around and retrace your route on the Avenue of the Giants, picking up places you missed on the way up. Whatever you decide, you’ll never be quite the same for the experience of a few hours already spent on the Avenue.
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