This post focuses on our 10 Day California Road Trip once we left San Francisco and continued north along Route 1 to Route 101 up until Eureka. The first day was Mount Tamalpais and Eureka. The second day we spent exploring the Redwood National State Park and the dramatic landscapes of Trinidad. Keep reading below for more details.
Day 2 (22nd July): Drove up the west coast on Route 1 stopping at or through Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Stinson Beach, Bodega Bay and the Avenue of the Giants (Humboldt Redwoods). Night in Eureka, CA;
Day 3 (23rd July): Explored the Redwoods. Hiked Lady Bird Johnson Trail and Fern Canyon Loop trail. Camped at Patrick’s Point State Park (total $42.99- Abalone site).
So we got up early from our AirBnB in San Fran and headed to Fisherman’s Wharf for breakfast. I feel like this was a very touristy area with a lot of chain restaurants. We decided on Darren’s Cafe for breakfast. It was good but expensive for a diner, in my opinion, and we would probably have been better off grabbing a coffee and pastry or biscuit to go and saving time and money. From here we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge along Highway/Route 1 to Mt. Tamalpais State Park. This was a beautiful, scenic drive with no clear state park signage. I wasn’t sure if we had passed or missed our marked spots. We did stop for some cherries and apricots on our way up the mountain and a hiking trail along the road.
We intended to stop at Muir Woods (we drove past it) and Point Reyes National Seashore but we just did not have enough time. If I had to do it again, I would have added another night on the west coast between San Fran and Eureka. I would skip Stinson Beach and camp near Mendocino. We currently live near the ocean so we decided to omit the estuary habitat and go for gorgeous trees and mountains.
Once we left Mt. Tamalpais we ended up in the town of Stinson Beach. I think we were looking for a quick lunch cafe, but as we saw mostly restaurants, we ended up going for ice cream at the Parkside Snackbar. Now I am going to complain a little bit again about the restroom situation here. There is an adjoining restaurant and even though we were patrons at the ice cream parlor, they would not allow us to use the restroom inside the restroom. A father at the near by park just walked into the restaurant with his child and used their restroom, but when I politely inquired with the host beforehand, he said no. So I wasn’t happy and wish I hadn’t purchased the ice cream, which was window service. Though everyone else with their big, messy ice cream cones were content. Oh well. In the town of Stinson Beach there is nice shop called Livewater Surf Shop with swimsuits and gear if for some reason you need a little boutique browsing escape from your family (no judgement) or forgot your swim gears. They also provide board rentals and surf lessons.
Next stop was Bodega Bay. At Bodega Bay we found public parking right on the beach with a large parking lot, restrooms, and outside showers to rinse off sandy feet. This is wide open beach with plenty of room, warm sand and choppy Pacific water. Great place to stop for a swim for seasoned swimmers and surfers. From Mount Tamalpais to Eureka, CA it is about a 4.5 hour journey not including any stops.
By the time we got closer to Eureka it was getting dark as we drove through Humboldt Redwoods State Park and we did not stop. The ONE BIG REGRET of this trip because I absolutely loved the large, giant redwoods we did encounter on this 10 day trip and couldn’t get enough of them. I could dedicate a whole trip to just the Redwoods in California (Cathedral Grove in Muir Woods, Avenue of the Giants, etc.). That night we stayed at an AirBnB in Eureka. My impressions of Eureka is that its a small, logging town with lumberjacks drinking coffee and retirees bird watching. Haha. It’s quaint and a great launching spot for the next day.
Day 3- My Redwood Dreams Come True.
The next morning we had breakfast at Old Town Coffee & Chocolates on F Street. So glad we were able to find a local coffee shop with yummy baked goods. Did I mention I live for pastries? But this was not my favorite spot on the leg of this trip. What we found afterwards was… the Lady Bird Johnson Trail. This is a very easy and perfect hike for the kids and grandparents. It was flat and had wide open paths to accommodate lots of people, though we didn’t see that many people outside of the parking lot. The restrooms in the parking lot are also holes in the ground BTW with no sink/hand washing available.
Plenty of opportunities for the kids to climb trees, make pretend tree forts and hide in old tree trunks here!
I was doing some serious tree hugging on this trail. Such a beautiful place. It really shows you the importance of protecting our national forests and parks!
After we left Lady Bird Johnson National Trail, we headed to the Fern Canyon Loop Trail located inside Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. This trail is known for being used in Jurassic Park.
Both trails are a part of the Redwoods National and State parks. You can find more details about these trails and others at the National Park Service webpage, as well as temporary closures.
To access the Fern Canyon loop trail we drove down a dirt road, past the beach and into a sandy parking lot. I say this because 1.) you can take a detour to the beach and 2.) your vehicle WILL get dirty and you WILL track sandy dirt into the car. The car parking lot was busy and packed. This trail was more populated than Lady Bird but we had enough space to physically distance ourselves from others.
My son said he preferred this trail but he is a water baby so whenever there is a creek he is happy. He was able to dip his head in the water dripping off the cliff-side ferns. Because of the cold water and shade, this is also a cool trail. As we were coming from Florida in July, you can see we had jackets wrapped around our waists for cool morning temps and coastal winds.
This is also a great trails for teaching children about different types of ferns. Plant lovers will revel in the unique and ancient species of ferns found here. This easy hike is a .7 mile flat loop, with opportunity to join longer trails if you want more. Would definitely come back here again and again.
After we were done with the Redwoods for the day we headed back down south to Trinidad. What a cute town!
We headed down to a restaurant on a pier called Seascape Restaurant and really lucked out with a great dinner and evening. I had clam chowder and it hit the spot from being on a chilled, windy beach.
Turns out this restaurant is owned and managed by a local tribe – Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community. We also went to Murphy’s Market and Deli in Trinidad to stock up on groceries and firewood for our night camping. They have pre-made meals as well and a decent selection of beverages.
Next to the Pier is the Trinidad State Beach and Lighthouse. What an amazing beach! We had a beautiful evening. Some were kite flying. Others walking. Lots of critters to explore on this beach as well.
I would say this was one of our favorite moments of the trip. An after dinner stroll, drawing our names in the sand, chasing each other with seaweed, and walking off dinner. And aren’t moments like these what its all about?
Afterwards we headed to our campsite at Patrick’s Point State Park. As this was our first campsite, we were really impressed with how nice it looked and its location. But if you read my first post about this trip you might remember my comment about the bathrooms in California campsites. Basically, you need to have quarters to take a shower at THIS campsite. And by the time we headed into the bathroom at night for a shower, the campground attendant (who I guess makes change for people) had closed down for the night. And again because people either didn’t know like we did or didn’t want to spend the money, the sinks were clogged with dirt and paper towels from where people were trying to take sponge baths in them. There was a pump outside near our campsite and even though it was freezing water, I opted to wash my face, brush my teeth and rinse my feet and hands off here. Funny thing, in the middle of the night I went to use the bathroom and came across a SKUNK! Thankfully I spotted him before I got too close and he/she did not spray me. 🙂
The real appreciation of this campsite did not come into the morning when my son and I woke up and decided to take a little stroll. A little path near our tent led to the most beautiful, dramatic lookout and kindred wild flowers. Top spot alert.
The area right outside of the campsite was also very pretty and lends itself to lots of picture stops. It’s very hard not to keeping stopping which is why the more time you can spend in CA, the better, or you’ll have to come back like I hope too.
From Patrick’s Point we headed to our next stopping point, Lassen Volcanic National Park. The drive was between 4-5 hours and since we had been going non-stop, this was a great opportunity for passengers to catch some ZZZzzz. Please check out my post on Lassen Volcanic Park coming soon!
Thank you for reading and feel free to comment below with any questions or suggestions for our next trip. Happy traveling!
TigerlillyMama 