Avenue of the Giants
Avenue of the Giants (CA-254)
Weott, CA
A slow 31-mile road that threads the largest expanse of ancient coast redwoods left on earth, where the trees close over the pavement like a green cathedral.
The Avenue of the Giants is a 31-mile stretch of old highway that winds through Humboldt Redwoods State Park along the Eel River, and it may be the finest redwood drive in the world. For mile after mile the ancient trees crowd right up to the pavement and arch overhead, so that driving it feels like moving slowly down the nave of a green cathedral.
The park it runs through protects the largest expanse of ancient coast redwoods left anywhere on earth, tens of thousands of acres of forest with about a third of it never logged. That any of it survives is the result of a deliberate, decades-long fight that began with three men on a road trip who could not bear what they were seeing.
What Guests Love
- Driving slowly beneath the largest expanse of ancient coast redwoods on the planet
- Short loop trails and groves where you can walk among 300-foot, thousand-year-old trees
- The hush and cool of the old-growth forest, even on a hot day
- The story of the road trip that saved these groves a century ago
Worth Knowing
- This is a scenic detour off US-101, so slow down and give yourself far more time than the mileage suggests
- The forest is wet and shaded; expect cool temperatures and bring a layer even in summer
- Get out of the car and walk a grove or two; the scale only really lands on foot
- Stay on trails to protect the shallow redwood roots and the fragile forest floor
Details
Weott, CA
Learn about Avenue of the Giants
The road trip that saved a forest
In 1917, three travelers drove through this country and watched loggers felling redwoods that had been standing for thousands of years. Horrified, they helped launch the Save the Redwoods League, which argued that cutting an ancient forest was like smashing a grandfather clock, destroying in an afternoon something that could never be rebuilt.
From the acquisition of a single grove in 1921, which became Humboldt Redwoods State Park, the League and its donors spent decades buying up land grove by grove. The Avenue itself was originally part of US Route 101; when a bypass freeway was completed in 1960, the old road was preserved as the Avenue of the Giants, a slow alternative built for wonder rather than speed.
The largest ancient redwood forest on earth
Humboldt Redwoods spans around 53,000 acres, and roughly a third of it is old-growth, making it the largest expanse of ancient coast redwoods left on the planet. Coast redwoods are the tallest living things on earth, and the biggest here soar past 300 feet, with the oldest measured in the many hundreds to well over a thousand years.
The park protects entire watersheds of this forest rather than a single showpiece grove, which is what gives the Avenue its unbroken quality. Rockefeller Forest, off the Avenue, is often called the largest contiguous old-growth redwood grove in the world, a place where the trees stand shoulder to shoulder in every direction.
How the forest works
Coast redwoods thrive in this narrow band of Northern California because of a very particular climate: mild temperatures, heavy winter rain, and summer fog that rolls in off the Pacific and drips moisture down through the canopy. That fog is a big part of why the trees can grow so tall, supplementing the rain through the dry months.
Beneath the giants lives a whole cool, green world, sword ferns and redwood sorrel on the floor, banana slugs on the damp logs, and salmon and steelhead in the Eel River that winds through the park. Roosevelt elk, black bears, and a chorus of birds move through the understory, most of it easy to miss until you slow down and walk.
Driving and walking the Avenue
The Avenue is meant to be taken slowly. Turnouts, short interpretive loops, and named groves line the route, and several classic roadside stops, from a drive-through tree to a visitor center near Weott, break up the drive. The real reward, though, comes from parking and stepping into a grove, where the temperature drops, the light goes soft and green, and the true scale of the trees finally registers.
Because the forest holds moisture, it stays cool and often damp even when the surrounding valleys are hot, so a layer is welcome in any season. Sticking to established trails protects the redwoods' surprisingly shallow root systems and the delicate life of the forest floor.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Weott
Rockefeller Forest
About 5 miles west of the Avenue
Often called the largest contiguous old-growth redwood grove on earth, with flat, easy trails deep among the giants.
Founders Grove
Along the Avenue near Weott
A short loop honoring the founders of Save the Redwoods League, home to towering trees and the massive fallen Dyerville Giant.
Ferndale
About 30 miles northwest
A beautifully preserved Victorian village near the coast, a photogenic detour of gingerbread storefronts and dairy-country charm.