Avenue of the Giants

Having finished our hike, we headed south for the Avenue of the Giants. Also known as the World-Famous Avenue of the Giants.

The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic-type drive which used to be Highway 101, but now lives on as State Route 254. We started at the north end of the drive, which seems to be the backward way to do the drive. I assume most people are driving north from San Francisco.

This is where we started.

I liked a few things about the Avenue of the Giants. First of all, though we were there in peak season (albeit on a weekday) it was not at all crowded. Secondly, it had a variety of short hikes or wanderings you could pull off the road to take part in. This could easily be a full day trip. Third, the trees are amazing and the road is narrow, so it’s a very fun drive. And last but not least there are kitschy tourist opportunities galore. I love me a roadside tourist attraction.

A big tree. How big, do you ask?

This big!

Here we are inside a tree.

And here’s Matt inside a tree.

This was a clever monument to two preservationists. The marker celebrating their efforts to preserve the redwoods was located far off the main road, so to see it, you had to walk through the redwoods they preserved.

More tall trees.

More of Matt in trees.

Hark! We found the sign. The sign says: Laura Perrott Mahan 1867–1937, James P. Mahan 1867–1937. Pioneers in the Save-the-Redwoods League. The California State Park Commission has dedicated to their memory this site where on Nov-19-1924 Mr. and Mrs. Mahan discovered that logging had begun and led the moment that resulted in the saving of this grove.

No matter how he stretches, Matt cannot reach the high water mark from 1964.

Some history of early preservationists.

Some information about the people who were there first.

Including a closeup of the photo. I love the grin on “child’s” face.

We drove through a tree! This is not us, because we were in our car. But unless your car is small, it’s wise to have a guide through the tree. We scraped the passenger side mirror. Not too badly. Before we left, we ran through the tree and that was even more fun.

That same site had some tree houses for children to play in.

Which gave us an opportunity to pose.

Also the children could step through a tree.

The view from inside.

The Avenue of Giants was a great way to see the redwoods and to get my fill of tourist trap stuff. Having now hiked and hit a major tourist marker, we moved on to our next activity: the Humbolt County Fair!