Humboldt & Mendocino: an Exquisite Coastline with a Tree Fetish

This last weekend the family and I took a drive up the coast to Humboldt County and explored some of the amazing coastline and yes, a ton of redwoods. This area loves its redwoods, naming many of them (more on that later), carving them (mostly into bears it would seem), driving through them, oh and logging them and using them to hide their pot farms, to name a few uses. With such rugged and pristine wilderness it is no wonder the area attracts an interesting mix of nature-lovers, survivalists, libertarians, and what I'll politely call 'individualists.' 

The Lost Coast, as the coastline along Mendocino and Humboldt counties is called, begins where Hwy. 1 ends as it meets up with Hwy. 101 and heads inland. There are no major roads and little development. We unfortunately (fortunately?) stayed on the path well traveled following Hwy. 101. If you are 'lucky' enough to be there on a rainy weekend (and chances are you will be!), as we were, you will see lots of fog swirling in the valleys and around the numerous crossings of the Eel River. If you have the time, taking the Avenue of the Giants road is well worth another 20 minutes in the car. It parallels Hwy. 101 and gives you a much more spectacular view of the Redwoods. There are chances to connect back with 101 every 6 miles or so. 

So back to this tree naming thing. It is a trend I noticed everywhere we went. At the Trees of Mystery outside of Klamath (yes, I know this is in Del Norte County but its just over the border and I figured tiny Del Norte is probably used to being over-shadowed by its well-known neighbor) celebration of the Redwood was taken to new heights and tree naming was rampant. Complete with a sky tram to the top of the forest, tree carvings depicting Paul Bunyan's life, and yes, you guessed it, lots of tree naming, this is a tree-tour must-see.  Oh yeah, did I mention they have a 30-ft. tall statue of Paul and his trusty side-kick Babe?!?

Another draw was their 3D Sand Table which you can use to create all sorts of geography and is totally fun for kids and adults. Can you guess that I want one now?

Riding the Sky Trail was fun too and the view from the top was amazing (probably even better on one of those rare clear days!). The Sky Trail ticket is included in your ticket to the park which is $18 for adults and kids under 5 were free.

Then, of course, after the anthropomorphism comes the mutilation. Tree carvings first depicted the life of our good friend Paul and then spun out of control to include giant bugs, mountain dwarfs and then of course what we could only assume was big foot because what north woods park is complete without a sighting!? Naturally, we loved this place!

If you don't go into redwood overload at Trees of Mystery there are at least three drive through trees you can visit. Most people will live a full and happy life never driving through a tree. So, if you are one of those people, and would rather spend your $10 on say, going out to ice cream, then drive past and I won't judge you. If you do need this experience in your life, then know that there are two types of drive through trees - ones that have been carved out of the tree and ones where the opening is naturally occurring. Now, I'm not saying one is better than the other but we chose the Shrine Drive-Thru-Tree in Myers Flat. There we were also treated to a couple play houses that our children loved which were made out, you guessed it, redwood trees!

Confusion Hill outside Leggett features the "Worlds Tallest Free-Standing Redwood Chainsaw Carving." I'm including this because I know you were looking for this (who isn't?) and because it just begs the question, are there taller 'free-standing chainsaw carvings' made from other types of trees? You were wondering that too, right? Anyways, its all pretty cool until you realize that the "World Tallest Free-Standing Redwood Chainsaw Carving" is bears dressed as clowns. It was kind of a sad moment. 

Sadly, Confusion Hill looked to be a little run down and wasn't really worth the stop. My 2-year-old was also terrified of the Gravity House. Probably sliding uncontrollably across the entire floor had something to do with it. Who can say? If you are trying to choose where to spend your time when exploring the Northern California Redwoods, I recommend the Trees of Mystery over Confusion Hill.

And of course, don't miss the One-Log House near Piercy on 101. No, i'm kidding, please, please miss it!