A Visit to the Redwoods National Park with Kids

The Redwoods are absolutely worth a visit. Pessimist that I am, I often worry that I’m overselling things when I tell my kids that they’re going to be “super cool” or “amazing” or “incredibly tall” which were all words I used to describe the Redwoods to them while we drove 5 hours south from Portland.

As it turns out, I was not exaggerating.

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The Redwood Forest is a combination of several state and national parks that all blend and weave together. We visited a little of both but the distinction didn’t seem important to anyone.

We stopped at the Ranger Station at the Redwoods National Park. My kids love the Junior Ranger program. They were able to complete some pages, learn a little about the Redwoods, and get our National Park Passports stamped. before we left the visitor’s center.

Then we drove up to Prairie Creek State Park, got a scavenger hunt from that visitor center, and hit the trail.

The trees are incredible.

Big trees.

Bigger trees.

We were all in awe.

At one point the scavenger hunt told us to “gawk” at a pair of fallen trees. I described what the work gawk meant and my son said “oh that’s easy. That’s what I’ve been doing this whole time.”

It’s impossible not to gawk.

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On this hike we saw the “Big Tree” and via a brief detour we also saw the “Earthquake tree” that one of the rangers had told us about. It’s a big tree but knowing the story makes it much more fun.

Back in the car we also took a quick trip to see the “corkscrew tree” which isn’t as impressive after all the other impressive-ness but it was certainly fascinating.

After an above average Italian dinner at Mazzotti’s in Arcata we collapsed in a hotel for the night.

The next morning, despite pouring rain, we detoured through the Avenue of Giants. I had read this was a busy, touristy area but in March and in the rain we only saw two other cars.

Instead of cars what we saw were truly incredible trees.

Trees for miles that reached up to the sky with impossibly wide bases. Giants.

The Avenue of Giants runs parallel to the 101 so it’s not out of the way if you’re driving south and while you may be slowed down a little it is entirely worth it.

Even in the pouring rain I could not resist getting out and standing amongst these Redwoods.

Nothing I’ve ever seen has ever made me feel so small or so impressed by nature. The Redwoods do not disappoint.

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