Humboldt Redwoods State Park
At the top of my California honeymoon list, aside from Napa, was a stop to see the redwoods. I'd seen them in photos and heard about them from friends, so it was high time to cross them off my bucket list. When in Rome California, right?
Redwood National Park was a bit out of the way for us since we were on a mission to keep to our itinerary and see as much of California as possible in two weeks. However, Humboldt Redwoods State Park was within a reasonable driving distance from our big California loop. The redwoods are simply stunning in person and it is nearly impossible to get a representative photo of them.
Even though we visited in July, a high tourist month, we often found ourselves alone on the sunlight-dappled trails. The awesomeness of the trees and the calm of the forest make it easy to pause and reflect on the breathtaking beauty nature. It is amazing to be able to become aware of and visit different landscapes, especially within my own country. There are many trees in Virginia, but none so majestic as these.
We came across an informative plaque that provided some quantitative information about the tallest tree in this part of the forest. Note that these measurements are from 1957, so this tree was much taller than 360 feet when we visited in July 2016. We spent a few jolly minutes trying to "guess-timate" just how tall and wide the tree is now. I think our conservative guess was that this tree had to be at least over 400 feet tall currently, given they can grow a couple of feet per year.
Hiking through Humboldt Redwoods State Park also made me feel like I was touring through Endor in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. (Yes, I'm a big Star Wars fan!) Fun fact, for those who are unaware, the speeder chase scene in Return of the Jedi was filmed in a redwoods forest.
California is a mighty large state and it can be difficult to see everything in one trip. However, at some point in your travels, I do recommend visiting one of the state parks, or the national park, to see some redwoods. I promise you will stand in awe before them.
The estimate on Tall Tree is off. My friend measured it last. It's close to 366.5' tall. It's also called the Rockefeller Tree. You picked a very good park for not having time to drive up to the other parks where the largest ones grow. Here's a page that might be interesting. You can navigate from that to the main redwood page for more. Cheeers, MDV
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