Avenue of the Giants: Scenic Redwoods Drive

Avenue of the Giants is a scenic drive in Northern California that takes you through some of the most breathtaking old-growth redwood groves on the planet. If you love redwood trees or forests in general, you will definitely love this drive!

In the September 2024 long weekend holiday, I visited Avenue of Giants as part of a larger trip to visit the Redwoods National and State Parks. While Avenue of Giants is not exactly a part of the Redwood National Park, it is on the way to visit the Redwoods from the San Francisco Bay Area, so it was worth the detour.

It was humbling to be in the presence of these giant redwood trees, and there were some really nice trails in the redwood groves.

I felt the best way to enjoy the Avenue of Giants is to take your time, enjoy the drive, and stop when you find a place of solitude to be with these amazing trees, some of which are thousands of years old!

Let’s get into the details of the must-do stops on the drive and some that can be skipped.

Where is the Avenue of the Giants?

The Avenue of the Giants is a 31-mile scenic drive that runs through Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Northern California. Also called CA-254, it runs parallel to Highway 101 and stretches between the towns of Phillipsville in the south and Pepperwood in the north.

It is about a four-hour drive from San Francisco or Sacramento to reach the southern entrance of Avenue of Giants near Phillipsville.

Starting just south of Phillipsville, the Avenue of Giants Road meanders northward along the Eel River, offering easy access to redwood groves, trails, and picnic areas before ending near Pepperwood. This iconic drive offers some of the best views of towering coastal redwoods in the region.

How to get here?

You can do the Avenue of the Giants drive from either North to South or South to North depending on which direction you are coming from.

We drove from North to South as we had time on the return drive to the Bay Area on our Redwoods National Park road trip.

If coming from the south, i.e., from San Francisco or Sacramento, take Exit 645 on Highway 101 just south of Phillipsville for the Avenue of Giants southern entrance.

If coming from the north, i.e., from Crescent City, Trinidad, or Eureka, take exit 674 near Pepperwood to enter Avenue of Giants through the northern entrance.

Things to do and see on Avenue of the Giants Drive

If you are wondering what to see and do on the Avenue of Giants drive, I have got you covered! While everyone enjoys a scenic drive differently, there are some popular trails and groves here, like Founders Grove and Grieg-French-Bell Grove, that I think are must-visits.

There are some quick stops, like the Immortal Tree and the Chimney Tree, that are worth a stop. There are also some paid attractions, like the Shrine drive-thru tree, which I did not pay for as we had been to another drive-thru tree before.

But make time to stop whenever you find a peaceful spot among the redwoods. Those were some of our best moments on the drive.

The Grieg-French-Bell Grove

I felt this was the most beautiful redwood grove on the entire drive, mainly due to the dense and lush green ground cover of redwood sorrel and ferns.

The Grieg-French-Bell Grove is near the northern entrance, and the trail here is only a 0.5-mile loop. The ground cover at the base of the redwoods was really dense and had overtaken quite a bit of the trail, leaving very narrow walkways in places.

Even though the trail is a loop, we got lost multiple times as there were several side trails, and it was hard to find the main path with all the ground cover 🙂 We followed the direction of the Highway to find the parking lot again.

The beauty and uniqueness of this grove will be etched in my mind forever.

Immortal Tree

Standing tall for around 1000 years, the Immortal Tree has survived lightning strikes, forest fires, floods, and even an attempted lumberjack cut.

A small plaque at the base of the tree shares its story. Near the tree lies the top part of the tree that was removed by lightning.

This is right off the road, so it’s a quick and worthwhile stop. There is a large parking lot here, and next to it is a store filled with redwood items, which was a fun browse.

Mattole Road and Big Trees Day Use Area

If you have 45 minutes to an hour to spare, take Mattole Road off Hwy 101 to drive through a beautiful old-growth redwood forest.

Mattole Road is paved, although it is narrow and windy and meant for two-way traffic. The forests here are really beautiful, well-preserved, and worth the detour.

We drove around 4.5 miles one way on Mattole Road to reach the Big Trees Day use area. It took around 30 minutes total to drive both ways and 30 minutes to explore the Big Trees Loop trail.

There was a summer footbridge here to cross the creek for the Big Trees loop. The creek water was a beautiful emerald green color. At the time of our visit, the trail was undergoing construction and repairs, so we couldn’t explore much.

Founders Grove

If you only have time to make one stop on the Avenue of Giants drive, make that Founders Grove. This is the most popular grove here, and it definitely deserves this attention as it is really beautiful and well-preserved.

It is a beautiful half-mile loop trail through an ancient redwood forest with some of the largest and tallest trees I have ever seen. There are many benches along the trail to take in the surrounding forest.

The first thing we saw was the impressive 346-foot-tall Founders Tree.

There are many other unique trees here. The grove also has a large amount of fallen trees that are an important part of the forest’s ecosystem.

The Dyerville Giant lying here was 1600 years old when it fell in 1991, with a sound that was heard a mile away!

Overall, it is a very unique grove that I highly recommend stopping at. There is a large parking lot, picnic tables, and restrooms here.

Shrine Drive Thru Tree

The drive-thru tree is a paid attraction, and it was $15 per car when we visited. We didn’t drive-thru here, as we had previously been to the one in Leggett.

Honestly, I don’t find the idea of driving through a tree trunk very appealing. I would not consider this a must-do, but it sure is a novelty, and there was a line of cars here waiting for their turn.

Chimney Tree

This is a quick stop to see a very unique tree that is completely hollow from the inside. The center of the tree was burned out during a fire in 1914, but the tree continues to live more than 100 years after that. There is a cute red door at the base of the tree trunk.

When you enter the trunk, it’s hollow. Make sure to look up to see that it’s hollow all the way to the top, with an opening like a chimney.

Even though it looks bare from the inside, the tree is still alive, and there is a lot of growth outside the trunk. Very unique! There is a parking lot here and the Chimeny Tree Grill restaurant right next to it.

How much time do you need for this drive?

If you can devote a whole day to the Avenue of the Giants Drive, that would be the best way to experience this drive and all the redwood groves here.

But like us, many others do this drive as part of their trip to the Redwood National Park. We spent around 3-4 hours on this drive with the stops listed above. I would recommend keeping a minimum of 3 hours for this 31-mile scenic drive.

Where to eat?

There are a few restaurants along the way on the drive itself. We ate at Avenue Cafe and the food was ok, we didn’t find it that great.

The Chimney Grill Restaurant is at the southern entrance next to the Chimney Tree.

If I had to do the drive again, I would pack a picnic and eat at one of the several picnic areas among the redwoods along the drive.

The Humboldt Redwoods State Park Visitor Center is right on the Avenue of Giants Drive and has a large wooded picnic area with restrooms.

Where to stay for Avenue of the Giants

We did this drive as part of our Redwood National Park trip and stayed at the Historic Requa Inn in Klamath.

We had a beautiful cottage overlooking the river with a full kitchen. It was a great central location to explore all the state parks in the area. The Avenue of the Giants Drive northern entrance was around an hour and 45 minutes from our cottage.

If you want to stay closer to the Avenue of Giants area, Benbow Historic Inn is a beautiful hotel 10 minutes from its southern entrance.

Trinidad is also a great place to stay, ideal for exploring the state parks to the north and south. From Trinidad, it will take around an hour’s drive to reach the northern entrance of Avenue of Giants.

View Crest Lodge in Trinidad has nice one- and two-bedroom cottages with full kitchens.

➡️ Check my detailed blog about where to stay when visiting Redwood National Park.

Final Takeaways: Avenue of the Giants scenic drive in California

The Avenue of the Giants is more than just a scenic drive, it’s a journey through time and nature. It was an amazing experience to stop and marvel at ancient trees and take a moment to walk in the forest among the giants. Make sure to take your time at the groves and soak in the grandeur of California’s old-growth redwoods.

More blogs about our Redwoods National Park trip:

• The ancient Founders Grove on Avenue of the Giants Drive
• Incredible Fern Canyon hike in Redwood National Park
• 17 Incredible Things to do in Redwood National and State Parks
• 3 days in Redwood National Park Itinerary covering all the parks!
• My visit to Trees of Mystery: A unique redwoods attraction!