I am starting my road trip section with my most recent trip to the drive thru tree in the Humbolt Redwoods State Park in California. I will expand the intro page at some point but my goal is to just get content out. Improvement can only happen if something already exists.
The iconic image of a car driving through a redwood tree is a throwback to a bygone era. In the 1950s to the 1970s hopping in the car and exploring America was at its peak. The boomers were just kids back then. The post-war feel-good society that was America was in full swing. Soldiers returning from the war, and exposure to different backgrounds and cultures, led to an interest in exploring the world outside of their familiar towns. The mass production of automobiles and the creation of the interstate system made far-off states more accessible.
While I don’t advocate for the destruction of giant redwoods, of which there are so few remaining, I can appreciate the existing tourist attractions and the motivation behind their creation. Imagine seeing one of these giant trees towering over you for the first time. In an era before the Internet and television, all we had were drawings and a few photos that didn’t do these giants justice. Driving through the Avenue of Giants and finally arriving at the Chandelier Tree is truly awe-inspiring.
Avenue of the Giants
The journey starts at the North entrance to the scenic roadway between the towns of Elinor and Stafford in California. The road basically follows CA highways 254 and parallels US 101 through the state park. There are signs along the way so you don’t get lost.
I was lucky as there was very little traffic in front of me on this trip. I had been on this road a couple of times before but the views always leave me in awe. It’s a narrow road but well-paved and made for a nice gentle cruise.
Chandelier Tree
After about 40 minutes on the windy road, you will merge back onto US 101. From there you will start to see signs for the Drive Thru Tree. It’s a little bit of a windy back road off the main road. There is a ranger station where you have to pay $10 to enter the park. I am pretty sure this is not part of the wider state park but rather a privately owned operation.
You get to take the road through the tree and there is a parking lot with a gift shop, some trails, and some carvings along the way. The carvings were really pretty cool. There were bears and what looked like eagles.
The tree itself is cool but the journey is quick if someone impatient is behind you (got beeped at…). There isn’t anyone at the tree itself to take pictures so you can either come with someone or hop out of your car and take it yourself. This proved a bit challenging as you can’t open your car door while in the tree and the narrow path just after it. I got a picture with the nose of my car poking out.
After driving through the tree you can explore the rest of the park. I bought a magnet in the gift shop and decided to take a few pictures. This visit was during COVID times so I wanted to minimize the amount of interaction I had with other people. I overheard a couple travelers talking about glass beach so I looked it up. I thought it would be a nice place to continue my journey down the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH).
Fort Bragg/Glass Beach
After leaving the Chandelier Tree I headed towards Glass Beach. Apparently, the beach contains a bunch of broken up and smoothed out pieces of glass among the pebbles on the beach. The site used to be a trash dump so a lot of glass bottles broke up and made the beach what it is today. The pictures of the beach looked awesome.
When I got to the beach I was a little disappointed. The areas of glass were small and I barely saw them. There was a good amount of people too. I did see some cute squirrels that didn’t seem bothered by all the tourists. They were the highlight of my visit.
After visiting the beach I hopped in my car to continue my journey south. It was a nice beach on the water. Hopefully next time I get to see more of the glass. It looked magical in the pictures online. I wonder if anyone else had the same experience.
Stay tuned for more road trip stories. Have you been to a drive thru tree? Feel free to comment below or ask any questions!