Ferndale is also the access to the Mattole Road, which takes one to Cape Mendocino, the western most point in California and beautiful views of the coast. The day cooperated with fantastic weather – although the road construction was another matter. All was OK, as we just had more time to enjoy the scenery;-)

Just south of Cape Mendocino there was access to the beach, waves, tide pools and more interesting, beautiful views – –

Time for the main attraction. The Avenue of the Giants and the Mattole Road take one around and through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, putting these magnificent giants on display. But, one must really visit the Park Headquarters and take a hike/walk through them to really feel their aura.

Humboldt Redwoods SP harbors the largest remaining old-growth redwood forest in the world, with 17,000 acres of breathtaking ancient coast redwood and Douglas-fir trees – some of the Redwoods thought to be as old as 2,000 years! (BTW – our granddaughters can now tell you what ‘old growth trees’ are – first generation, not second/replanted.) While this area was inhabited by the Sinkyone people thousands of years before European contact, it was the European settlers beginning in the 1850’s that began to cut large stands of redwood trees to clear the land for pastures and farms. Many people, however, believed that the huge, old redwood trees were inherently significant and should be held in perpetual trust. In 1918, the Save the Redwoods League was formed to accomplish what their name implies and subsequently more than 189,000 acres of California’s redwood forest lands have been preserved for people like us to enjoy;-) Thank goodness!!

The Park Headquarters is a wonderful place to begin to understand these trees, their lives and history as well as their many uses through the years. It is also a great resource for information on hiking and visiting the park.

A must hike/walk is the Founder’s Grove Nature Loop – especially good for the granddaughters! This is a self-guided nature hike featuring the Founder’s Tree (named in honor of the founders of the Save the Redwoods League) and the Dyerville Giant – at one time the tallest tree in the world – which fell in 1991;-(

Another good hike to explore these wonderful trees is the Rockefeller Loop. A few of us were still eager to explore, so we were off to this loop trail at the foot of the majestic 7,000 acre Rockefeller Forest. Here, again, trees soar to immense heights combined with a relatively open under story which combine to create a fairy-book forest. See if you don’t agree when you see some of the ‘faces’ we saw in the trees – –

What a packed three days! But, the Redwoods in the Redwood National & State Parks are calling. So – goodbye to Humboldt Redwoods State Park and thank you for all your beauty.

E & G with the Shoe Crew moving on.