California's Redwood Coast is the quieter great drive: ancient forests and a wild northern shore. This 8-day itinerary runs from San Francisco to Crescent City via Mendocino, the Avenue of the Giants, and Redwood National Park.
California's Redwood Coast is the state's quieter great drive. Where Highway 1 to the south fills with traffic, the road north from San Francisco trades crowds for ancient forests, a wild shoreline, and some of the tallest living things on Earth. This Redwood Coast road trip itinerary covers the full northbound route over eight days, from the Golden Gate to Crescent City near the Oregon border, with realistic driving legs and clear advice on where to linger.
The drive follows the historic Redwood Highway (US-101), completed in 1922, with scenic detours onto Highway 1 and the legendary Avenue of the Giants. From San Francisco it heads up the Mendocino coast, into Humboldt Redwoods State Park, through the Victorian seaport of Eureka, and on to the protected groves of Redwood National and State Parks before finishing at Crescent City. Total driving is around 350 miles spread over a week, so days are short and time in the forest is long.
This is a nature-led drive that rewards an unhurried pace. It suits couples, families, and solo travellers happy to swap big-city buzz for quiet groves, coastal walks, and wildlife. The driving is easy and needs no special vehicle, though two short park roads (Howland Hill and Davison) are unpaved and unsuitable for large RVs.
May to October is the sweet spot, dry and mild, with the rainy season running November to April and peaking from January to March. Summer brings coastal fog that can sit until midday, but it keeps the redwoods cool and green and rarely spoils a trip. Pack layers: mornings are chilly even in July.
Spend your first day on San Francisco's classics: the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, and a ride on a historic cable car. There is no need to drive in the city. Collect the rental car the morning you leave to avoid overnight parking fees, fill the tank, and cross the Golden Gate heading north.
Around 155 miles north, Mendocino is a clifftop village of New England style timber houses wrapped by the wild Pacific. Walk the headlands trails straight from town to blowholes and sea arches, explore Russian Gulch and Van Damme state parks, and detour up to Fort Bragg for the sea-glass shore at Glass Beach and the Skunk Train through redwood canyon. Take the coastal Highway 1 in daylight; it is slow and winding but glorious.
This is the drive everyone comes for. The Avenue of the Giants is a 31-mile scenic road through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, the largest old-growth redwood forest left on Earth. Pull over for the free walk-through groves at Founders Grove and the Rockefeller Forest, where 300-foot trees that predate the Roman Empire close in overhead. Base for the night in Weott or Myers Flat and pick up the auto-tour leaflet at the visitor center.
Eight days through the finest UNESCO towns of Bohemia and Moravia: Prague's Astronomical Clock, the bone church of Kutná Hora, Telč's Renaissance square, the fairy-tale castle bend of Český Krumlov and Pilsner Urquell in Plzeň.
Eureka is the largest town on the North Coast and a Victorian seaport built on the redwood timber boom. Wander Old Town's restored 19th-century storefronts, photograph the ornate 1886 Carson Mansion, and walk the redwood canopy bridges at Sequoia Park Zoo. It makes a handy base for the Victorian village of Ferndale and the sea-stack beaches around Trinidad to the north.
The protected heart of redwood country deserves two nights. Drive the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway through Prairie Creek, watch Roosevelt elk graze the meadows at Elk Prairie, and hike the short loop into Fern Canyon, where 30-foot walls drip with ferns. Off Bald Hills Road, the Lady Bird Johnson Grove offers an easy old-growth loop with ocean glimpses. Entry to the national park itself is free, though the state parks charge a day-use fee.
The route ends near the Oregon border at Crescent City. Just inland, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park protects Stout Grove, a cathedral-like flat of giants reached on the unpaved Howland Hill Road. In town, Battery Point Lighthouse sits on a tidal islet you can walk out to at low tide. From here you can loop back to San Francisco inland in a long day, or carry on into Oregon.
Fuel and supplies: Towns thin out north of Mendocino. Fill up in Fort Bragg and Eureka and carry snacks and water for the park days.
Permits: Fern Canyon requires a day-use permit in summer, so book ahead. The state parks (Prairie Creek, Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith) charge a day-use fee, while Redwood National Park is free.
Roads: Howland Hill Road and the Davison Road to Fern Canyon are narrow and unpaved, and not suitable for large RVs. The coastal Highway 1 leg is best driven in daylight.
Weather: Expect cool, foggy mornings even in summer. Layers and a waterproof are worth packing year-round.
Ready to see every stop, driving leg, and overnight on a map? Explore our full Redwood Coast route below.
From Cambridge's Gothic spires to Ely's cathedral rising above the flat Fens, this journey through Cambridgeshire takes in Bronze Age causeways, a Norman cathedral with a theatrical three-arched West Front, and Stamford, England's finest stone town.
The full route — stops, maps, and driving times — is on Routebook by Kington.
An eight-day northbound drive from San Francisco to Crescent City through the Mendocino coast, the Avenue of the Giants, Eureka, and Redwood National and State Parks, home to the tallest trees on Earth.
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