Redwoods and Lost Coast

We%26#39;ll be in SF for a week this Aug and plan to explore the coast and Redwoods for a few days after. I%26#39;ve already booked a cabin at the Miranda Gardens Resort for 3 nights immediately after we leave the City.

I%26#39;ve never driven the 1 up out of SF, only the 101, so I%26#39;m looking forward to revelling in the beauties of the coast. We want to stop at Point Arena to climb the light house along the way. With that, and with stops along the way for ooohing and aahhing, and for nourishment of course, I%26#39;m anticipating about 8-9 hours before we reach Miranda. Is that about right?

Also, is it possible to drive the entire Lost Coast Loop, with a stop to hike a bit of the Lost Coast Trail to the Punta Gorda Lighthouse, and then be able to drive to Shelter Cove to hike a bit of the trail at Black Sands Beach all in one day? Or should I break that up into two day trips? (Someday, we%26#39;ll backpack that trail, but this is a ';city'; vacation, so bits and pieces must suffice. ) If so, I need to add another night to our cabin reservation, because we want at least one day hiking at Humboldt Redwoods.

Thanks for any help and info you can provide.

Redwoods and Lost Coast

I am pretty familiar with the North Coast and have never heard of the Miranda Gardens Resort. If you can tell me where it is located on the Coast I might be able to help you.

I would definitely take two days to do the Lost Coast/Shelter Cove/Black Sands Beach thing.because there is much to see, and the going is slow. Get a good map.

Redwoods and Lost Coast

Miranda Gardens is on the Avenue of the Giants in Miranda (I presume this is a very small town), right outside the southern boundary of Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It seemed like a good place to use as a base.

OK, I found Miranda...Miranda Gardens Resort is even listed in the AAA Guide, three diamonds. Sounds wonderful.

On your way up you might want to stop at Fort Ross Historical Park, where the Russian outpost was. (13 miles north of Jenner) A couple of miles past there is the Timber Cove Inn. Stop at least in the parking lot and look at the very tall sculpture looming out of rock. This is a statue by the late famed Beniamano Bufano. It is a statue of St Francis, dedicated to peace. Ironically, after it was finished it had to lie unceremoniously in a meadow across the road from the Inn for several years, because it needed to be raised by a helicopter and the ones large enough to do this were busy fighting the Vietnam War.

Straight driving it would not take yo 8 or 9 hours, but take your time and enjoy the ride.and the sights along the way. The drive from Jenner to Fort Ross is particularly spectacular.

Thanks for the info, Puter. I think I%26#39;ll add another night to our reservation.

We%26#39;re looking forward to enjoying all the spectacular scenery --- my husband just bought two more 1 gig cards for our cameras!

And I will have to search out a good map, as you said. It was very difficult to ascertain from online maps/sites and blogs just what are serviceable roads for a passenger car. I know the ';unimproved roads'; shown in park service maps are nothing more than cow paths/jeep trails accessible by Paris-to-Dakar 4 bys. Unfortunately, we don%26#39;t have one.

Fort Ross sounds interesting. And I%26#39;m intrigued by the St. Francis Statue. Any place else along the way you can think of that we should stop to see, please let me know. Thanks!

WOW your trip sounds a lot like mine. I%26#39;m driving from Tucson to the coast and up from LA to Eureka, with a Lost Coast Punta Gorda day hike planned (In July)

One thing I would strongly recomend is a Tide Chart, if you have ever read anything about the area is sleeper waves can ingulf you and wash you out to sea, so keep a close eye on the ocean. This is mainly becuase there are parts of the hike where there is NO beach, the waves cut off paths for hiking except when low tide hits or you plan a sprint on the outgoing tide. Just google Kings range and you will get the Arcata page that tells of closures and any new news.

Enjoy, I know I will.

Thanks, Tuscon-Traveler. Enjoy your trip as well!

About the Arcata site - are you referring to the BLM site? I%26#39;ve seen that (lots of good info), as well as state parks and GORP . If there%26#39;s another site you think I should take a look at, please post.

Since you%26#39;ll be traveling before us, I%26#39;d love it if you%26#39;d post a trip report. Or if it%26#39;s easier, find this thread again and post here about your adventures. Nice to hear it first hand from a recent traveler. That way, if you come across something unexpected and lovely, you can let us fellow travelers know.

And yes, thanks for the reminder about the tide chart. That%26#39;ll go along way to determining what day and time we%26#39;ll be doing our day trips.

www.blm.gov/ca/arcata/kingrange/index.html

this is the link I have referred to. it may be what you have seen.

I will let you know of my trip when I get back from my 3 week trip around Cali.

LA, Monterey, SF, Ft. Bragg, Lost Coast, Redding, Sacramento, Reno, Yosemite and back to Tucson. Whew, I may need a vacation after my vacation.

Thanks to all who posted you have saved me from backtracking closed Hwys and have provided me with much great info.

I%26#39;m off tomorrow, early AM

Peace out.

Hey all, Just returned from my Cali trip and except for the stifiling heat that gripped Cali. it was a great trip.

Day 1, drove from Tucson to Camarillo 8 hrs. Camarillo hotel, OK

Day 2-3 Camarillo to Morro Bay 4 hrs, Days Inn $100 Nice place, had the ';June gloom'; in July but had some clearing afternoon.

Day 4-5 Santa Cruz ';Americas best value Inn'; $75 not bad. Santa Cruz was so beautiful and was 70%26#39;s and sunny both days. Rode bike 12+ miles from board walk to Natural arches park.

Day 6-7 San Fran. Foggy by GG bridge but clear in bay, Rode 15+ miles from Fort Point to AT%26amp;T Park. Nice ride. Do NOT stay at the ';Sea Captain'; it smells and the managers are A$$ holes.

Day 8-9 Drove from SF to Ft Bragg, took maybe 6 hours with minimule (sp?) stops. Bodega Bay is very pretty and the part where 1 goes inland is gorgeous. Ft. Bragg is also beautiful as well as Mendocino. The waves crashing against the sea stacks make for some beautifil pixs. I can%26#39;t remember to name of the hotel in Ft. Bragg but it is just north of ';Pudding creek'; Actually i think it was the ';Hi-Seas'; hotel ocean front view for $100. Nice room also.

Day 10-11-12 Ft. Bragg to Fortuna. This was my base for the lost coast hike. I would strongly suggest you do the same as it is the closest ';Big'; town to the Lost Coast. The comfort Inn was very nice. $80 apx.

I drove to the lost coast from the north. Fernbridge, Ferndale, did a short trip from Ferndale to Centerville beach and the Lost Coast Headlands, lot of B and B%26#39;s on Centerville road, nice drive. then back to Ferndalen where I encountered a traffic jam of a Deer and her fawn. Then to Matolle road this is quite a long drive as it traverses mountain ranges and has many steep switchbacks and makes progress slow, took apx. 2 hours to reach Matolle campgrounds. There were maybe 15 cars there but had no problem with parking. I then put on my walking shoes, knee brace and my camelback, also found a good walking stick (this was invaluable for walking through the sand) I felt like Lawrence of Arabia trudging through miles of blinding sandstorms. (As you reach a point maybe 2 miles into the hike the wind is intense and it sand blasts you!) Reached Punta Gorda after an hour or 2 and had lunch and took many photos. The lighthouse has been very well restored, albeit abanded (Sorry sp again) you can even climb to the top but the fit is tight. All in All I%26#39;m glad I did this hike. The drive out of the lost Coast took about 2 hours also, but right before 101 is the redwoods national park it has the most trees in an area i have ever seen! I had to put on my headlights just to drive through! Very beautiful! ( Driving north do not miss the ';Avenue of Giants';)

The other days I was there I drove to Eureka and out the bridge to Samoa Dunes where there are old munition bunkers scattered all around, neat. Also did Arcata, nice place too.

Day 13 Redding to visit the Sundial bridge. Bridge very cool but the weather was very hot 112 degrees

Day 14-15 Sacramento, Also very hot but braved the heat to check out the American River, Folsum lake, dam and prison.

Day 16-17 was going to go to Reno but saw on the news Reno was 100+ and Lake Tahoe 80. Tahoe is was. Such a pretty city and the people at the Tahoe Tropicana were very nice also one of the few hotels with AC. I made the mistake of swimming in Lake Tahoe with my car alarm remote and when I went back to my truck I could not shup the alarm off for quite a while, Sorry Lake Tahoe people. The manager was able to help me out with the tools I needed, and I was off to Yosemite.

Days 18-19 and 20 Yosemite, I stayed at Yosemite West, not as close to the valley as i thought but 30 minutes isn%26#39;t that bad I guess. Just made the mistake of not bringing food so when I got there i had to drive to Wawona to get food. With the road construction all over Yosemite be prepared for delays.

Then I took 2 days to drive back to Tucson. Best part of the trip? Mendocino and the Lost Coast.

I wanna go back!

Thanks to all the people who contributed to my questions about the trip. All but 1 poster was very nice.

Peace

Welcome back! Sounds like you had a great trip and covered a lot of the sights. Thanks for the info on the Lost Coast - especially driving times. We leave for our adventure next weekend. Looking forward to escaping the heat. (-:

Tucson-traveler, thanks for the great post! We are looking to do the SF-Ft Bragg-Ferndale trip next Sept. I was wondering what kind of time frame to look at for the SF-Ft Bragg leg. I figured a good day. Also, glad to hear about the bnb%26#39;s outside of Ferndale. We will check them out.