San Diego,Yosemite, and Redwood

Jan 10, 2008, 5:59 PM

I'm not going to cover all your questions but...

Which redwoods were you looking to see exactly? The really, really tall ones? Or
the just plain massive ones (very very wide, tall and old)? I'm thinking you were
thinking the massive ones aka Giant Sequoias? But I've encountered people looking
for the others. Both are sometimes referred to as redwoods.

Really really tall ones are on the coast from about San Francisco north in
California (Muir Woods near San Francisco, and Redwoods National Park wayyyyy north
in California). You could drive from SD up the coast to Monterey (just because it's
my second favorite place in the world), over to Yosemite, and then to San
Francisco...fly out of there and see Redwoods.

The Giant Sequoias are in Yosemite as well as in Sequoia Kings Canyon National Park
which is...oh...2 or 3 hour drive from Yosemite, south. You could drive up the
coast for a bit and then start cutting east over to Yosemite, see the Giant
Sequoias inside the Park, and then to San Francisco or San Jose.

If you end your trip in Yosemite, I would imagine that the cheaper flights will be
out of San Jose, San Francisco, or Oakland airport. Those three airports are within
about an hour of each other, and 4 hours or so from Yosemite. Fresno and Sacramento
are other options but will be more expensive.

Weather in May in California will vary on your location, but should be fairly sunny
and nice with some fog at the coast. San Diego could down right warm (but not
humid). As for Yosemite, check out here

www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/spring.htm

The tallest redwoods are in the northwestern corner of California in Humbolt County
but there are also coast redwoods near Santa Cruz at Big Basin State Park or Henry
Cowell Redwoods State Park.

www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=540

www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=546

You could include a visit to one of those on your coast trip before you cut inland
to go to Yosemite.

If instead you go only as far as say Monterey you could enter Yosemite via the
south entrance and visit the MAriposa Grove opf Redwoods which are very large.

I wonder how much more spectacular a tree is when you can't see the top by 50 feet
or 100 feet. Go to the trees that are most convenient to your location, they will
all inspire you.

Our favorite trees park is Calaveras Big Trees State Park, a great setting, few
people, easy access and with Murphys just down the road, oodles of non-tree stuff
to do with the wineries, gold and historic stops. Most convenient to Yosemite also.

For little airports you can try Fresno, Merced and Modesto, some of these have
benefitted from subisidies for certain routes in the past and you may find pricing
to be fair for your route. Else, Sacramento or Oakland.

May is a fine time to visit, not yet too hot and certainly not cold. Waterfalls in
Yosemite are likely to be full blast.

Have a fantastic trip!

http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-redwoods-hike-a-13-mile-journey-you-wont-
forget-2014jun08-story.html

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park fits that description.

Located in the heart of northwest California's redwood empire, Prairie Creek is a

place that blends 300-foot trees, coastal canyons, sandy beach and roaming herds of
Roosevelt Elk in a destination 50 miles south of the Oregon and California border.

While there are plenty of things to do here � camping, mountain biking and bird
watching to name a few � I arrived last month with one specific goal in mind: to
hike the James Irvine-Miners Ridge Loop.

Known as the best overall hike in the redwoods, and among the best on the West
Coast, this 13-mile journey weaves through a trio of northern California's most
dramatic assets: old-growth forest, Fern Canyon and Gold Bluffs Beach.

"For me, it has always been the iconic hike of the redwoods," said James Wheeler,
park ranger for the Redwood National and State Park system since 1986. "It's a
pretty long walk � and not everybody is going to be up for it � but whenever people
say they want to spend four or five hours in the redwoods, this is the trail I
recommend."