This is something my family would like to do, but that I know nothing about.

Can anyone propose some non-camping itinerary ideas?

Is this something that can be enjoyed in fall/early winter?

Thank you!

This is a very broad question!

Are you wanting to see just redwoods? Are you wanting to see sequoias as well? The coast? Mountains?

You can go to Big Sur and see the coast and redwoods. Yosemite you'll get gorgeous mountains and redwoods and sequoias. Sequoia NP is obvious, but has some great mountains as well. Northern California has Redwoods NP/SP.

A lot of potential here, pry best to base it on what you want to see in addition to redwoods.

I took my son up to Redwoods National Park over Thanksgiving in 2017. We flew into Oakland, spent the night, and then started driving up the next day.

We did the redwood highway, searched out the Paradox tree (5th tallest in world, will be #1 in 2031) and wandered around in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, visited Confusion Hill (gravity house), the one log home, the drive-thru redwoods (most on private property now), and hiked around the National Park once we got there. Be sure to take some wading boots and hike Fern Canyon. We made it all the way up to Trees of Mystery.

We stayed in Arcata and then at the Benbow Inn on our way south. We stopped in Ferndale For coffee for me, which was a cool town.

FWIW, my kid loved the show Gravity Falls at the time and this trip had a lot of the things that inspired the show.

I know. I realized that when I started googling.

That's why I asked for some example itineraries. I don't know what I don't know here.

My wife says "I've always wanted to see the great redwoods." So, she's given her input. Now it's up to me to figure out a trip!

You could also go out to Sequoia National Park (and it's neighbor park, King's Canyon). We spent 2 days there but there could probably have used another day in each park. From there we went to Yosemite, which also has a giant sequoia grove. You can't go wrong with either.

Both species of trees are magnificent. Redwoods are taller and coastal. Giant Sequoias are a bit shorter but have much more mass. They are located inland.

You can also see redwoods just north of SF at Muir Woods. Be sure to get a parking pass online in advance.

Vernada said:

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This is something my family would like to do, but that I know nothing about.

Can anyone propose some non-camping itinerary ideas?

Is this something that can be enjoyed in fall/early winter?

Thank you!

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If you have a few days, want to see Redwoods, and don't want to camp go to Fort Brag, Ca. A good 3 day weekend is to drive up the one. Stay in Ft Brag and do some wine/beer tasting in the Anderson and Russian River Valleys

Thanks for that - I totally forgot she had also mentioned wanting to 'go to that beach with the sea glass' - looks like that's Fort Bragg!

It's pretty far out of the way, though that's what make it great, but Jedediah Smith Park is my favorite.(I may be biased since I live fairly close) If you do go up there, drive the route along Howland Hill Road. Lots of pull offs for good trails, but just driving the single lane road is pretty incredible.

Loved visiting that region in August last year.

1. Fly to San Jose, California
2. Rent Car
3. Drive about an hour to Big Basin Redwood State Park
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540
4. Continue down the coast another hour to hour & 1/2 to Monterey.
5. Enjoy one of the world's greatest Aquariums, Carmel/Pebble Beach & Point Lobos State Park.

Found my itinerary from a few years ago:

For a "non-camping " tour of the big redwoods, go to Muir Woods just across the Golden Gate Bridge (get to see that too), from SF. You can also take another day and loop down to Monterey and the aquarium.

Lt. Joe Bookman said:

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It's pretty far out of the way, though that's what make it great, but Jedediah Smith Park is my favorite.(I may be biased since I live fairly close) If you do go up there, drive the route along Howland Hill Road. Lots of pull offs for good trails, but just driving the single lane road is pretty incredible.

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A couple of years ago we took a big family trip up to Seattle to see my sister. We went up and back two different ways and we went here on our way back. It was amazing...although I will say that I almost crapped my pants driving in our mini-van on the single lane road. This is not the place to go if you don't like driving in tight spaces.

Lt. Joe Bookman said:

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It's pretty far out of the way, though that's what make it great, but Jedediah Smith Park is my favorite.(I may be biased since I live fairly close) If you do go up there, drive the route along Howland Hill Road. Lots of pull offs for good trails, but just driving the single lane road is pretty incredible.

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Second for Jedediah Smith State Park. We drove some of the tiny roads last April and it was truly unbelievable. We hiked into the Grove of Titans as well which was stunning.

Richierich2323 said:

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Lt. Joe Bookman said:

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It's pretty far out of the way, though that's what make it great, but Jedediah Smith Park is my favorite.(I may be biased since I live fairly close) If you do go up there, drive the route along Howland Hill Road. Lots of pull offs for good trails, but just driving the single lane road is pretty incredible.

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A couple of years ago we took a big family trip up to Seattle to see my sister. We went up and back two different ways and we went here on our way back. It was amazing...although I will say that I almost crapped my pants driving in our mini-van on the single lane road. This is not the place to go if you don't like driving in tight spaces.

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Hah. Yeah. That road makes my wife car sick every time we take it. From where I live, driving to crescent city is the closest route to the coast, so every time we go, I make us take it though. It's an incredible drive that doesn't get a ton of traffic (at least compared to the rest of the Redwood hot spots).