Redwoods from San Francisco Trip Planning

[BamaBoy]

So our big family vacation this year is to San Francisco and Northern California. Flights, car rental, hotel in San Fran, etc. are all set. The part I am struggling with is the 2-3 days we would like to spend heading up north to the Redwoods and the north Coast. I have resigned myself to making the 270+ mile drive up to Eureka area, but am undecided on an itinerary. There are not of lot of larger towns up that way with varied hotel options (maybe Eureka?). Really need some advice on hotel options in this region.

Anybody ever do this trip? Tell me also about the drive, sites to see along the coast, best Redwoods, eating places, and other things not to miss. We go somewhere different every year, so this is a once in a lifetime trip most likely. Throw in some San Fran, Napa Valley stuff too if you would like! I know this is the budget board, so to keep it relevant we are doing all of this trip on points! Thanks!

 

[pblack]

I don't really have any advice on hotels, but I can suggest a couple different towns that may be of interest to you. (I live in Northern CA, about 1.5 hours from SF.) Ferndale is up by Eureka and is supposed to be a very charming little town. I haven't been, but my DH has. Fun fact: Guy Fieri grew up in Ferndale, even though he now calls Santa Rosa home. Along hwy 1 you'll find the town of Bodega Bay (very small coastal town, also where Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" was filmed), and further up Hwy 1 you'll find Mendocino and Fort Bragg.

In San Francisco there's all the fun touristy stuff: Pier 39, the sea lions, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli square. If you're a fan of baseball (and even if it's not really your thing) I suggest checking out Oracle Park (formerly AT&T park) home of the SF Giants. You can usually find cheap tickets on StubHub, especially for weeknight games, or they also offer tours of the stadium. https://www.mlb.com/giants/ballpark/tours If you do catch a game I highly suggest getting the Gilroy Garlic Fries as they are a staple of the park. They also have a crazy crab sandwich. There is also the Walt Disney museum in SF. I have yet to go, but it's on my to do list. https://www.waltdisney.org/ Or if you are a Peanuts fan, you can check out the Charles Schulz museum in nearby Santa Rosa. https://schulzmuseum.org/ (I have been here and it's pretty cool.) All of these things are fairly inexpensive and could easily be worked into a budget, especially if you're only picking one of two of them. Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf/sea lions/Ghiradelli are all free to walk around in/at and for a cheap snack I highly recommend grabbing a loaf of sourdough from Boudin with some butter. It's the best sourdough around in my opinion.

On an entirely different note, if you're into beer you can find an abundance of craft breweries in the bay area. You also mentioned Napa, which as you probably know has a ton of different wine tasting opportunities. Wine tasting may not be very budget friendly though, I know a lot of the wineries in Napa charge for wine tastings and I believe the prices vary.

ETA: Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Carmel, and Monterey are also near SF and are fun towns to explore.

 

[BamaBoy]

I don't really have any advice on hotels, but I can suggest a couple different towns that may be of interest to you. (I live in Northern CA, about 1.5 hours from SF.) Ferndale is up by Eureka and is supposed to be a very charming little town. I haven't been, but my DH has. Fun fact: Guy Fieri grew up in Ferndale, even though he now calls Santa Rosa home. Along hwy 1 you'll find the town of Bodega Bay (very small coastal town, also where Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" was filmed), and further up Hwy 1 you'll find Mendocino and Fort Bragg.

In San Francisco there's all the fun touristy stuff: Pier 39, the sea lions, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli square. If you're a fan of baseball (and even if it's not really your thing) I suggest checking out Oracle Park (formerly AT&T park) home of the SF Giants. You can usually find cheap tickets on StubHub, especially for weeknight games, or they also offer tours of the stadium. https://www.mlb.com/giants/ballpark/tours If you do catch a game I highly suggest getting the Gilroy Garlic Fries as they are a staple of the park. They also have a crazy crab sandwich. There is also the Walt Disney museum in SF. I have yet to go, but it's on my to do list. https://www.waltdisney.org/ Or if you are a Peanuts fan, you can check out the Charles Schulz museum in nearby Santa Rosa. https://schulzmuseum.org/ (I have been here and it's pretty cool.) All of these things are fairly inexpensive and could easily be worked into a budget, especially if you're only picking one of two of them. Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf/sea lions/Ghiradelli are all free to walk around in/at and for a cheap snack I highly recommend grabbing a loaf of sourdough from Boudin with some butter. It's the best sourdough around in my opinion.

On an entirely different note, if you're into beer you can find an abundance of craft breweries in the bay area. You also mentioned Napa, which as you probably know has a ton of different wine tasting opportunities. Wine tasting may not be very budget friendly though, I know a lot of the wineries in Napa charge for wine tastings and I believe the prices vary.

ETA: Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, Carmel, and Monterey are also near SF and are fun towns to explore.

Thanks for all the good info. I did not know that about Bodega Bay. Or Guy's hometown. Learn something new everyday!

 

[tvguy]

I did this trip last June but from Sacramento. Up 101, 2 nights in Eureka (Holiday Inn Express) Day trip up to Trees of Mystery. The tram there has amazing views (link below). The coast and redwoods are beautiful. We continued up to Medford. Stopped for lunch at Rogue River Creamery (second link below), did wine tasting in Medford. For me it was a trip down memory lane because my dad was a lumber salesman, and as a kid I would go with him to Eureka, and Anderson, and Redding and Portland on business trips. He passed away 52 years ago, so this was a long time ago. Lumber industry is almost gone now.


https://www.treesofmystery.net/

http://www.roguecreamery.com/store/

 

[katyjeka]

We spent 3 weeks a month ago on a trip to Northern California. Kids loved Alcatraz and walking on the Golden Gate Bridge. We stayed in Arcata at the Hampton Inn & Suites. . It was an older hotel but clean and well kept. We did hike a lot in Redwoods and enjoy some beautiful beaches. I will say that our favorite town was Fort Bragg. Our girls enjoyed Glass Beach. The biggest disappointment of our entire trip was Moonstone Beach in Trinidad. The scenery was beautiful and the ratings are always good but when we visited it was so overrun by dogs that you had to watch everywhere you stepped and we love dogs. We did the drive thru tree in Klamath. They had the honor system at the time so make sure if you visit you have some small bills. We were able to get change from another visitor.

 

[gardengalB4]

This was one of my fave trips & would go back!
We flew into Sacramento.... went to the Hardrock cafe for a late lunch & spent the
Night in Fairfield Comfort inn.
The next morning we did the Jelly Belly jellybean factory tour. Our next stop was the Charles Schultz museum in Santa Rosa. Then we headed north - stayed at the Comfort Inn & suites Redwood Country in Fortuna, Ca.
We visited the glass beach, The trees of mystery,the drive thru tree, we saw lots of trees...which I enjoyed....(but my teen was tired of trees by day 2).
We also visited the Lolita cheese factory.
We visited San Francisco before we left Ca...we went to fisherman’s wharf, Ghiradelli square & Ride the ducks (which is gone now).
We also visited the botanical garden in Monterey & the Monterey Bay aquarium.

 

[Jennabeth]

We've done this, twice because we loved it so much (we are from Michigan). The first time we flew in to SF then drove north the next day. The first time we took Hwy 1 as far as we could and hit Ft. Bragg and Glass Beach. It took ALL DAY because of the switch back through the mountains (and we kept stopping for the views). It was an amazing drive and I'm glad we did it, but I would not do it again! We stayed in Shelter Cove (near Garberville) at the Tides Inn http://www.sheltercovetidesinn.com/ both times, LOVE IT. From there we would go out to 101 and head north through the Avenue of the Giants up to Fortuna and have dinner at the local brewery. We never made it to Eureka and didn't feel like we missed anything. The redwoods along that route were amazing and the Eel River is very cool. We'd spend a few days there because the area (town??) of Shelter Cove is right on the ocean and we'd spend a day just exploring the tide pools and the black sandy beaches. Then we'd drive the 4 hours back down to San Francisco and do all of the touristy stuff. Like I said, we loved it so much the first time, we did it again. Stayed and the same places the second time just avoided that long, long drive up Hwy 1.

 

[tvguy]

We've done this, twice because we loved it so much (we are from Michigan). The first time we flew in to SF then drove north the next day. The first time we took Hwy 1 as far as we could and hit Ft. Bragg and Glass Beach. It took ALL DAY because of the switch back through the mountains (and we kept stopping for the views). It was an amazing drive and I'm glad we did it, but I would not do it again! We stayed in Shelter Cove (near Garberville) at the Tides Inn http://www.sheltercovetidesinn.com/ both times, LOVE IT. From there we would go out to 101 and head north through the Avenue of the Giants up to Fortuna and have dinner at the local brewery. We never made it to Eureka and didn't feel like we missed anything. The redwoods along that route were amazing and the Eel River is very cool. We'd spend a few days there because the area (town??) of Shelter Cove is right on the ocean and we'd spend a day just exploring the tide pools and the black sandy beaches. Then we'd drive the 4 hours back down to San Francisco and do all of the touristy stuff. Like I said, we loved it so much the first time, we did it again. Stayed and the same places the second time just avoided that long, long drive up Hwy 1.

Wow, the Tides Inn is still there? I stayed there 50 years ago.