I visited Humboldt State Park on the first weekend of Spring, and spent most of my visit on the…read moreNorth Bull Creek Trail (8 miles round trip). My destination was the Tall Tree, and I passed miles of banana slugs, moss, lichen, spring wildflowers, and the refreshing surge of Bull Creek with its turquoise hues. The park was far from crowded, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Park Staff tending the maintenance needs (weed abatement). I felt safe & incredibly relaxed on the trail. There are over 100 miles of trail in this park and plenty of river access, providing something for everyone. If you only drive through the Avenue of the Giants, it will be time well spent in this gorgeous paradise.

As with many of the California State Parks this park is a jewel not to be missed. For starters,…read moreadmission is FREE! The many old growth redwood groves are interesting and beautiful to saunter through. Way finding is easy and park maps and internet resources make for a wonderful road trip. Visitor centers are well stocked, have clean bathrooms with ample parking. Volunteer staff are well informed and helpful. Trails are well marked and very clean. Surprising lack of random trash so volunteers and visitors do a great job. We have learned over the past few years to avoid the crowds and cost of visiting National Parks in California when we are truly blessed with such exceptional California park options. This park is amazing and fascinating with manageable visitor sizes. Take the time to experience the area small towns too!

Our fourth stop (09:42) on day five of our Northern California road trip, Founders' Grove has a…read morededicated parking area (with restrooms) and can be used to enter the trail which leads to the Founders Tree (not a far walk). The tree is estimated to be almost 1,500 years old, and stands 346 feet tall. It has a protective wooden built deck around it, and is a good opportunity to take pictures and admire the size of it. It was named in 1931, in honor of the 3 founders of the Save the Redwoods League. From 1931 to 1957, it was believed to be the tallest redwood (thus the tallest tree in the world). More accurate modern readings disproved this (with the current tallest being Hyperion at 380 feet).

I can understand why this is the most popular stop along the Avenue of the Giants. It was easy to…read morewalk but had many points of interest, like the tallest tree, tons of fallen trees with crazy roots, and a few hollowed trees to step inside. It's extremely green and full of ferns. We didn't see much poison oak, and the paths were wide, so it felt safe with kids running around.

The park is an amazing hidden treasure that everyone should check out. Wonderful nonprofit with…read morecommunity-minded employees and board members. The annual Fall Splendor event in October has the best night of drinks, food and dancing you can get in Humboldt. Check them out at www.sohumpark.org.

Beautiful park with wonderful trails, a labyrinth, CSA Farm with chickens and horses, wooded areas,…read moreand a children's park with river access across the way. Great for bicycling, walking your leashed dogs, eating a pinic lunch under the trees, or a lovely walk on flat land. There is also a discreet trail to Benbow about 2+ miles away.

Had a great time visiting the Chandelier Drive-Thru Tree! Heads up for anyone planning a trip: the…read morecurrent admission price is $20.00 per vehicle (cash or card accepted). If you have a large SUV like a Ford Expedition platinum, you won't fit through the opening, but they have a great bypass lane so you can park and take pictures and they have a great giftshop with lots of interesting stuff and yummy food and drinks.

When in the Redwoods, you gotta visit a drive-thru tree! There are a few and we decided to see the…read moreChandelier tree since it was the first stop for when we were driving from Ft. Bragg off Hwy 1 to the 101. Our van with the cargo box obviously wouldn't fit into the tunnel, but we were able to park and walk to/through the tree for photo ops. Since our car wouldn't fit, I asked my son to drive through with his wheelchair. It was a fun, quick stop to see something unusual and to watch as other cars drove through. We watched as a Tesla X creeped through the tunnel - I didn't think it would make it but it did! There's a gift shop and restrooms, both are not wheelchair accessible.

I was impressed by this park because it was so beautiful, family friendly and it had immaculate…read morebathrooms! There's a little loop path that has little signs about Redwood trees, the birds nearby and the fun facts. I appreciate how there's a grassy pasture in case you bring pups (they shouldn't go on the trails). There were picnic tables around too to enjoy a meal. The bathrooms were clean and unique, I'd never seen a skylight in a bathroom.

Nice state park, well maintained, nice folks In charge. Close to "Northern Nights Festival" and…read more"Ragge on the River", for night before camping.

Beautiful river spots and access to redwoods. Some areas were closed during our visit, but still a…read morereally nice place to spend time outdoors.

I've heard about this park a few times from fellow camping buddies. I've heard only good things…read moreand I've come to learn from a recent camping adventure to the park that the good things I heard were all valid. So there are a few campgrounds that are part of this county park. I am reviewing for the group campground, Pamplin Grove, but will mention another campground nearby that we showered at. The teardrop trailer group held their event at Pamplin Grove and to find out this was not the first time. But, it was for me and my the first time to attend the event and camp at the campground. It is a difficult entrance to notice if you are not paying close attention. Because of the natural habitat it is a challenge to locate the entrance but noticing the paved road will help guide you in. This is a beautiful spot and if you ever get a group invite to camp here, do it! It is gated so you will be given a combination to enter. As you drive in you will notice camping areas, they are not numbered. It is on a first come, first served basis. When you drive in you will find some signs/bulletin boards with info. You will eventually come to an open area, and off to the right you will see an open field which we were told is called the, Meadow. There is only one entrance and exit and that will be found towards the end of the trail. Cars can pull into the field and is open to camping there. We were told at one time that about 120 trailers attended and filled the campground! This time around, we were only 40 trailers and camping vans. There are two areas that have pit potties. The bathrooms have motion lights inside, doors with lock. It is very spacious and was always supplied with plenty of TP. Water spigots outside of bathroom to wash hands. There is a couple bathrooms next to each other on the lower part of the campground and another couple at the upper part of the campground which is also near the Camp Kitchen, Picnic area , and large fire pit. BBQ grills are need the the Camp Kitchen .There is also a BBQ pit! The kind that is underground. It was not used at this event but I heard it had been used in the past. I can't express the beauty of this spot! Oh and near by there is a short trail to get to the river. We found wild blackberries on the way to the riverbed. We could hear the birds but were difficult to find, except for the vultures. Banana slugs were also visible, pretty interesting. You should google it for more info. The yellow of the slug was vibrant. I event found one that had spots. Please be kind and leave them be. We did drive to the Swimmer's Delight campground to take showers (quarter operated). It was nice to have a warm shower with good pressure. Pamplin Grove is a non hook up (dry)campground. Also no showers. We did bring our portable shower, but when it came to washing my hair we visited the other campground for showers. There is a camp host located at the lower part of the campground. When you are in the trees it is pitch dark! Walk into the meadow at night and go star gazing. TIP - Upper bathroom you tend to get a whiff of it once in awhile if you are near the bathroom. So if you camp in the upper part you may want to keep this in mind. Also they said they try their best to keep the area poison oak free, but once in awhile you will see them, so be on the lookout where you and your pet walk. Please, Please be aware of the Loggers and people that drive this route. Especially when you are entering the campground. They follow close at high speed.

I don't think there's a city park that could ever amount to anything more than a reminder of this…read moreone. The scenery is reminiscent of scenes from the movie Excalibur (1981) in that it captures this sense of the ethereal and divine. Thick, lush foliage covers every inch of the hilly trails and you're surrounded on all sides by towering redwoods. Throughout the trail you hear a babbling brook and bird song unlike any I've heard in my life. The experience then ends nearby one of the most beautiful parks I've ever seen in my whole life that sits upon a well tended field that's also surrounded by redwoods and ferns.

What a great park. It sits next to Poly-Tech Humbolt so you'll get a range of people from kids…read moreplaying in the playground to college students taking a break on the green lawn surrounded by redwoods. Great spot for a walk in the redwoods.

The skywalk is accessible if you bought a ticket to the zoo, you can't go for just the Skywalk. If…read moreyou've been to the Trees of Mystery I'd say the suspension bridges here are wider and less wobbly. It's all shaded and you get to look out into the vast Redwoods of Sequoia Park. It's one of those places where pictures don't do it justice, you need to see it in person and take it all in. The bear enclosure was viewable from the skywalk, when I was there the bear was getting a bath and loving it.

While we were passing through Eureka we decided to stop by the Sequoia Zoo, which included the…read moreRedwood Skywalk. We are AZA members so when showing our membership we got in for half price. The Redwood Sky walk is located in the back left side of the zoo, it is a self guided tour. The skywalk slowly increases over 100 ft above the beautiful forest floor below and is about a 1/4 mile walk. I am afraid of heights, but felt safe walking along the trail. Most of the walk is over the park nextdoor to the zoo, as you are looking down from high above and you can see tiny people & dogs walking the trails below it was so cool. We could also see the bears in the zoo from high up in the trees, we had a better view of them than could see them below on the zoo trail. Be sure to look up at the majestic redwood trees along the trail, and when on the platforms you can touch the redwoods, and learn alittle about them with the information boards. It was an amazing experience, being so high up in the Redwood trees. It was Breathtaking and beautiful. I felt safe walking the trail as they had guardrails that go along the trail and was pretty good width across for people to walk by. People who are nervous of the wooden suspension bridges that move when others walking on them can walk about half way through trail before reaching these bridges and walk back the way they came. We will always remember this trip to Eureka, and cannot wait to bring our granddaughter here next time. Enjoy your adventure!

Fantastic place for camping. More expensive than county parks, has bathrooms, showers, everything…read moreI needed. Out of town, no cell phone or internet.

We were unable to find camping at Smithe Redwoods State National Reserve nor did a call to Reserve…read moreAmerica find camping there. We ended up camping at Richardson Grove State Park about fifteen minutes further north on highway 101. There were ample sites to select from in mid November. The sites were roomy with beautiful young Redwood trees, fire pits, flush toilets, and water. The campsite was lovely, but the road noise was significant. It cost us $35 for one night. Firewood was $8. The temperatures were warm enough to wear just a fleece jacket sitting by our fire, but it rained at night. I'm not sure what campsite the previous review is referring to, but there are other campsites close to the Smithe Redwoods State Natural Reserve. Perhaps he stayed at the nearby Standish Hickey State Recreation Area which does have campsites.

I loved Fireman's Park when I was a kid. It's the site of Ferndale's annual Easter Egg Hunt and on…read moremy last trip up there it seemed smaller for some reason ;) However even though I may have grown, several, uh... feet since then, they've actually now added Bocce Courts to the front of the park, decreasing it's size and the baseball field. This in addition to it's picnic area and playground make it a kinda awesome park since there's so much to do when it isn't... ya know, freezing out. Man, if only I was seven again and could hunt those Easter Eggs...