recipes; vineyards close enough to the coast
to catch the salt spray; an old Russian
trading fort; handsome Victorian villages;
possible glimpses of the elusive creature
known as Bigfoot; and bouts of creative
madness such as elaborate sculptures
racing across the landscape.
For generations, the North Coast was
said to be on the far side of the "redwood
curtain," the psychological barrier formed
by narrow, tortuous Highway 101, which
was little more than a two-lane conduit for
heavily-laden logging trucks. But Cali-
fornia has spent the last two decades
improving the road—straightening curves,
widening it in many places to four lanes—
and now the road is an easy drive.
98 2024-25 TRAVEL GUIDE TO CALIFORNIA
SUNSET ON CENTERVILLE BEACH in Ferndale,
above; Pink Lady, a Queen Anne Victorian man-
sion, center; Downtown Old Town Eureka,
bottom; walking with sheep in the vineyards of
Pennyroyal Farmstead, Boonville, Mendocino
County, opposite.
FORT ROSS
BODEGA BAY
SAN FRANCISCO
EUREKA
GUALALA
LEGGETT
HUMBOLDT
REDWOODS
STATE PARK
AVENUE OF THE GIANTS
MENDOCINO
CRESCENT
CITY
From the
GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
,
head over to the
SONOMA COAST
at
BODEGA BAY
(yes, that Bodega Bay:
Alfred Hitchcock filmed The Birds there).
Follow dramatic, winding Highway 1
north past
FORT ROSS
(a former
Russian fort), and Sea Ranch,
GUALALA, MENDOCINO
and
FORT
BRAGG
before heading inland to
connect with Highway 101—"The
Redwood Highway"—at
LEGGETT
, site
of the
DRIVE-THRU TREE PARK
.
Continuing north on the Redwood
Highway, you'll come to
HUMBOLDT
REDWOODS STATE PARK
and the
AVENUE OF THE GIANTS, EUREKA
and the cluster of redwood parks
extending almost to the Oregon border.
BLOSSOMCREATIVECO/SHUTTERSTOCK
;
VINCE360/SHUTTERSTOCK
;
CALIMEDIA/SHUTTERSTOCK
.
OPPOSITE:KERRICK
JAMES
DRIVE TOUR
