The Avenue of the Giants: A Redwood Showcase

The Avenue of the Giants runs 31 miles through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, tracing the old alignment of Highway 101 as it winds beneath some of the tallest trees on Earth. It's a slow drive by design — old-growth groves crowd right up to the shoulder, the road curves through the Eel River valley, and a string of small, unpretentious roadside stops give you every reason to keep pulling over. Drive it end to end and it takes under an hour. Do it properly, with stops for fruit, a swim, and a walk in the trees, and you can spend an entire day immersed in the magic.

The Corn Crib, Pepperwood

At the Avenue's north end in Pepperwood, look for a corn-yellow stand just off the road — that's the Corn Crib, run by the Sarvinski family on land they've farmed since the late 1960s. The story starts with Spike and Mildred Sarvinski, who noticed the rich silt a flood had left behind on their land and, with their nine children, began growing some of the finest produce on the North Coast. Their son Gene and his wife Ginger, along with their own three kids, carry the tradition on today, farming roughly 10 acres along the Eel River and selling sweet corn, beans, melons, tomatoes, flowers, and more from the stand, roughly mid-July through the end of October. It's an easy, worthwhile stop before you've even properly started the drive south.

Blackberry popsicles at Flood Plain Produce

A short distance away, also in Pepperwood, Flood Plain Produce is the other essential farm stop on the Avenue — and the one to visit if you want something cold. This certified organic family stand is best known for its homemade blackberry popsicles, made from the wild blackberries that grow in thickets along the roadside through late summer and into October. It's a simple, honest kind of roadside stand: fresh peppers, tomatoes, melons, and cut flowers alongside the popsicles, open daily through the season. Bring cash.

Drury-Chaney Loop, an easy walk into old growth

For a stretch of your legs without committing to a serious hike, the Drury-Chaney Loop near the Avenue's northern end is close to perfect. It's a flat, roughly 2.4-mile loop, paved enough in sections to be wheelchair and stroller accessible, that winds through a cooler, foggier old-growth grove named for Newton B. Drury and Ralph W. Chaney, two past presidents of the Save-the-Redwoods League. Redwood sorrel and ferns blanket the forest floor, the trail crosses a couple of wooden bridges over streambeds, and a bench along the way is dedicated to Chaney's rediscovery of the dawn redwood in China in 1948 — a nice bit of botanical history most visitors walk right past. It's an easy, quiet introduction to what old growth actually feels like, without the crowds of the park's more famous groves.

Cold drinks at the Immortal Tree

Further south near Redcrest, the Immortal Tree is one of the Avenue's classic roadside attractions — and a good spot to grab something cold and stretch your legs. This nearly 1,000-year-old coast redwood has survived lightning, a logger's axe in 1908, wildfire, and the devastating flood of 1964, and a sign at its base tells the story, complete with a wooden axe still lodged in the trunk and a metal fish marking the flood's high-water line. The tree stands right next to the Burl n' Drift Redwood Souvenir Gift Shop, family owned and operated since 1967, where you can pick up a drink, browse locally made redwood burl crafts, and use the pressed-penny machine before getting back on the road. Picnic tables out front make it an easy lunch stop, too.

Swimming at the forks of the Eel

Humboldt's inland valleys do get genuinely hot in summer — save time for a swim where the South Fork Eel River joins the mainstem at Dyerville Flats, right near the turnoff for Founders Grove, Rockefeller Forest, and Honeydew/Mattole Road. The confluence itself is a striking spot, framed by redwoods on both banks, with restrooms, picnic tables, and an overlook vista point. Through the summer months, the Eel's tributaries slow into calm, “Steelhead Teal” pools throughout the park, and great access points. The Gould Bar river access, just a short walk or drive from the Humboldt Redwood State Park Visitor Center in Weott, is one of the best swimming holes on the whole river. A refreshing dip is the natural reward at the end of a hot day on the Avenue — cold water, quiet current, and redwoods rising straight up from the bank.

Planning your drive

Give yourself more time than the map suggests. Enter from either the north end at Pepperwood or the south end near Phillipsville, and build your day around the stops rather than the driving: fruit and popsicles at the Pepperwood farm stands, a walk on the Drury-Chaney loop trail, a break at the Immortal Tree partway through, and a swim at Dyerville Flats or Gould Bar to close things out. There's no fee to drive the Avenue or visit the park's day-use areas, which makes it one of the easiest, most rewarding stretches of road in Humboldt County to simply wander.