Discovering the Northern Coast: Magic under the redwoods in Humboldt County

I just experienced the "Perfect Weekend" -- relaxing, taking in beautiful sights, and engaging in physical activity -- and no expensive plane ticket required. My perfect weekend was a mere car ride away, yet far enough from the city to really feel I was escaping the familiar.

Pit stop along the 101 to see the drive-through Chandelier Tree

Here's how easy it was: On Saturday, Cam and I headed north about five and a half hours to Humboldt County, that rural, deeply forested chunk of California that stretches from Arcata all the way to the Oregon border. We camped near Patrick’s Point State Park on Saturday night, and took in a redwood tree canopy tour on Sunday.

While you can easily find a place to watch the sun seep through the redwoods and bounce off the icy water as close as Marin County, isolation was the differentiating factor up in Arcata.

Saturday night, while watching the orange sunset from a turnout of a hiking in trail in Patrick’s Point, not a single person could be sighted on the beach below us. And Sunday, before our ropes course, we went to the beach and wandered through a quarter mile of dunes, set up our sleeping bags, and read several chapters of our books before seeing even one other person.

After reading on the beach Sunday morning, we headed to Redwood Park, where we participated in a climbing/zipping ground course. We then proceeded to climb 70 feet up a redwood (only about half of the tree’s height), and then zipline between three separate trees. Intrepid souls like my boyfriend Cam may opt to climb an additional 30 feet after zipping. From the ground, I literally couldn’t see him despite practically doing a backbend.

While our trip wasn’t a traditional let’s-leave-San-Francisco-and-go-somewhere-WARM getaway, it was invigorating to discover a place new to both of us, and take in the peace and quiet.

Who knew you could feel so far from San Francisco noise, with a minimum of preparation, effort, and money?

Plan-a-phobes, procrastinators, and spendthrifts take heed...the perfect weekend awaits. Minimal effort and money required!

You can barely see our guide on the second platform, and if you look about an inch (or, 20 feet in real life) up, you can barely make out Cam

Click through for more pictures and details...


How we did it:
- We camped here, which was lovely and very CLEAN, but I think Clam Beach would be an incredible place to stay next time. It's right on the beach but there are only 8 campsites and they don't take reservations.
- Since this was kind of last minute, we didn't have camping food and just ate dinner out (lame, I know). I would not recommend the place we had dinner, but this restaurant was hoppin' and seemed to be the one fine dining option around.
- We booked our tour through North Coast Aventure Centers, which is unique because they let you actually transfer gears yourself (which terrified me, but was actually pretty cool).
- The drive was so, so easy - just 5 hours of driving north on the 101 from San Francisco. It was also beautiful, and fun to see the difference from the brown hills of the Bay Area to lush, green, redwood country.