We left Howonquet, in Smith River, CA at 6:10 am to ensure we made it through the construction area on 101 PRIOR to the road being shut down completely from 8am – noon. We made it through, but there were a couple additional construction areas where it was one lane at a time, but luckily traffic was light so early in the morning.
Originally, when we were looking into the construction closure information, we saw that Trees of Mystery suggested visiting them to pass the wait time. Eric Ogren had also suggested this point of interest stop to Barry. Unfortunately, it would not help us if we got delayed by the road closure because it was south of the construction and we were north of it. Since we were so focused on getting south before the road closed, we were passing The Trees of Mystery before we realized it.
Thinking back we could have pulled into the nice, big, EMPTY parking lot and slept for an hour waiting for them to open. By being first arrivals of the day would have been ideal. The suspension bridges of their “Canopy of the Trees” would likely only have us and a few others. We may catch it on another trip through the area.
By continuing south without stopping, we saw two huge male Elks about 100ft off the road on our right. No time for a picture other than the one registered in our brains. Sorry.
We did have a quick, but “must stop” before continuing to our home for the next 5 nights. I think you’ll understand why.
Giant Redwoods RV Park became our home for 2 nights. We had a great pull-thru site with full hookups.
Giant Redwood RV Park had a great vibe. It is very quiet, and peaceful. The owners have worked hard for the last four years to make the park into what it is today. It is well maintained. They clean each site before someone new moves in. NO car camping or tent camping is permitted. We felt safe here, and would highly recommend it. Proximity to what we wanted to see in the area couldn’t be beat, especially for a big rig.
A new premium river’s edge site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EXPLORING THE REDWOODS BEGINSI
It was tight!
Driving through this tree was not easy. The white line above the opening marks the height of the Dec 1964 flood! We liked that this tree is still a living tree and that the opening that Barry drove through occurred naturally. (Not like some others elsewhere that have a big cut made for vehicles to drive through.)
Barry’s gone wild! He just drove up onto a tree!
I enjoyed checking out a couple unique tree houses. The larger one was easier to get to the second floor. It had spiral stairs.
Carved books 
carved canisters 
Footprint path 
floor for the upstairs 
spiral stairs 
Time to move on to the area along the Avenue of the Giants known as the “Big Tree Area”.
These redwoods actually survive many fires due to their thick fire resistant bark and having less resin than most other trees. They are also not bothered much by insects due to the large amount of tannin they have, of which insects don’t like the taste. Sometimes when the sun shines through with spotted effects, it can look like fire flames! The life of a single redwood can reach over 2000 years!
These giant redwoods can reach heights well above 350 feet!
The “Giant Tree”:
It is hard to believe that only 4% of the original Coast Redwood forest exists today.
What makes the trees in Humboldt Redwoods State Park unique:
Every living organism has a set of chromosomes that make up its DNA. These coastal redwoods have 3x as many chromosomes as most other trees. This increased number allows them to overcome horrific challenges such as wind, fire, floods, etc. Thus they are able to keep growing! This is evident from the number of redwoods you see that are badly charred from multiple fires over the years.
FOUNDERS GROVE LOOP
Founders Grove is found within the area that was renamed the Rockefeller Forest. It has the most giants in a relatively small area. This grove is in the Eel River floodplain which is a plus for the redwoods. This forest has been through many floods. The silt that the flood waters bring in is extremely rich in nutrients. Amazingly the redwood roots can grow vertically up to the new silt level to reach the new nutrients and oxygen to the trees. These redwoods dominate the canopy thanks to the rich soil and abundance of water. Pure stands of redwoods like this occupy only 2% of all existing redwood forests.
I was intrigued by the number of giant redwoods that you can easily walk inside and witness the charred blackness inside from fires. These trees are truly magnificent in their natural beauty!
These trees took me back to when I was in third grade, and I read one of my favorite books, My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George. (My dad recommended it to me when he read it for his children’s lit class at Malone College.) I love when things like this unexpectedly spark a special memory with one or both of my parents. My dad would love it here!
Still a living tree!! 
Picture- upward (from inside)
Tree with aIbino branches! I thought they were just dying.
One with a “front” and a “back” door, sunken living space, and a couple of windows!
FALLEN GIANTS:
This fallen redwood, the Dyerville Giant, totally splintered when it hit another fallen redwood. All that splintered wood made me feel as though I entered a lumber yard. Pictures just don’t do the magnitude of these trees justice. The Dyerville Giant fell on March 24, 1991 and was measured at 370 feet tall! That is 200 feet taller than Niagara Falls!! It was 17 ft in diameter, 52 ft in circumference and probably weighed over 1,000,000 pounds! WOW! A park neighbor who lived about a mile away heard a loud crash and thought it was a train wreck!
But why are there so many of the truly giant redwoods located here?
Location. Location. Location. Unlike redwoods in other parks, these get protected by the King Range of mountains. These mountains reduce the redwoods’ exposure to strong winds of powerful Pacific storms. Thus the trees can put more energy into growing taller as opposed to re-growing broken tops. The King Range also blocks a large portion of coastal, marine layer fog which means the redwoods here are in full sun more throughout the year. This extra sunlight contributes to their immense height unlike other redwoods that get covered or blanketed in fog.
Due to the tremendous height of these redwoods, they live in three climatic zones simultaneously. The base is in one set of climate conditions, the stem in another, and the crown in yet another. It can be cool, moist conditions at the base where we walk, while at the top it is dry and windy. There are also two different types of needles for the trees to function efficiently and effectively. The needles on most of the branches are broad and flat, so they can catch more available sunlight. However, the needles near the top have tight, scale-like spikes, which reduces evaporative surfaces for the drier conditions that match that layer. Isn’t nature amazing!?!
Redwoods need a lot of moisture. The average 65 inches of annual rainfall plus summer fog moderate the climate. Redwoods help create their own microclimate through the transpiration of moisture from the leaves to the atmosphere. A very large redwood can release up to 500 gallons of water into the air per day!
Walking through this area of the Rockefeller Forest is breathtaking, and helps put into perspective our place in this vast world. We really need to take care of it. While some of the redwoods had interesting twisting bark as they continued to grow straight and tall to the sky, some had unusual gnarly knots/burls, but we found them each captivating in their unique beauty. All these ancient, not so ancient, and middle-age redwoods along side new birth seedlings and a carpet of clover was a treat as guests in their world.
Founders Grove Loop Trail was an awesome visual experience of so many giant redwoods in a relatively small area. Many have fallen, but they still represent incredible power and strength. It is an easy 1/2 mile loop, and in our opinion, the one NOT TO MISS! A booklet full of fascinating information is provided to guide and enhance your experience on the loop trail.