giant trees

hi my boyfriend and i would love to plan a trip to see the giant trees.can anyone give us any pointers?? regarding how to do it , what to see?, resturants, hotels, campsites ?? basically any help greatfully recieved. would also love to see any natural wonders such as canyons, caves .thanks

giant trees

There are several great places to see tall trees such as Avenue of the Giants; state parks such as Armstrong, Big Basin, etc.; and national parks such as Sequoia. If you want a nice combo of tall trees and canyons try to the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park area

http://www.nps.gov/seki/

If you want to enjoy a winery, ocean, and big tree area trip, Armstrong State Parkhttp://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450

and

Avenue of the Giants

http://avenueofthegiants.net/

can easily be combined with a trip to see such areas as

Sonoma Coast

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=451

Mendocino

http://www.gomendo.com/

and also wineries such as in the Healdsburg, Russian River, and Alexander Valley area.

http://www.vervu.com/wineries.htm

Caves - some of the best are on Highwy 49 area such as Moaning Caverns

http://www.caverntours.com/MoCavRt.htm

Our california state parks are ag great place to look for camping - they do accept reservations.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/

Let%26#39;s say you have 9 days to see the Giant Trees in California. Here%26#39;s one of hundreds of possibilities.

1)Day One: Fly into San Francisco. Spend overnight at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. They have camping tents to stay in.

http://www.bigbasin.org/camping.html

2) Day Two: In the morning take a railroad ride Roaring Camp Railroad

http://www.roaringcamp.com/

Drive to Santa Cruz and have lunch; see the boardwalk area.

http://www.beachboardwalk.com/

Drive up highway 1 to San Francisco. Spend overnight at the Changellor in San Francisco.

http://www.chancellorhotel.com/

(Note: You can reverse this trip easily and spend first night at Chancellor; 2nd night Big Basin depending on when your flight arrives.)

Have dinner in San Francisco

3) Day Three:

Book morning tour of Alcatraz.

http://www.nps.gov/alcatraz/

Depart afterwards and drive across Golden Gate Bridge. Drive to Healdsburg and do some wine tasting and go to Armstrong State Park.http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450

Camp overnight along the Sonoma Coast.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=451

4)Day Four:

Backtrack to Highhway 101 and drive up to Avenue of the Giants area. Stay overnight at Best Western. They have a wine and evening cheese party; as well as an included continental breakfast in the morning. Swimming pool and jacuzzi; can walk to restaurants.

http://avenueofthegiants.net/

http://www.humboldthouseinn.com/

4) Day Five:

Drive to Mendocino and see Mendocino.,

http://www.mendocino.com/

Its really pretty small - so time it for lunch. This will be time in the ';car'; day so plan accordingly. Then drive to Highway 49 area.

http://www.historichwy49.com/

There are various places to camp and stay in this area. You mighgt want to consider staying in Sonora Best Western

…bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do…

Day Six:

Things to see in the area are:

Moaning Caverns

http://www.caverntours.com/MoCavRt.htm

Columbia Historic State Park (Gold rush, stage coach rides, etc.)

http://www.columbiacalifornia.com/

and possibly also go to Ironstones Winery to see one of the largest gold pieces I%26#39;ve ever seeen.

http://www.ironstonevineyards.com/

Then depart and drive to Yosemite staying overnight in Yosemite Valley.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/

There are in park lodging and camping,.

Day Seven: Enjoy Yosemite and then depart and drive to or towards Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park. There are lodging and camping places in this area.

Day Eight: Enjoy Yosemite and Kings Canyon.

Day Nine: Depart and return to San Francisco Bay area.

If you have more time of course you can do more; if you have less you can adjust accordingly. Let us know more about how long and what things ';come to'; mind as must sees, don%26#39;t want to see after looking at this possible itinerary. That will help to fine tune to what you want to see as California is so diverse and huge that there is so much to see in a life time, yet alone a few days.

Enjoy planning your trip,

giant trees

Mimi, you are very generous and helpful---that is a great itinerary for the wonders of California.

And you%26#39;ve covered both kinds of ';giant trees';---the very tall coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and the massive Giant Sequoia of the Yosemite area (Sequoiadendron giganteum).

Moaning Cavern is a great idea--be sure and do the rappel into the cavern chamber!

Be sure and make your reservations early for Yosemite, whether for tenting or staying in a hotel or cabin. Campsites in the Valley can be reserved 4 to 5 months in advance at www.recreation.gov.

One important thing to keep in mind about CA, especially if you plan to camp . . . campgrounds in popular areas book up sometimes a *year* in advance. This is also often true for the State Parks along the beach.

When are you planning on visiting?

thanks all your so helpful and quick..as for length of stay we could probably stetch to 14 days ..as for what we want to see.. deffo on the big trees both types if poss and the canyon.. we would rather do a relaxing trip though as if it is 14 daays it will be our only hol.. as such i would like to not rush the big things like parks .. we can always return and will probably have to.. it may be nice to end or start with a few days near a nice beach as non poser as possible thanks again.. also i love good food so restaurant and dinners ideas great

I see no one has answered your quest for a ';non poser'; beach. What a great way to say it! What kind of beach do you want, apart form the non-poser part? A swimming beach, or one for sunning on the sand, walking along the surfline, or tidepool hopping?

There are quite a few nice, quiet beaches for sitting and/or walkking in Norther California, even up by the redwoods. But to swim comfortably, you will have to go sourt, maybe as far as Avila Beach. But not as far as LA.