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California Redwoods Travel Guide: Part 2: Arcata

By Susan on January 25, 2009 8:57 PM | Click here to post a comment

Editor's note: Welcome to the California Redwoods Travel Guide, Part 2. This travel guide is being built one stop at a time here at Northern Word, amongst everything else, and as it grows links will appear on the travel guide's home page.

Great Links: North Coast Journal's Calendar page gives you the low down on events in Humboldt county during your visit. For info on Arcata's environmental activism, see the North Coast Environmental Center.

You arrived last night via Part 1: Getting There. Now you're in Arcata! What the heck do you do with yourself! Well, here you go.

Hundreds of miles from the nearest major city, on a thin seam of civilization between expansive forest and the sea, sits Arcata, California. A glorious hippie town that serves as the perfect antidote to these cynical times, Arcata is colorful and quaint, Victorian and Bohemian, politically active and full of character. If you are tired of the nearly manufactured "tourist" towns that reside near more populated areas, Arcata is just the ticket. Still alive and authentic, Arcata is a activist town, a university town, a picture-postcard Victorian city complete with palm trees and an inappropriate statue of a dead president. It is also the epicenter of Northern California's environmental movement, and home to myriad quirky and interesting people. For more on the, er, odd side of Arcata, or the latest news, don't miss the wonderful Arcata Eye weekly newspaper and it's police blotter.

I spent my high school years here.  Times were different then; the timber wars were in full swing, and the heavy tension of small-town politics and big money interests hung about the place. You can read more about that here. But times have changed, the timber wars are diminished, and the region has mellowed to the point where Arcata's hippie climes now seem to extend far beyond its small borders. It's a worthy first stop on your journey and an excellent attitude-adjuster. 

Sights to See

The Plaza

The Arcata Plaza is the town's defining feature, a small-town square with nice landscaping, excellent shops and restaurants (as well as a couple of divey bars), palm trees, and a statue of long-dead President McKinley.  The Plaza is the best place in Arcata for people watching, at least in good weather. I have seen a person dressed as a chicken here. I have seen a person in the process of becoming naked here. I have seen a police officer stand in the middle of the plaza and stare at the top of the palm tree for an disturbing period of time. I have seen President McKinley in a bra.  Go forth, grasshopper, and see what you shall find.

If you are staying at the Arcata Inn, listed in Part 1, your hotel is on the Plaza.

arcata plaza with mckinley.jpg

Redwood Park

As city parks go, Redwood park is huge, a large swath of mature second growth redwood forest behind Humboldt State University. Would be a state park in many other parts of the country. But it's still small enough to be enjoyed in a couple of hours. I returned there a few years back and wandered through it's big trees and even bigger stumps on a warm summer day. It's an airy, spacious forest. I remember doing a school science project up there, finding all the organisms in a square meter, and contemplating this quiet and steep place. It's a great first step into the redwoods, but keep in mind, if you follow this travel guide, you'll be seeing much bigger trees later on.

The  Minor Theater

1037 H St

Right off the Plaza, the Minor is a beautifully restored old vaudeville house that plays first run and independent films. A word of caution, make sure the movie you're seeing is in the main auditorium - otherwise, you'll be in the smallest movie theater you have ever seen in your life. Just enough room for you and half a Pez dispenser  There used to be an "Arcata Theater" a few blocks from there as well - a 1950's masterpiece, if there ever was one - and its Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight showings were legendary. Now gone, sad to say. Not sure if "Rocky" lives on at the Minor, but if it does, go. Arcatans do love that movie, er, a lot.

Arcata Marsh

569 S G St

Arcata has the distinction of processing its waste via an ultra-environmentally friendly and sustainable sewer system. Residents say they "Flush with Pride". I say, when you're in Arcata, all shit is good shit.  In any case, the Marsh itself is quite pretty and full of birds, and is a lovely afternoon nature walk on a sunny day. Excellent dog-watching.

Natural History Museum

Run by Humboldt State University, this small museum always has fascinating and well-presented exhibits, as well as a small gift shop. Be sure to look up, there are critters hanging from the ceiling.

Humboldt State University

Humboldt State University is unique in the California State University System.  It's 300 miles from the nearest major city, built on a redwood-forested hillside with a view of Humboldt Bay.  It has a world-class natural resources/environmental emphasis, and also trains most of the area's schoolteachers.  On any given day, Humboldt State has cultural and entertainment options in the evening that can satisfy travelers not content to retire for the night

Trinidad

Trinidad is a different town several miles north of Arcata - about half an hour - but it's a good combined visit. Trinidad has a gorgeous beach with rock formations. there is a small casual restaurant in a shack by the docs that I've eaten in quite a number of times. Since I've been there, I believe it was taken over by the Trinidad Rancheria, the local Indian tribe.  Also from the Rancheria is the Trinidad casino, which I'm told has an ocean-view dining room. A short drive from here is also the Moonstone Grill restaurant, also with view of a vast, empty beach and the Pacific.

Trinidad has some small shops but is mainly a walk-on-the-beach destination; this is a great place to say hello to the Pacific, as Arcata is sheltered by Humboldt Bay. Later chapters of this travel guide will address Patrick's Point State Park, a gem near Trinidad worth a stop on a longer trip.

In addition to these sites, there is plenty of exploring to do in the vicinity of the Plaza and Humboldt State, the two areas with the largest concentration of gingerbread-style Victorians. Built in the 1880's - 1890's out of old growth redwoods, these homes define the architecture of many towns in Humboldt County.

Stay tuned as more of this travel guide is created. For dining suggestions in Arcata, click the link below.  Corrections/suggestions always welcome!

Continue reading California Redwoods Travel Guide: Part 2: Arcata.

California Redwoods Travel Guide: Part 1: Getting There

By Susan on December 29, 2008 10:58 PM | 1 Comment
Welcome to the California Redwoods Travel Guide. For additional installments, see the travel guide main page. As each entry in the travelogue is added, a link will be activated. 

So you decide to go see the redwoods, and figure you'll just hop on a big jet and be there in no time. Not quite so simple! If you want to see the Redwood Empire, home of the grandest of the tall trees and the most remote, natural expanses of redwoods left on earth, you'll need to put in a little effort. 

Flying in: The Eureka-Arcata Airport (code ACV) is located in neither Eureka, nor Arcata. It is in McKinleyville, several miles north of my delightful home town of Arcata on Highway 101, 300 miles north of San Francisco, and 400 miles south of Portland. Flying into this location can be expensive, so plan ahead.  Reserve your rental car in advance to be sure it will be available. Though buses do stop at the airport, the itinerary in this guide (and any decent travel itinerary for this region) requires a car.  You may want to know that the airport was built for the purpose of testing defogging systems on military aircraft; or, then again, you may not. A fun way to take off at the airport is for the plane -  preferably one of the turboprops - to shoot off the runway and over the nearby seacliff. You feel as if the world dropped out from underneath you. If the fog is out, you may see spectacular views of the deep green forests of the coast, stepping up in into higher mountains further inland. If you are driving, check the final installments in this series - I'll have tips for Bay Areans or Portlanders making the drive.

Airlines: Horizon Air flies out of Portland, Oregon, and Los Angeles on small jets. United Airlines flies out of San Francisco (primary) and Sacramento (secondary) on small turboprops.  See the Convention & Visitor's Bureau site for the latest list of airlines; airlines do come and go here due to the low volume.
  
Rental Car: You will be going on one potentially muddy dirt road. Compacts are generally fine, though, but rent to your comfort level. The Convention & Visitor's Bureau has the scoop on all the companies that do business at ACV, including rental cars and airlines.

Your journey here by air will take an entire day from anywhere except San Francisco. When you transfer to your final leg at SFO or SMF (Sacramento) you'll most likely get on a small turboprop, a 31-seater with 3 seats across and no usable toilet. The flight is mercifully short.

Arriving from the south you may ride up the California coast, increasingly remote with each mile. You are flying into a tectonic red zone, the conjunction of three tectonic plates near the tiny settlement of Petrolia, and you may swoop over the bald hills sprinkled within the vast forests. On approach, you'll see remote houses on ridgetops, where some Humboldters make their homesteads with extreme privacy and plenty of natural beauty.

Hotel: You're staying in my hometown, Arcata, about 10 miles south of the Airport on HIghway 101. When staying in Arcata, the Victorian village I claim as my hometown, it's best to immerse yourself in the place rather than stay at some chain hotel. These choices are all in the historic part of town and are walking distance from most of the shopping and the old Minor  Theatre (see next installment for details about Arcata and its culture).  If you must do the chain hotel routine, all of them are located in an area north of town called "Valley West" - you'll drive right by it as you come into Arcata from the Airport.  Look for hotels with addresses on "Valley West Boulevard".

A nice little hotel, the Hotel Arcata isn't opulent, but it's above average. It's location is my primary reason for recommending it - it's on the Plaza. While the stodgier residents of Humboldt sometimes fear the Plaza, it's quite safe - safer than the more conservative towns to the north and south, in fact - and full of interesting characters, and not in the "big city" sense of the word. The architecture is delightful Victorian and the shops are excellent. A restored movie house beckons down the street. Outdoor outfitters are just a step away. In any case, this is where you'll get a real sense of the culture of the town. More on that in the next installment. Ask for a room that looks out onto the plaza side, if possible. Bring earplugs. You never know what's going to go on out on the Plaza.

hotel arcata.jpg
Victorian B&B in Arcata. Walking distance to Plaza, but it is a few blocks and you'll walk back up a hill on the way back. No matter. You need the exercise, and it'll help you see the town. 

lady anne inn arcata.jpg

California Redwoods Travel Guide: Your Itinerary

By Susan on December 4, 2008 7:20 PM | 2 Comments
We're going on a trip, you and I, through the coastal regions of California which feature the world's tallest trees, the Coastal Redwoods. Cousins of the squatter Sequoias inland (eg Yosemite), the Coastal Redwoods are their own species, and live in a much different climate. The Coastal Redwoods come with their own people, too, and we'll spend plenty of times exploring small artsy towns. Here's your itinerary. As each of these destinations gets it's own page here at Northern Word, they'll all be linked here and contain links and references to help you plan your trip. All points in this itinerary are in the State of California.  For best results, take this trip in July, August or early September. Take as many or as few of these stops as you like - and in the extended entries for each stop, plenty of alternatives will be offered. 

This is part of an ongoing series at Northern Word that will assemble a travel guide to my homeland, if you will, the Redwood Empire of Northern California and my "hometown" of Humboldt County.  You'll get travel specifics, links and tips, as well as some personal stories from my days in Humboldt.

Day 1: Fly into Eureka-Arcata Airport, now new and improved with an elk-proof fence! Flying into this remote airstrip located on a threatening sea cliff will take you most of a day from anywhere except the San Francisco Bay Area, so no time for sightseeing. After you arrive in your turboprop (hopefully on a clear day so you can see the endless green mountains below) pick up your pre-arranged rental car and toodle down to Arcata to stay the night in the Arcata Inn. Your hotel is located right on a Victorian shopping plaza  full of fun shops and colorful characters, and the epicenter of the northcoast's environmental movement.

Day 2: Arcata & Trinidad: Keeping Arcata (best hippie town EVER) as your base, get your first taste of the big trees in one of the nation's most glorious city parks, Redwood Park in Arcata.  Afterwords, stop by the small but fascinating Natural History Museum, sponsored by Humboldt State University.  Spend some time shopping Arcata's quaint Victorian shops.  Drive a few minutes north to Trinidad, and take a long walk on a gorgeous beach. Have lunch at a nearby seafood stop or the Indian casino (both with ocean view). Feeling energetic? I'll have some extra options for you. Return to Arcata and see if anything interesting is going on at Humboldt State that evening, or catch a movie at the fully restored Arcata Minor theater, a hundred years old with a stunning interior and a balcony. Only one block from your Inn.

Day 3: Lady Bird Johnson Grove: Check out of the Inn. Rent a tent and gear at the outdoor store on the Arcata Plaza. Head north to Orick, about 45 minutes from Arcata on the Redwood Highway. Stop at the beautiful Redwood National Park Visitor's Center on the beach. Get maps & permits for the days ahead.  Zip a couple of minutes north and head up Bald Hills Road to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Spend about two hours here, hiking around one of the most spectacular groves of old-growth redwoods in existence. Then head over to your (already reserved) overnight location, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, and drive several miles on a dirt road to Gold Bluffs Beach where you will camp on a remote strip of sand next to high sandstone cliffs.

Day 4: Fern Canyon and Prairie Creek Redwoods: Wake up and discover you're camping right next to an amazing canyon covered in ferns. The location is so unique it was featured in Jurassic Park 2 as if it was part of a tropical island. Explore the canyon and the beautiful beach and bluffs (no swimming here), catch sight of the world's largest living Elk, the Roosevelt, who often wander right through the campground. Then pack the tent and head back up to the main park headquarters, where you'll check into the campground there. Spend the rest of the day exploring the giant trees and viewing the elk herds of this jewel of a state park. Watch out for cougars.

gold-bluffs-beach-closeup.jpg
Day 5:  Redwood National Park Tall Trees Grove: Leave your tent at Prairie Creek (and any food in the bear locker) and head back up Bald Hills Road, well past Lady Bird Johnson. With permit in hand (you got it at the visitor's center a couple of days ago) hike the Tall Trees Trail, an all-day effort that can be strenuous. The trail takes you down to a grove with several of the world's tallest trees. In the summer, you can cross the pleasantly named monster Redwood Creek to get a better view. Bring plenty of water, good shoes, and enjoy this ten mile hike. Return, exhausted, to Prairie Creek for the night.

Day 6-7. Jedediah Smith State Park & Del Norte County: Head north on a stunning drive from Prairie Creek. Stop for plenty of photo ops along the way. Don't miss "Trees of Mystery" which has an excellent Native American museum and - believe it or not - a sky tram that takes you through the canopy of an old growth redwood grove. Very much worth a stop.   Head north to Crescent City, which was wiped out by a tsunamai after the '69 Alaska quake and is now a small supply point for a very small population here. Gas up and replenish camping supplies at the local stores. Check out a short walk to the sculpted beauty of Enderts Beach. Sometime after lunch, head inland on Highway 199 to Jedediah Smith State Park, where you'll camp right by the Smith River, a National Wild and Scenic River. You'll be sleeping across the river from a grove of redwoods thought to be the greatest concentration of biomass on the planet earth. They don't get much bigger than this.  The next morning hike through the park and see the sights.

Day 8: Drive to Eureka. Drive back down Hwy 101 and pick up sights you missed on the way: When you find a bridge with Golden Bears, take a sharp right onto a small highway and find a fake farmhouse with a stunning view that used to be a submarine watching station in WW2.  See the Klamath River overlook as well. Good whale watching area at the right time of year.  On your way south, stop in Arcata and turn in the tent and gear your rented at the Outdoor Store on the Arcata Plaza.  Drive a few miles further south to Eureka, and check into the Best Western Eureka Inn, a modern motel with a Victorian motif. Spend the remainder of the day checking out Eureka's exquisite victorian district, called "Old town" Don't miss the famous Carson Mansion and the many art galleries, which feature the work of America's premier landscape painting artist community. For a good overview of local work, see the Morris Graves museum nearby.

Day 9: Drive to Scotia. The Scotia Inn is your stop for the night, in a timber town that up until recently was owned by the Most Evil Company on Earth. But not anymore. With the effective end of the redwood wars with the purchase of Pacific Lumber by the family that founded the Gap Clothing Stores, it's safe for an environmentally conscious person to sleep in Scotia again. Timber harvesting goes on, but in a sustainable manner. And it's a nice inn very close to some great parks to see.

Day 10-11:  Humboldt Redwoods State Park & vicinity: Explore the redwood park most likely to make you feel like a Hobbit. Humboldt Redwoods has the biggest fallen trees you will EVER see - the log to end all logs is right here. Truly, a visitor feels like a lilliputian in this forest.

Day 12: Travel home. Check out of the Scotia Inn early and head back to the airport. Engage in meditation exercises to prepare you for the moment your rickety turboprop drops off the edge of the sea cliff  and sends you on your way home, with or without the contents of your stomach.

Alternate itinerary - follow these stops if you want to drive to the Redwood Empire from the San Francisco Bay Area. A popular option for out of staters who can fly in to this area more cheaply than points north.

Day 1: Santa Cruz - Beach town, counterculture fun, butterflies, funky shops, sweeping views, big waves, and a steam train.
Day 2: The Santa Cruz mountains - the ancient, low mountain range up the river from Santa Cruz. California's first state park - Big Basin - introduces you to the really big trees and some super-squiggly redwood bark. Boulder Creek, a formerly rough n' ready logging town, now all gussied up. Long drives on twisty roads in the dense redwoods. This is the darker, narrower, more compact version of redwood country.
Day 3: Head up to San Francisco via Highway 1. Enjoy the scenery, and end your day in a city whose thousands of Victorians are built out of old growth redwood. See the sights. We won't spend much time on this stop as guidebooks aplenty exist to help you. On to the north.
Day 6 - 7: After a day or so in San Francisco, start the drive into California's northern territories. Take a quick stop in Marin county to see the relatively modest Muir Woods - a precious grove, to be sure, but outdone by everything north (and Big Basin, too, for that matter). Then step over to the Marin Headlands and see an amazing lighthouse with a swinging bridge, because you can. Need more lighthouse? Head to the coast to see Point Reyes National Seashore. Why, you ask? There are no redwoods at the very end of the point, are there. Well, you go there because it's beautiful. And though it is most beautiful on a rare clear day, if the fog is low enough you'll see something amazing too.  Stay tuned for important tips on seeing the lighthouse in this episode.
Day 8: Drive north into the Mendocino Coast. Stay at one of the B&B's along the way. Wander north to Ft. Bragg. See gorgeous views and a new patch of land just preserved for the public.  
Day 9:  On to the Redwood Empire - see main itinerary above.


The Northern Word California Redwoods Travel Guide: Intro

By Susan on November 27, 2008 2:45 PM | 1 Comment

Ever wanted to see the redwoods? Those impossibly tall trees you've heard about? The big trees everyone tried to save all those years - do you want to know if they did? Save them, that is? Well, you've come to the right place. Raised in the redwoods of Northern California - two different regions of the redwoods, in fact - I am often asked for advice on where to go, when to go, where to stay, what drives to take, what towns to visit, where the biggest trees are, and lots more. On at least two occasions I've mapped out full itineraries for people visiting the big trees, and gotten rather nice feedback on the results. So now that I've settled the Northern Word blog into what I hope will be its permanent home, I'm going to put together a series of travel articles - with pictures, where I have them - of some of America's least-traveled treasures.   You'll see them interspersed with other posts here over the next few weeks, and a new category has been created on the right to gather them all. When done, this should be a comprehensive travel guide to the California redwoods. Suggestions and comments are always welcome.

Why see the redwoods? Because you haven't seen a real tree till you've seen one. And because the regions in which these trees thrive are some of the most culturally vibrant and interesting in the United States. And because finding them can take you on long drives through the gorgeous, unpopulated parts of California you didn't know existed.  Like the fairy-tale green Carson mansion in Eureka, California, pictured below. If the witch from Wicked were to move to redwood country, this is where she'd live. Ironically, it's a private men's club. Made of solid 19th-century old-growth redwood.

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Welcome to Northern Word, the online home of writer Susan McNerney. Northern Word features lots of photography, words on the business and process of writing, original bits of fiction and nonfiction, travelogues and travel writing, and anything else that Susan feels like posting. Browse the categories on the left (or the topic cloud below) to see previous episodes, and don't miss the two big travelogues: A Week in Rome and A Great Southwest Road Trip. Susan is originally from the redwood regions of Northern California, but now lives and writes in chilly Minnesota.

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