drive through trees
 

I am planning a family trip to San Francisco in March & have one day that I am trying to figure out what to do & visiting the big trees is on the top of my list. My question is what is the closest place to San Francisco to see the big trees? How long is the drive? Is there anything to stop & see along the way?

Thanks in advance

There's a nice forest pretty close, less than an hour north (depending on what part of the city you're starting from, you could be there in less than half an hour). This is Muir Woods.

If you really want to drive through the trees rather than walking amongst them, you should head up north to Sequoia Nat'l Park.

I read this as drive-thru trees, not driving through large tree areas. All the trees you can actually drive through are much farther north on the 101 (about 3-4 hours). Muir Woods is definitely the way to go for a one-day trip outside the city.

Yes, that is what I am after. The kids would get a kick out of driving through an actual tree. I don't mind a 3-4 hour drive each way. I just didn't want it to be a 6 hour drive. I will check out the website & see if that is what we want to do. Do you know if there is anything along the way that would be worth stopping? Not looking for anything major, just something that would take an hour or so and help break up the drive.

I drove thru one of the trees up there on a road rally. Our day was Ashland, Oregon to San Francisco, so not a lot of time to stop along the way. We did drive along the coast at times and stop when the view warranted. But do not really remember too much else between the Humboldt area and Santa Rosa. The area around Willits was sort of cool. You can pick up the Skunk Train from there

Santa Rosa is only about an hour into the drive. Besides wineries there is the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Yosemite had a separate area with the Big Guys. If I remember correctly there was 1 that you were able to drive thru, not sure if its still standing or if it fell and is lying on its side.

Its alot closer to Yosemite then Sequoia I believe from SF. Although Sequoia has the most famous and I think the tallest of them. Gen Grant,Gen Lee, Gen Sherman

No more drive through tree at Yosemite, it hasn't been around for at least 10 years and maybe more like 30! Oh, they stopped the fire fall too... :) :)

Don't forget that in March, you could have travel plans adversely affected by weather (i.e., serious quantities of snow) if you are at a higher elevation.

A few other options...
 

While you certainly can find Giant Redwoods at Muir Woods...

You can also find them down the San Francisco penninsula at Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, Big Basin Redwoods State Park, or Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. While the first is less than 45 minutes from San Francisco via Highway 1 (scenic coastline) or Skyline drive (mountian vistas)....the last is right next door to the Roaring Camp Big Trees Railroad, giving you a chance to ride a working steam train through deep dark forests, and just above beautiful Santa Cruz.


The only redwood left that you can drive through is about 90 miles south of Eureka on Highway 101 in Myers Flat on the Avenue of the Giants....which is 225 miles North of San Francisco. (about 4 hours)