Avenue of the Giants (80 km)

Phillipsville to Pepperwood

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Why this ride

80 km one way from Redway - plan on about 1 h 23 of riding. On the way it passes Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Founders Grove. It suits an unhurried touring pace.

Roadbook

1. Phillipsville start

   Phillipsville is one of the first doorways into the Avenue of the Giants, and it announces the change in a gentle way. The little community, a few buildings at a turn-off from the main highway, is where the old road leaves the freeway and ducks beneath the redwoods. Within a mile, the light changes from bright sun to a deep green dusk, the air cools, and the smell of damp earth and resin takes over. The trees are enormous, with trunks wider than your garage, and they rise beyond sight.

   The coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, is the tallest tree on Earth, with the biggest individuals reaching over three hundred and fifty feet, and they live for well over a thousand years. This grove forms part of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, which protects some of the largest stands of old-growth redwood left, saved by conservation groups in the 1920s, after they realised that loggers were cutting them down at astonishing speed. Fog drifting in from the Pacific supplies much of the moisture the trees need during the dry summer.

   The Avenue itself is a thirty-one-mile ribbon of old highway that runs beside the freeway, along the south fork of the Eel River. It is narrow and curving, with a few tight spots, and the surface is rough in places where roots have heaved the asphalt. The speed limit is low, and rightly so, since the trees come up to the edge of the road, shadows fall in patches, and cyclists and sightseers often stop without warning. It is best taken slowly, with frequent stops to walk among the trunks, and the early morning light slanting through the mist is magical.

   Fuel is easy to find at Redway and Garberville, a short distance to the south, and it is wise to fill up before entering the grove. A number of roadside stands sell burls and carvings, and a few of the old tourist attractions, such as drive-through trees, are still running. It can be cool and damp even in summer, and winter brings heavy rain and the occasional flood, so be ready with waterproofs. Spring and autumn are quieter, and the redwood forest is at its most atmospheric when mist hangs among the trunks.

2. Humboldt Redwoods State Park scenic

   Ride into the redwoods from the bright, dry, noisy world of Highway 101 and the first thing that changes is the sound. Everything goes muffled. Humboldt Redwoods State Park holds tens of thousands of acres of forest along the South Fork of the Eel River, and its Rockefeller Forest is usually described as the largest surviving stretch of old-growth coast redwood anywhere. The trees are older than most European cathedrals and much taller, and the light under them is green and slow, with ferns and sorrel carpeting the floor.

   The Avenue of the Giants is the old route of the highway through this country, about thirty-one miles of two-lane road that runs parallel to the freeway and weaves among the trunks. On a motorcycle it is a lovely, easygoing ride rather than a fast one. The bends are gentle, the surface is mostly good, though tree roots heave the edges in places, and the speed limit is low. The main hazards are tourists wandering in the road to photograph the trunks, and the patches of shade that stay damp after rain. Mornings can be foggy and cold, while afternoons may be warm and bright, so wear layers.

   The story of the park is a conservation one. In the early twentieth century, as logging pushed up the coast, a group of well-off Californians formed the Save the Redwoods League to buy groves before the saws arrived. The state park grew out of their work, and the Rockefeller name belongs to a large donation in the 1930s. Floods on the Eel River have repeatedly swept through, and you can see high-water marks on the trunks. Roosevelt elk graze in the open meadows in places, and the salmon that run up the river in autumn are a reminder of the whole web of life here.

   There is camping in the park and a visitor centre at Weott, but fuel is a different question. Rio Dell and Fortuna to the north have petrol, and Garberville to the south has more, so fill up before you enter. Food is scarce along the Avenue, with small cafes and stores in villages like Myers Flat. Mobile signal is patchy among the trees, so plan ahead.

3. Founders Grove scenic

   Founders Grove is the short walk that most people take when they only have twenty minutes, and it works. A flat loop trail threads among some of the biggest redwoods on the Avenue of the Giants, and most of them are the kind of trunks you cannot get your arms around even if five friends join in. The grove is named for the founders of the Save the Redwoods League, the group of conservationists who started buying up groves in the 1910s to rescue them from the logging that was devouring the coast.

   The main attraction used to be the Dyerville Giant, a redwood that stood more than 360 feet tall, thought to be roughly sixteen centuries old. In March 1991 it fell during a storm, and it now lies along the path with its root plate towering above you like a wall of tangled earth. Walking along its length takes a while, and gives a much clearer idea of the scale than looking up at a living tree.

   For a rider this is a leg-stretching stop on a road that is good for slow thought. The Avenue is tree-lined, quiet, and rarely above moderate speed, so the point is to arrive relaxed. Park on the gravel, lock your helmet to the bike, and carry a lightweight jacket. It is often cooler and damper in the grove than on the road, and in summer fog may hang overhead until late morning. The ground can be slippery, and boots with a decent sole help.

   Redwoods have shallow roots, which is why they cluster and why storms bring them down, and the forest floor is a record of that: fallen logs, new trunks sprouting from old stumps, and mushrooms in the wet months. Banana slugs, bright yellow and unbothered, creep across the trail in damp weather. There are no services at the grove itself. Fortuna, about thirty-four kilometres north, and Garberville to the south have fuel, and a few small stores around Myers Flat and Weott sell drinks and snacks. Do fill the tank before starting down the Avenue.

4. Pepperwood finish

   Pepperwood is another name for the California bay laurel, a tree whose leaves smell sharp and peppery when crushed, and the little community that took it as a name sits at the northern end of the Avenue of the Giants. It is a scatter of houses and a few farm buildings beside the Eel River, with redwoods behind and a flat river bottom in front, and it marks the point where the old highway meets the freeway again after its slow journey through the giants.

   The area has a heavy history of timber. The big lumber company that owned much of this land built the nearby town of Scotia, one of the last company towns in America, with a mill on the river that processed redwood for decades. Houses were rented to workers, and a company store and a hall stood at the centre. You can still see the mill, and a small museum tells the story of the logging era, with its saws, teams and railways. The scale of the cutting explains why people fought to save what remains.

   Floods have also shaped the valley. The Eel River is prone to dramatic winter floods, and in 1955 and 1964 great surges of water tore through the redwood groves, carrying away bridges, houses and even huge trees. High-water marks are painted on buildings in some places, and they climb well above head height, a vivid reminder of the forces at work in this landscape. In summer, the river drops to a gentle trickle, with gravel bars and swimming holes, and the valley feels peaceful.

   The riding here is a gentle way to end the journey. The road runs close to the river, in easy curves with the trees thinning to open farmland and the hills of the Coast Range ahead. Traffic is light, but log trucks and sightseers are common. Rio Dell, a few kilometres on, has fuel and a few places to eat, and Fortuna, a larger town, has more stations, supermarkets and motels. The weather is mild and often foggy, particularly in the morning, and the climate is cool even in summer, so a jacket is useful. Spring brings wildflowers and green hillsides, while autumn is calm.

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