Northern California coast road trip with young kids
March 17, 2016 11:48 AM Subscribe
We're planning a last-minute road trip down to the northern California coast for Spring Break (next week), leaving from Portland this weekend. Looking for cool stuff to do with 2 active girls, ages 3 and 7.
Our first stop will be the Trinidad/Redwoods area for a few nights, which we're reasonably familiar with. For the next 3-4 days we'd like to explore farther down the coast, maybe a little inland. We're thinking as far as Mendocino or thereabouts--much farther will be pushing it time- and distance-wise.
So we're looking for fun family things to do & see, places to eat and sleep or camp. Anything outdoorsy, parks, also kid-friendly museums or other indoor sights, roadside weirdness, we're up for anything. Trying to keep things on the budget end overall (hence the camping). Thanks!
Our first stop will be the Trinidad/Redwoods area for a few nights, which we're reasonably familiar with. For the next 3-4 days we'd like to explore farther down the coast, maybe a little inland. We're thinking as far as Mendocino or thereabouts--much farther will be pushing it time- and distance-wise.
So we're looking for fun family things to do & see, places to eat and sleep or camp. Anything outdoorsy, parks, also kid-friendly museums or other indoor sights, roadside weirdness, we're up for anything. Trying to keep things on the budget end overall (hence the camping). Thanks!
Patrick Point State Park also has a lot of cool looking small driftwood pieces on the beach. I'm sure your daughters would love "collecting" there.
posted by blob at 12:57 PM on March 17, 2016
posted by blob at 12:57 PM on March 17, 2016
Patrick Point ALSO has awesome tide pools and cool big rocks to climb on - I have a very clear memory from my childhood of eating a picnic lunch there (I grew up in Humboldt). It's also pretty small, as state parks go, so easy to get from one spot to another.
Seconding Fern Canyon - one of my favorite short little day hikes ever, plus it's a cool drive to get there, and there's elk in the park. carmicha's list in general is awesome. And check out previous Asks on roadtripping the north coast - I think I even recall some that focused on kid-friendly options.
Other Del Norte/Humboldt suggestions:
- Crescent City is pretty uncharming, but there's a pull out just south of town with a cool lagoon/creek/small beach. There's a few other decent pull south of town, so good places to stop and stretch your legs. If you're grabbing food in Crescent City, I'd recommend Chart Room Restaurant as a good family-friendly spot right on the docks, with sea lions to check out.
- Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka is a cute little zoo, and includes a petting zoo and a free-flight aviary. Next door is a great playground/larger park, which includes a duck pond if you head down into the redwoods.
- Old Town in Eureka and the Plaza Square in Arcata are nice places to stop in each town.
- Arcata Community Forest is up the hill behind the college. It's not an amazing redwood forest, as these things go, but there's short hikes to be had AND there are many big tree stumps to climb (from when the old growth trees were cut way back in the day) and burnt out redwoods to check out. I LOVED climbing these things when I was a kid (and, uh, when I went back a couple of years ago...).
posted by Jaclyn at 1:24 PM on March 17, 2016
Seconding Fern Canyon - one of my favorite short little day hikes ever, plus it's a cool drive to get there, and there's elk in the park. carmicha's list in general is awesome. And check out previous Asks on roadtripping the north coast - I think I even recall some that focused on kid-friendly options.
Other Del Norte/Humboldt suggestions:
- Crescent City is pretty uncharming, but there's a pull out just south of town with a cool lagoon/creek/small beach. There's a few other decent pull south of town, so good places to stop and stretch your legs. If you're grabbing food in Crescent City, I'd recommend Chart Room Restaurant as a good family-friendly spot right on the docks, with sea lions to check out.
- Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka is a cute little zoo, and includes a petting zoo and a free-flight aviary. Next door is a great playground/larger park, which includes a duck pond if you head down into the redwoods.
- Old Town in Eureka and the Plaza Square in Arcata are nice places to stop in each town.
- Arcata Community Forest is up the hill behind the college. It's not an amazing redwood forest, as these things go, but there's short hikes to be had AND there are many big tree stumps to climb (from when the old growth trees were cut way back in the day) and burnt out redwoods to check out. I LOVED climbing these things when I was a kid (and, uh, when I went back a couple of years ago...).
posted by Jaclyn at 1:24 PM on March 17, 2016
Fort Bragg (just north of Mendocino):
Botanical gardens that go down to the sea
Whale watching
Point Cabrillo light station is beautiful and a fairly easy walk
Egghead's is a very good, Wizard-of-Oz-themed diner; it can be busy but it's so tasty. Restaurants in Fort Bragg in general are cheaper than in Mendocino.
Cowlick's Ice Cream is good and they have candycap mushroom ice cream.
Glass Beach Inn is an unpretentious B&B where we usually stay. You have to call them to get rates, but they're friendly. They also know the area really well and can suggest kid-friendly things. They are inexpensive compared to Mendocino B&Bs and might make a nice break from camping.
Bring binoculars for whale-spotting!
(I may be in the area then myself, so uh...say hi?)
posted by wintersweet at 2:35 PM on March 17, 2016
Botanical gardens that go down to the sea
Whale watching
Point Cabrillo light station is beautiful and a fairly easy walk
Egghead's is a very good, Wizard-of-Oz-themed diner; it can be busy but it's so tasty. Restaurants in Fort Bragg in general are cheaper than in Mendocino.
Cowlick's Ice Cream is good and they have candycap mushroom ice cream.
Glass Beach Inn is an unpretentious B&B where we usually stay. You have to call them to get rates, but they're friendly. They also know the area really well and can suggest kid-friendly things. They are inexpensive compared to Mendocino B&Bs and might make a nice break from camping.
Bring binoculars for whale-spotting!
(I may be in the area then myself, so uh...say hi?)
posted by wintersweet at 2:35 PM on March 17, 2016
You'll have to go to one of the parks where you can drive through the redwood tree. It's something I always wanted to do as a kid but never got to until I was 45-ish. The park I went to had picnic areas and hiking trails, etc, but driving through the tree was interesting too.
posted by patheral at 3:22 PM on March 17, 2016
posted by patheral at 3:22 PM on March 17, 2016
Many great Things to do here-we were in the area 2 years ago. The arcata forest has a playground after a short walk through the giant redwoods and stumps.
Also, Agate Beach is beautiful. We enjoyed it while wearing windbreakers in July. Patrick's Point was also a big hit at low tide. We saw a few banana slugs in Fern Valley, with was a film site for Jurrasic Park and the Ewok portion of Star Wars if it looks familiar.
posted by childofTethys at 3:51 AM on March 18, 2016
Also, Agate Beach is beautiful. We enjoyed it while wearing windbreakers in July. Patrick's Point was also a big hit at low tide. We saw a few banana slugs in Fern Valley, with was a film site for Jurrasic Park and the Ewok portion of Star Wars if it looks familiar.
posted by childofTethys at 3:51 AM on March 18, 2016
Response by poster: Thanks for all the suggestions!
posted by gottabefunky at 11:24 AM on March 18, 2016
posted by gottabefunky at 11:24 AM on March 18, 2016
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posted by carmicha at 12:44 PM on March 17, 2016 [1 favorite]