We loved it all, it was a great trip!
We didn't camp, but stayed in lodging close to our different destinations.
This worked out well for us.
We started out in Boise, ID where we live,
and drove to Bend OR in the evening.
The next morning we drove to Crater Lake which only took a couple of hours.
It was nice to break
up some of the driving for our kids and my sanity.
When your first see Crater Lake it takes your breath away.
It had been an unusually snowy winter for the
Pacific Northwest this past winter.
Even though, we came to Crater Lake in the beginning of July,
there was still a lot of snow, and we were unable to drive all around the lake.
Roads were still closed from winter snow.
We were only able to do a partial hike because trails were closed to snow too.
We were also unable to hike down to the lake,
to go on a boat tour, because or road closures.
I highly recommend visiting Crater Lake
in late July or August to be able to do the boat tours.
We stayed in these cabins.
The next morning we drove further south to the Oregon Caves.
It was another couple hours away.
It's a rather large cave that you can have a walking tour through.
The tour takes about an hour with a park ranger as your tour guide.
All our whole family enjoyed the tour and caves.
We stayed at the Chateau at the Oregon Caves.
That was fun too.
The next day we drove further south to Crescent City, CA.
We stayed at a VRBO listing in Gasquet, CA.
This took another couple hours to drive to get to as well.
The drives and scenery to all these places was beautiful, though.
We stopped at a lighthouse, and the kids explored the tide pools
My kids could spend hours at tide pools.
By the afternoon it was time to explore the Redwoods!
I discovered there are 3 different areas of the Redwoods in CA to visit.
Starting up North there is the Jedediah Smith Redwoods state park near Crescent City, CA.
Further south is the Humboldt State Park,
and near San Francisco is the famous Muir Woods Redwoods.
Each of the above Redwood Parks are famous for different reasons,
and different famous trees.
Our family only had time to visit the Redwoods near Crescent City, CA.
The state park was nearby, only about a 20-30 min beautiful drive.
I highly recommend visiting the ranger station as the first thing you do.
This helps you to get your bearings of what you want to see and do.
And to get a good map!
We enjoyed the Redwood for a couple of days.
We loved it, it was AMAZING.
Words and photos can not describe it.
I joke with everyone, I talk to about it,
that if you haven't been to the Redwoods yet;
DO IT NOW, plan to go TODAY.
It's good for the soul, and fun for all ages.
The redwoods are famous for these slugs.
Of course my boys, maybe my girls too, love them.
Eeeewwww!
Here's what we did at the Redwoods:
We visited Jedediah Smith Redwoods Park.
You can drive and park your car, and walk through different
parts of the Redwoods.
They filmed part of Star Wars in here.
We had fun driving on the Howland Hill Road to Stout Grove.
I recommend this!
We didn't do, but I wish we had was the
Fern Canyon hike.
Klamath a little town on highway 101 has some fun touristy things
to do, that we didn't do, but looked fun.
You can drive your car through a tree in this town for a fee.
Since the Redwoods are along the coast
we also had some nice beach time too!
We visited the beach near Brookings, OR.
Kyle had fun using this chair on this vacation.
It fills with air, and stores really small when the air is taken out of it.
He loved it.
It really was a nice vacation and so beautiful!
