The Magical Forest of the Prairie Creek Redwoods - California

Like most best things in life .... It is a place that my wife and I stumbled upon "accidentally".... and have been going back every year ever since, well almost every year!

It was November of 2013. We needed a little getaway form the city of Los Angeles to reset from what turned out to be quite an intense and eventful year for both of us.

The idea was to spend a few days in Sonoma - start the trip off on the right foot with a few days of tasting some of the world's finest and most delicious pinot noirs and zinfandels and then head to Eureka. Someone we know highly recommended visiting Eureka and thought it would be the perfect place for us to spend a few days hiking among the Redwoods there.

Up to that day, neither of us has ever driven north beyond San Francisco along the coast and we heard so many wonderful stories about the breathtaking scenery. We decided it is time to go and see it for ourselves. In addition to loving and appreciating what nature has to offer, we are both avid hikers and outdoor enthusiasts and were really looking forward to exploring new territories and new paths unknown to us.

We kicked off the trip as planned - spent two nights in Sonoma, stayed at a beautiful winery, biked around wine tasting and made new friends. On day three of our journey we started heading further up north on CA-29 Hwy, stopping by for a couples mud bath in Calistoga (my first encounter with a bathtub full of hot mud), before continuing the journey to our initial destination, Eureka, which was still about 4 hours away at that point. I must admit, that the mud bath felt unexpectedly pleasant and relaxing, maybe even a tad bit too relaxing, given the fact that we still had to drive for the rest of the day. Finally, late in the evening we reached Eureka. While it was already dark and we could not see much, the town did not give off a vibe even remotely close to what we expected it to be. To make it even less promising, the hotel we booked, which by the way was one of the highest rated hotels in the town, was packed with guests, out of which 90% were comprised of construction workers of a major local road rebuilding effort in the area (or so the receptionist explained). While I am not trying to imply in any way anything against these hardworking people, the problem was that the parking lot looked and felt more like a yard of some industrial compound than a hotel - given that all these hardworking people were already parked with their heavy duty trucks, bob-cats, trailers and heavy machinery! Needless to say, this was not the relaxing environment we were looking for and were a little upset that the hotel did not bother to disclose what was going on when we booked our stay - they apparently already knew. Unfortunately, the whole day of driving took a toll on us and we surrendered to the fact that we will have to spend one night here and hope that when we wake up it will all somehow turn out to be just a bad dream. Not-So-Fast!
When we checked into our room, which was an "upgrade", we soon realized that instead of a queen bed, we were assigned a double bed, the guests in the room next door were quite noisy and the foot traffic on the hallways just did not seem to die off! Under normal circumstances, my better half would waltz back to the reception desk, "communicate" our concerns and dissatisfaction and get us a better arrangement. However, we both realized that it was almost pointless to complain and it is probably better refocus our efforts and start looking for a contingency immediately. We went online and started searching for other options in the area. We soon found out that it is pointless to look for anything else in the town of Eureka and had to expand our search to a 50 mile radius. After a few more clicks with the new filters in place, a recommendation that caught our eyes finally popped up. It was an RV park with camping spots and a few wooden cabins. The cabins looked neat and clean and, judging by the pictures, were tucked under the trees in the forest, almost exactly what we were initially looking for but could not find anywhere in Eureka! This new destination was another 30 miles to the north in a small and quaint shore town called Trinidad. At that point we figured it will be a quick drive in the morning and will most likely be a much better way to spend the 4 remaining days of the trip rather than being stuck in a hotel and town that just did not sit well with either of us. We completed the booking and killed the lights - the night did turn out to be a long one as neither of us could sleep properly, but we both had something to look forward to in the morning.

With the first light, both of us pooped out of bed, packed up the few items we brought up from the car the night before and were ready to head to Trinidad! The trip took about 40 minutes and was an easy drive.

When we arrived to our new destination we immediately knew that it was well worth the extra effort and drive. We almost felt like the pain and discomfort we went through the night before was the prep for what again turned out to be a memorable adventure! It was an RV park situated under the redwood trees with several wooden cabins scattered around the premises. A quiet and inviting little environment that was promising everything we were looking for!

We checked into our little cabin, which is as close you can get to camping but with the convenience of having a bed a small kitchenette next to the bed a shower and toilet area separated with a thin wooden wall and a door. Most importantly - the cabin had heating! This little detail turned out to be meaningful when you find yourself anywhere north of Los Angeles in November!

As soon as we unloaded the car, we ran to the reception desk and asked the lovely lady working at the desk if she could recommend any good hiking trails. It turned out that the selection was quite impressive and the wall organizers were full of little brochures - courtesy of California State Parks - out of which we were able to pick the one that seemed long enough to fill the rest of our day. It was another 35 minute drive to the North, but it looked very promising and we were ready to go!

The trail-heads started at the Elk Prairie Campgrounds ( http://www.redwoodhikes.com/PrairieCreek/PrairieCreek.html ) and we had several interesting routes to pick from. This meant that we did not have to worry about finding additional routes for the rest of our stay. It turned out to be one of the best hiking destinations we discovered. The forest was magical, mushrooms were growing everywhere - this was by mere luck as we arrived in the middle of mushroom season and after a lot of rain soaked the earth - the light was creating spectacular sightings weaving through the trees and filtering through the fog and the mist that was lingering in the forest. I don't think I or anyone can do it justice by trying to describe with words what we experienced and even the pictures you are about to see are not the same as walking through this beauty and smelling the air with your own lungs, but I hope that what you read and what you are about to see will inspire you to go out there and explore for yourself!
Enjoy...