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Travel Tips: Ultimate Redwood National Park Guide for Soft Adventures!
www.atravelpath.com
Ryan and Katy's Social and Website:
https://www.instagram.com/smilkos_lens/
https://smilkoslens.com/
In today’s segment of Travel Tips, Ryan and Katy Smilko join us again to share one of their favorite destinations, Redwood National Park. Having been to 49.5 states (tune in to Part 1 for the explanation!), over 40 national parks, and have explored all over California, they know a thing or two about travel. This was a super informative guide for any first time or returning visitors to Redwood National and State Parks.
A few quick clarifications from today’s show:
We (Tyler and Hope) saw our elk on Bald Hill Road near where it turns into dirt road. The sunset location we mentioned in the video was the Redwood Creek Overlook, not far from Bald Hill Road. This location is about an hour south of the Klamath River Overlook that Ryan and Katy mentioned.
Dogs ARE allowed in Mt. Rainier National Park but must be leashed and only allowed in campgrounds, parking lots, and paved roads.
Resources:
https://smilkoslens.com/booking-travel-with-points/
https://smilkoslens.com/credit-cards/
https://smilkoslens.com/activities-in-redwood-national-park/
https://smilkoslens.com/redwood-national-and-state-park/
Elk Farmhouse: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/28871227?source_impression_id=p3_1700937679_ukelVdhQBMvpf7bF
Internet:
https://soliswifi.co/
https://www.starlink.com/
Epic California Map & Guide
https://www.rexby.com/Smilkos_Lens/unitedstates
Within the above map/guide, there is an itinerary for Redwood National Park. If it’s easier to link to that directly, you can use:
https://www.rexby.com/Smilkos_Lens/i/B4saWK_JTcanSHqGSwxV2Q
Other services/links for travel hacks
https://www.going.com/ https://www.google.com/travel/flights
https://www.travelzoo.com/
Transcript:
All right Ryan and Katy so thank you for coming back to the show we had an awesome time chatting with you guys the other day so let's now talk about destinations so let me know where we're going to talk about and where have you guys spent a lot of time this was really tough um you know we've been to 49 and a half States and we've spent an enormous amount of time exploring California in particular but uh we decided to nail it down to one place in California which is Redwood National and state parks for those who don't know it's in the far Northwestern corner of California so it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere uh not really near any major cities or anything um and we've probably spent a week or two their total um combined because you're originally from California right I am I'm from California but I'm from the Bay Area and despite it being called Northern California uh I think it's about a seven hour drive still from the Bay Area to Redwoods so redwoods what would you say it's a great destination for someone who likes to do what soft Adventures it is definitely a soft Adventure Park soft Adventures for us is um hikes and things that are accessible to the majority of people and you know you don't have to be an expert hiker or Backcountry camper or rock climber or anything like that so typically hikes that are less than like three to four miles yeah scenic drives Scenic overlooks you know things that most people W could and would want to do so there's no like specialty or special skill sets required yeah and we're big on that is that a term you guys coin yourselves soft adventurers or is that I wish yeah we definitely cannot take credit for that honestly I don't know where I saw it became like a daily term like we were with people who were very hard adventurers and I was like this is not for me this is I'm very soft adventure and like we started using it so much in our daily life we're like oh like this is our like how we Define what we do because when you're traveling people like for some reason gravitate towards rock climbing or like the hardest hike or like the 14,000 foot you know Peak Pikes and I'm like you guys can just skip inviting me if you need a bear canister I probably don't want to go yeah it's a good gauge but um that is one thing we love about redwoods is um it actually so it's a national park and state park so there's I think three state parks uh California state parks that make up Redwood National Park and it's the only National Park in the US that is a joint partnership between state parks and National Park it's ideal for people who like to be surrounded and immersed in nature and trees in particular so it's just um I mean it's just a magical place the trees are bigger than you could possibly imagine and it feels like there will be like a fairy that will pop out behind every corner and like it's just one of the most peaceful places and I think what most people don't maybe think of when they think of like a Redwood National Park is that it butts up to the ocean so it's really where like the forest meets the California coast and it's just like a really special place that I feel like you have to see in person to understand like the magic of it all I always call it Fern Gully because it if you remember that movie from way back when but it you just really made yourself old I know I did I mean if people could see the video the white in my beard would give it away first but um the I mean these trees are so big that you can drive through them they are you can walk through them can walk through some I mean they're almost 2,000 years old they are literally just towering sky scraper trees but it's also super-duper Lush there's Fern and yeah it's just incredibly beautiful and magical and it's one of the easier parks to visit to hi hike to experience um and so it's we also love a good drivable park where you get a lot of the views from the road um or if it's just beautiful from the road just you feel like you're in it without having to hike seven miles to get to that one Lake that everyone takes a picture of um so we love that about redwoods yeah oh that's awesome so how do you what would you say you need to spend in Redwoods to really enjoy that full like Redwood experience see all the big spot you know do that drive how many days are we talking because of its remoteness um drive time and travel time definitely needs to be factored in um for anyone who's flying in to visit at the park they're likely either going to fly into the San Francisco Bay area or maybe Eugene Oregon um further north and both of those are going to be basically a six to seven hour drive and so day one and then the last day of the trip are basically just travel days yeah so excluding those I would say two to three days is absolutely perfect it would allow someone to really kind of hit all the top spots best hike the best views scenic drives family fun adventures and experiences and really get to go home feeling like they saw it all oh awesome now and as far as time frame during the year what would you recommend as the best time to go that's really tough I think the blanket answer would be any time of year um California especially along the coasts the temperatures are pretty temperate and don't change drastically with the seasons so at worst in the winters I think the average high is about 40 um which is chilly it's not super fun for being out but you don't have to worry about six feet of snow or ice or you know freezing cold temp like the low even at that high the low would probably be like 35 like it would be such a small window and then in the summer at its warmest the high is maybe like 75 really I would guess that wow yeah it's pretty temperate most of the time um and because it's so remote it's also not a heavily trafficked Park so it's not like you're going to a Yos or a Grand Canyon or Yellowstone where you're going to have millions of visitors there every single day um so you don't really have to worry a ton about massive crowds but I think our preference if you could pick it would be spring or fall and I think one interesting thing to think about um when visiting this park is it doesn't have like you don't go for fall full foliage the trees don't turn for someone who doesn't like pay attention to that it would be like a maybe a letdown if they went for fall thinking I'm going to drive by trees it'll be pretty um so that's something to consider if you're looking for a fall destination yeah that's a really good point because the there's not those like drastic seasonality changes to it that does mean that people wanting to visit have a lot of flexibility because if they decide you know if they go I can only go in June or the only time I can get time off is in October it's not like they're going to go and have a completely different experience at the park than if they went at a different time of year so from a flexibility standpoint I think it's a great destination all right so I know you guys have Junior so obviously you're always on the hunt for those dog friendly um places and trails and just places and things you can do um but do you notice is there a lot of dogs when you go are there a lot of kids I mean there's not a lot of anyone but um it's not a very dog friendly Park unfortunately um but luckily if you're van traveling because it's always temperate you don't have to worry about the dog when you're hiking I mean not dog friendly like hotels or not dog friendly Airbnb’s are not dog friendly um there are definitely accommodations that are dog friendly but they're pretty spread out and in some cases you might be paying quite a bit more or might not be convenient based on location you found campgrounds the three each of the state parks that makes up the National Park have campgrounds and all of the campgrounds are dog friendly so whether they're tent camping or RV camping or otherwise um those places are dog friendly I would say it's very kid-friendly though it is very kid and as someone who doesn't have kids from a dog friendliness perspective I would say um and this is sort of getting to one of the upcoming questions but it would be our only complaint I think of the park sure I find that a lot of national parks too like they're not allowed in the park but there's just a lot of trails where they're not allowed to be on the trails and I think I think one of the parks Mount Rainier actually there were no dogs allowed anywhere I think you remember that yeah so that's definitely something if you're going to National Park just keep an eye out when you're going to plan that we were actually just going over there's I think 17 dog friendly national parks Junior's been to 16 of them oh no kidding which one is he missing Alaska oh that's very interesting about Rainer I really want to look that up because for the most part dogs can enter but they have to stay in parking lots and paved that's good yeah definitely fact check us on Mount Rainier let know you find we'll put we'll put the uh I think you are right I think it is they can go in they just can't like you said they have to stick to the pave Trail but we'll put the answer in the description here down below so cool thanks I'll look for it yeah um so as far as like nighttime what is there to do or what have you guys done or like to do when you know the sun goes down because you're kind of in that that you know secluded area uh we're definitely not your nighttime crowd yeah uh we are early sleepers um and Ryan mentioned the remoteness so there's not like a city life or night life if you so our our ideal night life is like campfire um hanging out and just like enjoying definitely like a Sunset and yeah if there's campfire involved we're there I would also say because of its remoteness and the fact that there isn't any kind of major city nearby means that there's not a ton of light pollution and so from a night sky perspective it is definitely a beautiful place to sit outside and stargaze or look for way so that would be those would be kind of our those would be our nighttime activities yeah that's perfect that's what it's all about right up our alley yeah how about um speaking of nighttime what about sleeping Arrangements like where do you guys find that you can sleep when you're visiting um redwoods I would say that you know a lot of our travels we look for places that are free and legally allowed to park and um gosh why am I drawing a blank on the word Boondock boondocking I had no idea what he was saying thank you I was like you know you think after living in a van for two years that would beat you in these years but yeah there's not a lot available up there in terms of that California doesn't really have a lot of um like BLM land or free land that you can just go drive out and park on and so for the most part if you're in a van or an RV of some sort um it's going to be one of the state park campgrounds there are some RV parks scattered about the area as well that's typically what we do we did stay at an Airbnb once um during one of our visits which we loved it was there's a river up there and it was right on the river so you know whether it be for Sunrise or Sunset it was very beautiful and closely located to the parks I would say camping and campgrounds are going to be the best way to stay and EXP experience the parks but there are Airbnb’s and hotels very nearby for those who aren't looking to Camp or families or you know or if it's in those colder temperatures it's just not fun yeah you're not GNA find me in a tent in a cold temperature yeah us NE it's not a soft Adventure no our we're glamping here with our with our same that's a borderline medium Adventure yeah yeah yes temperature does play into how soft our adventures are definitely it's good point what have you experienced with wildlife in the in Redwoods uh deer and Elk yeah I think are the only two that we've come across the elk are everywhere outside of the park um there's actually a place called Elk Meadow every day the elk migrate from one area to another and there's like a road crossing and it happens daily and so it's like if you are at that spot at the wrong time of day or the right time or the right time you're basically stuck there for like 30 minutes as this massive herd of elk just migrate from one area to another and then there's actually an Airbnb that the elk might like go into the front yard and I'm talking like 50 50 elk go into the front yard of this like Farmhouse Airbnb every single morning and just lay there and graze and it's absolutely incredible we've never stayed there but we've gone past it multiple times and seen people where they're just out there on the patio sipping their coffee and there's 50 elk just in the front yard hanging out can't be that is that that's actually inside the park I take it you know I'd have to double check and look it's weird because there's the park is made up of three state parks and they don't all they don't all up against it to one another and so there's kind of like gaps in between each section of the of the Park yeah elk and deer we've seen deer on the trails yeah they come really close too yeah they're like not really scared of people anymore yeah but it definitely adds to the beauty of the park and just sort of the majestic Ness of it you know being out there to see these beautiful animals just you know yeah it's incredible I know when we went to Redwoods we saw plenty we were up I think on the more southern part of the national park it was on our way out and we went to we went to the Elk Lodge or the elk crossing where you're supposed to be able to see him and we didn't see him over there but we drove up this hill um to eventually completely cleared out and it didn't look like Redwood National Park at all and then we just saw a bunch of them grazing never find yeah it's so fun just sitting there you know recording watching them you pull over for you know 10 20 minutes just watching them hang out we definitely did that every time we saw them it's like every time it's different right doesn't matter how many times you see them or how many different Parks you just have to sit there and watch you can never take too many videos and photos that's so true problem it's a good problem to have do you have a special sunrise or Sunset spot at redwoods or something where you've enjoyed in the past um Sunset would be the gold gold Bluffs Beach yeah um is really beautiful um that's actually where one of the campgrounds is also um so it's a great place to stay and experience sunrise and sunset nice obviously Sunrise would be on the opposite side of the sky so you're not getting it over the water but um still get the beautiful colors you still and to have the ocean right there is really really ma amazing I'm wondering if the Overlook that we went to for Sunset is the same one you guys went to because it sounds very similar but there's the I think the river that runs through is called the clamo river the place we went to is called clamo River Overlook and you drive up like up a a road and you get up there and there's just like a small parking lot and it overlooks the ocean and the river yeah that does sound like where we were I'm pretty sure the just said vist to overlook maybe there was another sign but that does sound because I remember something on the Internet different than like the actual signage yeah so I remember like we saw looked at the ocean we couldn't it was like kind of the neatest thing because we were looking at the ocean but there was a layer of fog where we couldn't see the ocean but we could see on top of the fog and it was something you know coming from the East we had never seen anything like that before and then there were clouds on top of that with the sun set and yeah that was it was like magical that was really cool how many videos do you think you have of that too many we had two phones and a camera so we had all three of them going I can tell you oh my goodness that would be us also y it's just like you can't you you can't stop yeah because we did have to drive a little bit for it so I think we that's one of the things why we enjoyed it so much and why we stayed there so long is cuz it was one other couple they watched sunrise or Sunset and then they left but like Tyler said we like when you wait a little bit afterwards and that whole Sky just lights up and like everyone's left cuz I think oh the sun went down so that's what we always wait for I do remember the bugs came out so I don't know same with you guys but we were fortunate we had bug spray and like there were mosquitoes that came out of nowhere once it that sun kind of set and it got dark so I don't know if that's uh well I guess September SE last year when we've been it's been cooler I don't think yeah I know we went in November once yeah it might have been it might have been cool enough that the bugs were yeah that sounds terrible though they came out of the Woodworks for us yeah so I guess just bring it in case you need it hopefully don't but we definitely did that night and we're glad we had it wonderful all right awesome so we're going to move to this next segment it's called the final four countdown we have four more questions and the first question is going to start with actually Four answers so um in Redwoods National Park or outside nearby um what are some of your favorite breakfast lunch dinner and dessert spots got to be careful at redwoods not a not a ton of uh hip happen in spots you know many of the places are kind of like small roadside gas station type places um um so I don't I don't have any specific dining spots whether it be for breakfast lunch or dinner the two nearest cities that kind of bookend the parks there's Crescent City which is at the North and then there's Eureka at the South um that's where you're going to find the largest cities and the most options in terms of dining and restaurants outside of that if you're kind of in the three state parks or the you know the overarching national park at all you're really going to be on your own for food want to pack it in you're going to want to pack it in and pack it out um which is typically what we do anyways I'm glad I asked someone might not know that and they don't show up with any food so that's good to know yeah I think that's a a very good you uh eat out of the van when you were there or probably we yeah we did most most of it was eating little Weber que we'd open up and you know PB and JS for lunch you know yes ham sandwiches and whatever we found usually you know Farmers Market stuff we'd Chef up for dinner nice yeah that's yeah stay at a campground bring all the grilling fixin and Grill some food at the campground that's that's the way to go what are three things to do in or around Redwood that somebody might not be aware of if they hadn't spent um a little bit of time there this is uh ideal for anyone who might be coming up from sort of the San Franc San Francisco Bay Area about an hour or so south of the park um there's a few really cool experiences there's a place called uh Avenue of Giants and it's basically a Scenic Drive that is I think like 10 15 miles long and it's just beautiful redwoods on both sides of the road and it's one of the one of the best places to kind of get a Scenic Drive type experience while surrounding yourself with the Redwoods there is a place called driveth through Tree Park and inside this park I think you pay $ five dollar to go in but there is a tree called the chandelier tree that the base is cut out and you can actually drive through the tree providing your vehicle is small enough I think the I think it's like six and a half feet by 6 and a half feet or something so Vans are not going to fit but if you've got you know a sedan or a smaller size SUV they will definitely fit but even if you don't drive through it it's a really neat place to park you can walk through it they've got a bunch of different things in the surrounding area um that are um you know we've got like gift shop and there's some little hiking spots that you can kind of walk around and peruse the area it's great for families kids adults Etc there's a place called Skywalk Redwood Skywalk it's some something Skywalk but essentially it's two things one they have a zoo it's called seoa Zoo cool and then the other one is they've got these uh like canopy Bridges where you can go up and actually walk walk among like up above amongst all the trees and so you got kind of get to experience the giant redwoods from above ground um I think it's like 50 feet in the air or something W you kind of get to learn about the trees they've got different um you know stations and displays and things to kind of help educate you of the surrounding areas and how the Redwoods came to be and how they Thrive and all that kind of fun stuff so those are three things that I would say aren't typically super common or well known when people are going into the Redwoods um they're all south of the park and kind of give you a different experience of not just going into the park and going on a hiking trail and sure yeah they're all they're all three things we did not do on our trip so yeah thanks for pointing that out there're some nice soft Adventures for us for next time I'm to go back they're great for families yeah they're very very accessible things to do so if somebody were to have two complaints not necessar NE complaints about the park but things that they might not be aware of or wish they had known prior what would they be we think the dog friendliness was kind of a bummer for us um and just that two two days basically our travel days so like the remoteness of the park um if you think people think they can go to California and like fly to San Francisco and then visit LA and visit like we have family come and they're like well we want to see the giant trees we're like well that's a whole another week trip so um those would be our two great and one last question what is the one thing you simply can't leave Redwood without doing that is really really difficult can we both answer one we can both answer yeah yeah I mean I think the scenic drives I can't pick one the scenic drives and uh okay so you go with the scenic drive that's perfect so similar to The Avenue of Giants that I mentioned earlier there is a en drive inside um the park called Newton bewery Scenic byway and similar to the other one it's like 10 or 15 miles long and it's in our opinion it's better than the Avenue of Giants it's the trees are bigger and wider and taller and the fact that it's inside the park um The Avenue of Giants is because it's outside of the park there are some kind of suburban areas that are kind of like intertwined with it and around it whereas be Drury it's just you and the trees and it's one of the most beautiful scenic drives that we've been on anywhere in the in the country I think the other one would be um there is a there's a couple Trails within the park where you can actually walk through a tree that has fallen over at some point and they basically carved out a section of the tree where you can walk through it um one of them is is not soft adventury so I'm not going to mention that one the other one is and it's sort of a combination of two Trails so depending on if you're looking on all Trails or if you're looking on the Redwood National Park website you might see different names for it but it's the Carl nap Trail and it's in addition to the tree that you can walk through it is also one of the just prettiest most MJ Majestic Trails that we've hiked in the park there's Fern everywhere it's one of the places we saw a bunch of deer um there's many many red giant redwood trees that you can just stand right up against and just you know have them towering over you and so I think those two really kind of give you some you know really cool and beautiful and unique experiences awesome yeah thank you for sharing that that was this has been such an informative video on Redwood National Park I think everything you mentioned pretty much we had not done before unless we did the same sunset at some point I'll have to find that out but you're totally right when you're driving through the that's it yeah but when you're driving through the Redwood National Park it's you're totally right when you're looking at these trees like I remember they're impressive when you're looking right out at them but it's not until like you start looking up and you can't see how high they are it's like oh my gosh these things are like massive that's when it kind of hits you like they're incredible yeah yeah it's when you start to do the pan and you're like this is a 25 second video and I haven't reached the top of the tree yet yes that's exactly it yeah good stuff all right guys hey thanks again for um spending the time chatting with us about Redwood National Park and previously your adventures and how you got started with Van life and everything else abolutely great talking with you guys and hope to do it again sometime we do have uh quick Shameless plug um on our on our website and blog we do have two different articles that we've written specifically on Redwood National Park and so kind of touch on how to plan your visit and so the drive times where to stay when the best time is to go that type of information and then we have a separate one that touches on like things to do inside and around the park and again all the things that we've talked about here are listed there as well um so that's smilkoslens.com and then we also have an interactive map for California um that we have um points of interest national parks hikes Trails accommodations wineries breweries Scenic views scenic drives you name it all the best places that you might might want to visit in California we have this interactive map within that we also have an itinerary um specific to Redwood National Park so if someone wanted to check any of that out those are available um the interactive map is easiest to access by going to our Instagram smilkos_lens and within the links in our bio we have a California map link there great and we'll be sure to link those both those two articles in your map I want to check that out we'll link that in the description below and yeah thanks again guys absolutely thanks for having us
*All content from atravelpath.com, including but not limited to The Travel Path Podcast and social media platforms, is designed to share general information. We are not experts and the information is not designed to serve as legal, financial, or tax advice. Always do your own research and due diligence before making a decision.
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By Tyler Hespeler
4.9
1212 ratings
www.atravelpath.com
Ryan and Katy's Social and Website:
https://www.instagram.com/smilkos_lens/
https://smilkoslens.com/
In today’s segment of Travel Tips, Ryan and Katy Smilko join us again to share one of their favorite destinations, Redwood National Park. Having been to 49.5 states (tune in to Part 1 for the explanation!), over 40 national parks, and have explored all over California, they know a thing or two about travel. This was a super informative guide for any first time or returning visitors to Redwood National and State Parks.
A few quick clarifications from today’s show:
We (Tyler and Hope) saw our elk on Bald Hill Road near where it turns into dirt road. The sunset location we mentioned in the video was the Redwood Creek Overlook, not far from Bald Hill Road. This location is about an hour south of the Klamath River Overlook that Ryan and Katy mentioned.
Dogs ARE allowed in Mt. Rainier National Park but must be leashed and only allowed in campgrounds, parking lots, and paved roads.
Resources:
https://smilkoslens.com/booking-travel-with-points/
https://smilkoslens.com/credit-cards/
https://smilkoslens.com/activities-in-redwood-national-park/
https://smilkoslens.com/redwood-national-and-state-park/
Elk Farmhouse: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/28871227?source_impression_id=p3_1700937679_ukelVdhQBMvpf7bF
Internet:
https://soliswifi.co/
https://www.starlink.com/
Epic California Map & Guide
https://www.rexby.com/Smilkos_Lens/unitedstates
Within the above map/guide, there is an itinerary for Redwood National Park. If it’s easier to link to that directly, you can use:
https://www.rexby.com/Smilkos_Lens/i/B4saWK_JTcanSHqGSwxV2Q
Other services/links for travel hacks
https://www.going.com/ https://www.google.com/travel/flights
https://www.travelzoo.com/
Transcript:
All right Ryan and Katy so thank you for coming back to the show we had an awesome time chatting with you guys the other day so let's now talk about destinations so let me know where we're going to talk about and where have you guys spent a lot of time this was really tough um you know we've been to 49 and a half States and we've spent an enormous amount of time exploring California in particular but uh we decided to nail it down to one place in California which is Redwood National and state parks for those who don't know it's in the far Northwestern corner of California so it's kind of out in the middle of nowhere uh not really near any major cities or anything um and we've probably spent a week or two their total um combined because you're originally from California right I am I'm from California but I'm from the Bay Area and despite it being called Northern California uh I think it's about a seven hour drive still from the Bay Area to Redwoods so redwoods what would you say it's a great destination for someone who likes to do what soft Adventures it is definitely a soft Adventure Park soft Adventures for us is um hikes and things that are accessible to the majority of people and you know you don't have to be an expert hiker or Backcountry camper or rock climber or anything like that so typically hikes that are less than like three to four miles yeah scenic drives Scenic overlooks you know things that most people W could and would want to do so there's no like specialty or special skill sets required yeah and we're big on that is that a term you guys coin yourselves soft adventurers or is that I wish yeah we definitely cannot take credit for that honestly I don't know where I saw it became like a daily term like we were with people who were very hard adventurers and I was like this is not for me this is I'm very soft adventure and like we started using it so much in our daily life we're like oh like this is our like how we Define what we do because when you're traveling people like for some reason gravitate towards rock climbing or like the hardest hike or like the 14,000 foot you know Peak Pikes and I'm like you guys can just skip inviting me if you need a bear canister I probably don't want to go yeah it's a good gauge but um that is one thing we love about redwoods is um it actually so it's a national park and state park so there's I think three state parks uh California state parks that make up Redwood National Park and it's the only National Park in the US that is a joint partnership between state parks and National Park it's ideal for people who like to be surrounded and immersed in nature and trees in particular so it's just um I mean it's just a magical place the trees are bigger than you could possibly imagine and it feels like there will be like a fairy that will pop out behind every corner and like it's just one of the most peaceful places and I think what most people don't maybe think of when they think of like a Redwood National Park is that it butts up to the ocean so it's really where like the forest meets the California coast and it's just like a really special place that I feel like you have to see in person to understand like the magic of it all I always call it Fern Gully because it if you remember that movie from way back when but it you just really made yourself old I know I did I mean if people could see the video the white in my beard would give it away first but um the I mean these trees are so big that you can drive through them they are you can walk through them can walk through some I mean they're almost 2,000 years old they are literally just towering sky scraper trees but it's also super-duper Lush there's Fern and yeah it's just incredibly beautiful and magical and it's one of the easier parks to visit to hi hike to experience um and so it's we also love a good drivable park where you get a lot of the views from the road um or if it's just beautiful from the road just you feel like you're in it without having to hike seven miles to get to that one Lake that everyone takes a picture of um so we love that about redwoods yeah oh that's awesome so how do you what would you say you need to spend in Redwoods to really enjoy that full like Redwood experience see all the big spot you know do that drive how many days are we talking because of its remoteness um drive time and travel time definitely needs to be factored in um for anyone who's flying in to visit at the park they're likely either going to fly into the San Francisco Bay area or maybe Eugene Oregon um further north and both of those are going to be basically a six to seven hour drive and so day one and then the last day of the trip are basically just travel days yeah so excluding those I would say two to three days is absolutely perfect it would allow someone to really kind of hit all the top spots best hike the best views scenic drives family fun adventures and experiences and really get to go home feeling like they saw it all oh awesome now and as far as time frame during the year what would you recommend as the best time to go that's really tough I think the blanket answer would be any time of year um California especially along the coasts the temperatures are pretty temperate and don't change drastically with the seasons so at worst in the winters I think the average high is about 40 um which is chilly it's not super fun for being out but you don't have to worry about six feet of snow or ice or you know freezing cold temp like the low even at that high the low would probably be like 35 like it would be such a small window and then in the summer at its warmest the high is maybe like 75 really I would guess that wow yeah it's pretty temperate most of the time um and because it's so remote it's also not a heavily trafficked Park so it's not like you're going to a Yos or a Grand Canyon or Yellowstone where you're going to have millions of visitors there every single day um so you don't really have to worry a ton about massive crowds but I think our preference if you could pick it would be spring or fall and I think one interesting thing to think about um when visiting this park is it doesn't have like you don't go for fall full foliage the trees don't turn for someone who doesn't like pay attention to that it would be like a maybe a letdown if they went for fall thinking I'm going to drive by trees it'll be pretty um so that's something to consider if you're looking for a fall destination yeah that's a really good point because the there's not those like drastic seasonality changes to it that does mean that people wanting to visit have a lot of flexibility because if they decide you know if they go I can only go in June or the only time I can get time off is in October it's not like they're going to go and have a completely different experience at the park than if they went at a different time of year so from a flexibility standpoint I think it's a great destination all right so I know you guys have Junior so obviously you're always on the hunt for those dog friendly um places and trails and just places and things you can do um but do you notice is there a lot of dogs when you go are there a lot of kids I mean there's not a lot of anyone but um it's not a very dog friendly Park unfortunately um but luckily if you're van traveling because it's always temperate you don't have to worry about the dog when you're hiking I mean not dog friendly like hotels or not dog friendly Airbnb’s are not dog friendly um there are definitely accommodations that are dog friendly but they're pretty spread out and in some cases you might be paying quite a bit more or might not be convenient based on location you found campgrounds the three each of the state parks that makes up the National Park have campgrounds and all of the campgrounds are dog friendly so whether they're tent camping or RV camping or otherwise um those places are dog friendly I would say it's very kid-friendly though it is very kid and as someone who doesn't have kids from a dog friendliness perspective I would say um and this is sort of getting to one of the upcoming questions but it would be our only complaint I think of the park sure I find that a lot of national parks too like they're not allowed in the park but there's just a lot of trails where they're not allowed to be on the trails and I think I think one of the parks Mount Rainier actually there were no dogs allowed anywhere I think you remember that yeah so that's definitely something if you're going to National Park just keep an eye out when you're going to plan that we were actually just going over there's I think 17 dog friendly national parks Junior's been to 16 of them oh no kidding which one is he missing Alaska oh that's very interesting about Rainer I really want to look that up because for the most part dogs can enter but they have to stay in parking lots and paved that's good yeah definitely fact check us on Mount Rainier let know you find we'll put we'll put the uh I think you are right I think it is they can go in they just can't like you said they have to stick to the pave Trail but we'll put the answer in the description here down below so cool thanks I'll look for it yeah um so as far as like nighttime what is there to do or what have you guys done or like to do when you know the sun goes down because you're kind of in that that you know secluded area uh we're definitely not your nighttime crowd yeah uh we are early sleepers um and Ryan mentioned the remoteness so there's not like a city life or night life if you so our our ideal night life is like campfire um hanging out and just like enjoying definitely like a Sunset and yeah if there's campfire involved we're there I would also say because of its remoteness and the fact that there isn't any kind of major city nearby means that there's not a ton of light pollution and so from a night sky perspective it is definitely a beautiful place to sit outside and stargaze or look for way so that would be those would be kind of our those would be our nighttime activities yeah that's perfect that's what it's all about right up our alley yeah how about um speaking of nighttime what about sleeping Arrangements like where do you guys find that you can sleep when you're visiting um redwoods I would say that you know a lot of our travels we look for places that are free and legally allowed to park and um gosh why am I drawing a blank on the word Boondock boondocking I had no idea what he was saying thank you I was like you know you think after living in a van for two years that would beat you in these years but yeah there's not a lot available up there in terms of that California doesn't really have a lot of um like BLM land or free land that you can just go drive out and park on and so for the most part if you're in a van or an RV of some sort um it's going to be one of the state park campgrounds there are some RV parks scattered about the area as well that's typically what we do we did stay at an Airbnb once um during one of our visits which we loved it was there's a river up there and it was right on the river so you know whether it be for Sunrise or Sunset it was very beautiful and closely located to the parks I would say camping and campgrounds are going to be the best way to stay and EXP experience the parks but there are Airbnb’s and hotels very nearby for those who aren't looking to Camp or families or you know or if it's in those colder temperatures it's just not fun yeah you're not GNA find me in a tent in a cold temperature yeah us NE it's not a soft Adventure no our we're glamping here with our with our same that's a borderline medium Adventure yeah yeah yes temperature does play into how soft our adventures are definitely it's good point what have you experienced with wildlife in the in Redwoods uh deer and Elk yeah I think are the only two that we've come across the elk are everywhere outside of the park um there's actually a place called Elk Meadow every day the elk migrate from one area to another and there's like a road crossing and it happens daily and so it's like if you are at that spot at the wrong time of day or the right time or the right time you're basically stuck there for like 30 minutes as this massive herd of elk just migrate from one area to another and then there's actually an Airbnb that the elk might like go into the front yard and I'm talking like 50 50 elk go into the front yard of this like Farmhouse Airbnb every single morning and just lay there and graze and it's absolutely incredible we've never stayed there but we've gone past it multiple times and seen people where they're just out there on the patio sipping their coffee and there's 50 elk just in the front yard hanging out can't be that is that that's actually inside the park I take it you know I'd have to double check and look it's weird because there's the park is made up of three state parks and they don't all they don't all up against it to one another and so there's kind of like gaps in between each section of the of the Park yeah elk and deer we've seen deer on the trails yeah they come really close too yeah they're like not really scared of people anymore yeah but it definitely adds to the beauty of the park and just sort of the majestic Ness of it you know being out there to see these beautiful animals just you know yeah it's incredible I know when we went to Redwoods we saw plenty we were up I think on the more southern part of the national park it was on our way out and we went to we went to the Elk Lodge or the elk crossing where you're supposed to be able to see him and we didn't see him over there but we drove up this hill um to eventually completely cleared out and it didn't look like Redwood National Park at all and then we just saw a bunch of them grazing never find yeah it's so fun just sitting there you know recording watching them you pull over for you know 10 20 minutes just watching them hang out we definitely did that every time we saw them it's like every time it's different right doesn't matter how many times you see them or how many different Parks you just have to sit there and watch you can never take too many videos and photos that's so true problem it's a good problem to have do you have a special sunrise or Sunset spot at redwoods or something where you've enjoyed in the past um Sunset would be the gold gold Bluffs Beach yeah um is really beautiful um that's actually where one of the campgrounds is also um so it's a great place to stay and experience sunrise and sunset nice obviously Sunrise would be on the opposite side of the sky so you're not getting it over the water but um still get the beautiful colors you still and to have the ocean right there is really really ma amazing I'm wondering if the Overlook that we went to for Sunset is the same one you guys went to because it sounds very similar but there's the I think the river that runs through is called the clamo river the place we went to is called clamo River Overlook and you drive up like up a a road and you get up there and there's just like a small parking lot and it overlooks the ocean and the river yeah that does sound like where we were I'm pretty sure the just said vist to overlook maybe there was another sign but that does sound because I remember something on the Internet different than like the actual signage yeah so I remember like we saw looked at the ocean we couldn't it was like kind of the neatest thing because we were looking at the ocean but there was a layer of fog where we couldn't see the ocean but we could see on top of the fog and it was something you know coming from the East we had never seen anything like that before and then there were clouds on top of that with the sun set and yeah that was it was like magical that was really cool how many videos do you think you have of that too many we had two phones and a camera so we had all three of them going I can tell you oh my goodness that would be us also y it's just like you can't you you can't stop yeah because we did have to drive a little bit for it so I think we that's one of the things why we enjoyed it so much and why we stayed there so long is cuz it was one other couple they watched sunrise or Sunset and then they left but like Tyler said we like when you wait a little bit afterwards and that whole Sky just lights up and like everyone's left cuz I think oh the sun went down so that's what we always wait for I do remember the bugs came out so I don't know same with you guys but we were fortunate we had bug spray and like there were mosquitoes that came out of nowhere once it that sun kind of set and it got dark so I don't know if that's uh well I guess September SE last year when we've been it's been cooler I don't think yeah I know we went in November once yeah it might have been it might have been cool enough that the bugs were yeah that sounds terrible though they came out of the Woodworks for us yeah so I guess just bring it in case you need it hopefully don't but we definitely did that night and we're glad we had it wonderful all right awesome so we're going to move to this next segment it's called the final four countdown we have four more questions and the first question is going to start with actually Four answers so um in Redwoods National Park or outside nearby um what are some of your favorite breakfast lunch dinner and dessert spots got to be careful at redwoods not a not a ton of uh hip happen in spots you know many of the places are kind of like small roadside gas station type places um um so I don't I don't have any specific dining spots whether it be for breakfast lunch or dinner the two nearest cities that kind of bookend the parks there's Crescent City which is at the North and then there's Eureka at the South um that's where you're going to find the largest cities and the most options in terms of dining and restaurants outside of that if you're kind of in the three state parks or the you know the overarching national park at all you're really going to be on your own for food want to pack it in you're going to want to pack it in and pack it out um which is typically what we do anyways I'm glad I asked someone might not know that and they don't show up with any food so that's good to know yeah I think that's a a very good you uh eat out of the van when you were there or probably we yeah we did most most of it was eating little Weber que we'd open up and you know PB and JS for lunch you know yes ham sandwiches and whatever we found usually you know Farmers Market stuff we'd Chef up for dinner nice yeah that's yeah stay at a campground bring all the grilling fixin and Grill some food at the campground that's that's the way to go what are three things to do in or around Redwood that somebody might not be aware of if they hadn't spent um a little bit of time there this is uh ideal for anyone who might be coming up from sort of the San Franc San Francisco Bay Area about an hour or so south of the park um there's a few really cool experiences there's a place called uh Avenue of Giants and it's basically a Scenic Drive that is I think like 10 15 miles long and it's just beautiful redwoods on both sides of the road and it's one of the one of the best places to kind of get a Scenic Drive type experience while surrounding yourself with the Redwoods there is a place called driveth through Tree Park and inside this park I think you pay $ five dollar to go in but there is a tree called the chandelier tree that the base is cut out and you can actually drive through the tree providing your vehicle is small enough I think the I think it's like six and a half feet by 6 and a half feet or something so Vans are not going to fit but if you've got you know a sedan or a smaller size SUV they will definitely fit but even if you don't drive through it it's a really neat place to park you can walk through it they've got a bunch of different things in the surrounding area um that are um you know we've got like gift shop and there's some little hiking spots that you can kind of walk around and peruse the area it's great for families kids adults Etc there's a place called Skywalk Redwood Skywalk it's some something Skywalk but essentially it's two things one they have a zoo it's called seoa Zoo cool and then the other one is they've got these uh like canopy Bridges where you can go up and actually walk walk among like up above amongst all the trees and so you got kind of get to experience the giant redwoods from above ground um I think it's like 50 feet in the air or something W you kind of get to learn about the trees they've got different um you know stations and displays and things to kind of help educate you of the surrounding areas and how the Redwoods came to be and how they Thrive and all that kind of fun stuff so those are three things that I would say aren't typically super common or well known when people are going into the Redwoods um they're all south of the park and kind of give you a different experience of not just going into the park and going on a hiking trail and sure yeah they're all they're all three things we did not do on our trip so yeah thanks for pointing that out there're some nice soft Adventures for us for next time I'm to go back they're great for families yeah they're very very accessible things to do so if somebody were to have two complaints not necessar NE complaints about the park but things that they might not be aware of or wish they had known prior what would they be we think the dog friendliness was kind of a bummer for us um and just that two two days basically our travel days so like the remoteness of the park um if you think people think they can go to California and like fly to San Francisco and then visit LA and visit like we have family come and they're like well we want to see the giant trees we're like well that's a whole another week trip so um those would be our two great and one last question what is the one thing you simply can't leave Redwood without doing that is really really difficult can we both answer one we can both answer yeah yeah I mean I think the scenic drives I can't pick one the scenic drives and uh okay so you go with the scenic drive that's perfect so similar to The Avenue of Giants that I mentioned earlier there is a en drive inside um the park called Newton bewery Scenic byway and similar to the other one it's like 10 or 15 miles long and it's in our opinion it's better than the Avenue of Giants it's the trees are bigger and wider and taller and the fact that it's inside the park um The Avenue of Giants is because it's outside of the park there are some kind of suburban areas that are kind of like intertwined with it and around it whereas be Drury it's just you and the trees and it's one of the most beautiful scenic drives that we've been on anywhere in the in the country I think the other one would be um there is a there's a couple Trails within the park where you can actually walk through a tree that has fallen over at some point and they basically carved out a section of the tree where you can walk through it um one of them is is not soft adventury so I'm not going to mention that one the other one is and it's sort of a combination of two Trails so depending on if you're looking on all Trails or if you're looking on the Redwood National Park website you might see different names for it but it's the Carl nap Trail and it's in addition to the tree that you can walk through it is also one of the just prettiest most MJ Majestic Trails that we've hiked in the park there's Fern everywhere it's one of the places we saw a bunch of deer um there's many many red giant redwood trees that you can just stand right up against and just you know have them towering over you and so I think those two really kind of give you some you know really cool and beautiful and unique experiences awesome yeah thank you for sharing that that was this has been such an informative video on Redwood National Park I think everything you mentioned pretty much we had not done before unless we did the same sunset at some point I'll have to find that out but you're totally right when you're driving through the that's it yeah but when you're driving through the Redwood National Park it's you're totally right when you're looking at these trees like I remember they're impressive when you're looking right out at them but it's not until like you start looking up and you can't see how high they are it's like oh my gosh these things are like massive that's when it kind of hits you like they're incredible yeah yeah it's when you start to do the pan and you're like this is a 25 second video and I haven't reached the top of the tree yet yes that's exactly it yeah good stuff all right guys hey thanks again for um spending the time chatting with us about Redwood National Park and previously your adventures and how you got started with Van life and everything else abolutely great talking with you guys and hope to do it again sometime we do have uh quick Shameless plug um on our on our website and blog we do have two different articles that we've written specifically on Redwood National Park and so kind of touch on how to plan your visit and so the drive times where to stay when the best time is to go that type of information and then we have a separate one that touches on like things to do inside and around the park and again all the things that we've talked about here are listed there as well um so that's smilkoslens.com and then we also have an interactive map for California um that we have um points of interest national parks hikes Trails accommodations wineries breweries Scenic views scenic drives you name it all the best places that you might might want to visit in California we have this interactive map within that we also have an itinerary um specific to Redwood National Park so if someone wanted to check any of that out those are available um the interactive map is easiest to access by going to our Instagram smilkos_lens and within the links in our bio we have a California map link there great and we'll be sure to link those both those two articles in your map I want to check that out we'll link that in the description below and yeah thanks again guys absolutely thanks for having us
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