The Avenue of the Giants, California USA
24th January 2021
In: Places
The Avenue of the Giants, California USA
The Avenue of the Giants takes the route of the old US Highway 101 and runs through the stunning Humboldt Redwood National Park.
I was fortunate enough to cycle through the 31 miles of huge Redwood trees starting at Pepperwood in the north and finishing in Phillipsville in the south.
The route is basically a road running through these huge Redwood trees, passing through small villages many of which were closed as I happened to be cycling the route on Thanksgiving Day.
The route itself is quite eerie because the Redwoods are so big, they overhang each other and block out the sunlight from above which means you are riding in almost darkness along parts of the road.
An essential stop off is the aptly named Immortal Tree, aptly named as it has beaten the loggers saw, a forest fire and had 100 foot knocked off the top due to a lightning strike. The base of the tree has a nine foot gap which you can actually drive through. I did not get the chance because a Japanese tourist was struggling to get his six-foot wide car through the nine foot gap, so I decided to go around.
It was really quite humbling to cycle through these huge trees which were in the forest way before you were born and will still be there long after you have gone.
The Avenue of the Giants takes the route of the old US Highway 101 and runs through the stunning Humboldt Redwood National Park.
I was fortunate enough to cycle through the 31 miles of huge Redwood trees starting at Pepperwood in the north and finishing in Phillipsville in the south.
The route is basically a road running through these huge Redwood trees, passing through small villages many of which were closed as I happened to be cycling the route on Thanksgiving Day.
The route itself is quite eerie because the Redwoods are so big, they overhang each other and block out the sunlight from above which means you are riding in almost darkness along parts of the road.
An essential stop off is the aptly named Immortal Tree, aptly named as it has beaten the loggers saw, a forest fire and had 100 foot knocked off the top due to a lightning strike. The base of the tree has a nine foot gap which you can actually drive through. I did not get the chance because a Japanese tourist was struggling to get his six-foot wide car through the nine foot gap, so I decided to go around.
It was really quite humbling to cycle through these huge trees which were in the forest way before you were born and will still be there long after you have gone.