Personal Post: Road trip to Klamath, CA

Anna, my wife, had spring break last week. She’s worked at home for the last year and was really itching to get out of town. We love our home and are so grateful to live and work here (especially during the last year), but a change of scenery and exploring a new town was just what we needed for a few days.

Our first stop was Fort Bragg for a night. In other years, we’ve explored the beaches and botanical gardens of the Mendocino area. We recently heard about a beautiful winery, Pacific Star Winery, about 10 miles up the coast from Fort Bragg and spent the afternoon there. We enjoyed wine tasting, the foggy coastal views, and lots of games of King’s Corner. 

The next morning we got an early start and made our way north on highway one. Our final stop of the day was Klamath, CA but we had the day to explore and go at our own pace. After making our way from Hwy 1 to 101, we saw a sign for a drive through tree in Leggett, CA and decided to stop! It was incredible to see a 2400 tree that was over 300 feet tall. We tried to take a few self timer photos on my big camera, and while I missed the focus from being on us, I still love the pics with us and this giant tree! They had a cute and kitschy gift shop as well, where we got a sweatshirt that says “I love redwoods” for only $10. You’ll see it in photos from our next stop.

After the drive through tree, we made our way to Eureka for lunch at Café Waterfront in the Old Town area by the water. It was such a cute and delicious cafe. We walked around a bit after and got some local goodies from The Humboldt Mercantile, a very cute and curated shop, to bring with us to Klamath. We continued on the drive up Highway 101. It’s the most gorgeous highway surrounded by so many redwoods. We stopped at Lady Bird Johnson Grove, and ventured on a 1.5 mile hike through majestic redwoods, ferns, and fresh air! The redwoods are protected, which is so cool that we get to experience them! 

After our hike, we finished the drive to Klamath and got checked in at the Requa Inn. The Requa Inn is right along the Klamath River, with views of where the river meets the ocean. It’s breathtaking! The owners of the Inn are apart of the Yurok tribe which has lived along this part of the river since the beginning of time. I loved learning about their history and how important the river was to their life and identity. The river and salmon are currently threatened due to damns from joining rivers, but the Yurok are working to take it back and restore the livelihood of the Klamath River.

Our room was once an old Post Office at a time that Requa had it’s own zip code. The town was settled in the 1850s during the gold rush, and ended up being a popular salmon cannery spot. The Post Office only lasted until the 1970’s, and now it’s a very quiet town. We loved our room. It had a private entrance with a bubbling brook that flowed into the river. It felt like we had the place to ourselves. We enjoyed a meadow and the river views, and spent lots of time during our two days here. 

There are tons of National Parks and hiking trails in this area. We enjoyed Trees of Mystery where a giant Paul Bunyon and Blue meet you at the entrance. The park is filled with tall trees, tree obscurities, and a 150 foot tall canopy that you can walk through. It was amazing being high up with the trees and see the birds point of view. There was a sky tram that brought us to the top of a hill for views of the ocean!

We hiked to Hidden Beach and got to enjoy a driftwood filled beach to ourselves. From redwoods, to the beach, I just fell in love with this area. We loved the quiet town, the river, the history, and our short time here. I can’t wait to go back and explore more of the state parks and redwoods! Our last night there we watched the sunset from the Klamath overlook (pictured above), and reflected on our time at this beautiful part of California.