Redwood Vacation Coast to Coast - Affordable !
Continued from: Largest Coast Redwoods
Copyright 2009 by Mario Vaden
If you just want to know the best places for viewing or photographing big coast redwoods, see my other page Best Places to See Redwoods
Many people may not realize that a coast redwoods vacation can be much less expensive than they imagined, depending on time of year and a few other things. This page was written in 2009, so adjust for inflation.
The best place to see redwoods are the north parks. Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. From Crescent City, down to Eureka and Myers Flat in California. Portland to Myers Flat is 464 miles in 8 - 9 hours. San Francisco to Crescent City is 356 miles in 7 hours.
Medford International Airport (OR) to Crescent City is 109 miles - just over 2 hrs..
NOTE: Numbers below were originally edited in 2010. It's easy to plug dates and cities on Expedia for this year. This page will certainly reveal price changes since 2010.
The plan below is for spending 2 nights at a motel in Crescent City and 1 night in a motel near Fortuna with hiking a full day in Humboldt Redwoods. Plus staying other nights at the motel in Orick.
Campground fees were raised in 2009 to $35. There's a nice Florence Keller campground by Crescent City for about $20 per night.
If someone could fly a small tent and sleeping bag in luggage, the campgrounds could shave quite a bit off the expense. There's also a Walmart store in Crescent City where you could buy a tent and sleeping bag if needed, then mail it back to your home address in a box if it's impractical to put it in luggage.
Plane Ticket Hypothetical Atlanta, GA to Portland, OR. Searched Expedia.com. April 11 to April 18 in 2010. Least expensive was Midwest Air. 1 week
Automobile Rental Budget rental in Portand, Oregon, with unlimited miles for 7 days Fuel Round trip Portland to Myers Flat 924 miles. Economy car 30 miles / gal... 31 gallons at $3 each. Averaging OR & CA Food Eat generously at restaurants 3 meals per day. 7 days at $40 per day Lodging 1 night at the Comfort Inn in Fortuna $71
3 nights in Orick or Klamath $165
2 nights motel in Crescent City $110VACATION TOTAL Edit 2021: For a twist to numbers above! A random price check for Chicago O'Hare to Medford, Oregon International on Oct. 5th to Oct. 12th 2021 shows tickets as low as $261.00. So although there's inflation since 2009 when I posted this page, some bargains may buffer costs.
Medford's airport is close to Redwood National and State Parks, like 2 hours away. Plane fare around $260 would drop the tally above (2021) to $1141.00 and $812.00
A notch up from the an Orick motel would be to stay in Trinidad about 19 miles south or at a motel in Klamath like at the Trees of Mystery 21 miles north. Very good freeways. Figure 1 mile per minute.
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From Germany or UK, it looks like plane fare begins around $900 for a special. That would raise the Total from overseas to about $1850 US dollars. That would be £1155.00 UK currency.
Where to start and finish? For a trip like this, consider the first night at in Crescent City, because that would only add a 5.5 hour drive following the flight. Then hike at Jedediah Smith Redwoods the next day. It can make sense to go near Fortuna the 2nd night, and head back northward the following days, with the last night at Crescent City again, for a short drive back to Portland. From San Francisco, maybe begin and end in Fortuna. Prairie Creek and Redwood National Park have a lot to offer and miles of trails: good destinations to invest several days. For a first trip to the redwoods, motels are a fine option to streamline the vacation.
Note !! these maps don't included Medford Oregon International airport which may be the best choice, only 2 hours from Redwood National and State Parks.
Maps to north redwoods - left, from Portland; right, from San Francisco
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