More Giant Redwoods, San Francisco

Muir Woods is about half an hour north of San Francisco's high-reaching skyline. It's a forest of giant sequoias located close to the Pacific. After walking between the tall trees you should watch the sunset at the ocean. It's stunning.

Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve:
I hesitate to share this information with you, simply because one of the nicest aspects about this place is its serenity. Located about 20 miles south of San Francisco, this piece of heaven offers the visitor the opportunity to enjoy an outing under the canopy of the magnificent redwoods.
WHAT YOU WILL SEE:
Along the 20 miles of trails, you will see giant redwoods, beautiful vistas, banana slugs, the creek and very few people!

The following ratings are my opinion only.

NATURAL BEAUTY RATING: This is very subjective, but I rate this hike 8 out of 10.

DIFFICULTY (easy=1 difficult=10): This rating depends on which trail you do. The 10mile loop changes in elevation about 1500 feet and takes about 5 hours to complete. Anybody with an active lifestyle can complete it. I rate it a 7.

HOW TO GET THERE:
The preserve's main entrance and the Whittemore Gulch trailhead are located on Skyline Boulevard (Route 35) 4.5 miles south of Highway 92. Parking is available for 20 cars. For visitors going on the Redwood Trail, there is a five-car parking area at the trailhead 6.5 miles south of Highway 92. The preserve's western access point is off Higgins-Purisima Road, which intersects Highway 1 about one mile south of Half Moon Bay. Parking is available for 10 cars.

Take a drive north to the Redwoods. As a matter of fact, drive through a Redwood as my husband was doing in the above photo. There are wonderful small sites dotted throughout the Mendocino, Napa Valley, Russian River area. Just pick up a map and drive!

it was definitely quite a bit cooler out here but so peaceful and green. These giant redwoods are reported to be the tallest trees on earth. This type of forest used to cover the whole west coast.
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