Trees Of Mystery – Redwood Coast Trip

 
Trees Of Mystery is a private park within the redwoods. It’s a bit of a tourist trap but had a lot of fun stuff to see and do so we decided we wanted to check it out.

This is south of Crescent City, near Klamath California right on HW 101 (east side). Just follow the signs and you won’t miss it.

Look for the giant Paul Bunyan and Babe statues.

So, as I was walking past these, a little girl ran past me and yelled: “Hi Paul Bunyan!” I thought ‘oh how cute.’ That is until the statue bellowed back a hello, and moved. Scared the crap out of me!

Here we are in front. We don’t even make it to the top of his boots.

Some Steller’s Jays and chipmunks hanging out by the pay booth.

It cost $15.00 a person to get in, however that does include the cost of the gondola (SkyTrail) so what the heck.

Worlds Largest Family Tree. There are 12 living tree’s in 1 tree with 1 stump here.

Elephant Tree.

Upside down tree.

Pretty blue flowers.

I like to look up through the tree’s.

You can crawl under this tree.

Tall tree.

Mossy forest.

Fallen Giant. 320 feet!!

More of the fallen giant, and another large tree.

An old water wheel.

Just more large trees.

It’s starting to feel like I paid 15 bucks to hike in the woods.

Panoramic.

The Lightning Tree.

The only awful thing about walking around in the redwoods is your stiff neck the next day. There is a lot of looking up!

Panoramic of Cathedral Tree.

Closer. They actually perform wedding ceremonies here. We were thinking since we both love nature so much, this might be a good option. Who wouldn’t want to get married in a beautiful forest?

The benches for your guests.

I like this inscription.

Looking up. Just magnificent. I wonder how tall this group is.

Landis wanted to play minister.

Small panoramic.

Back to the trail. It’s mostly level and easy, with a couple gentle ups and downs.

I like the way this one came out.

 

Ferns.

The Brotherhood Tree. It is over 2000 years old, 19 feet in diameter, 60 feet in circumference and 297 feet tall. Dang that is one BIG tree!

Me, for scale.

Looking up.

Not far from The Brotherhood Tree is the SkyTrail. This is what brought us to the park. A gondola ride through the redwoods sounds awesome.

For a tourist trap, we haven't run into a whole lot of people until here.

The main trail is .8 miles. I believe the lady said it was .5 miles to here.

 

Each car has large windows on all sides allowing for exceptional views.

Main pulley.

Through the trees! I am terrified of heights, but this is pretty nifty!

 

It says each car can fit 6, but I think 4 is comfortable. The pamphlets says it goes 11 MPH with 3 short parts where it slows down to about 1/2 MPH to get great pictures. Actually it slows down to let people on and off, but it does allow better pictures when it slows. The SkyTrail takes you up 1570 feet to the top and takes 8-10 minutes.

The view from the top, Teds Ridge. You can see the ocean.

View from the other side.

Fallen tree has some new ones growing out of the side. Kind of like The Candelabra Tree. (Well get to that one soon).

Back to ride it down. There is a mile long hike, but it says it is really steep and rated difficult. I asked the operator about it and he said it really is difficult, very steep. A lot of people think they can do it, but have a tough time.

Meh, we probably would have been fine, but we’ll ride down again instead.

Pretty forest whizzing by.

Passing another car.

I mentioned my issue with heights right? My dad noticed me holding on to the seat really tightly.

Dad: “Do you think that death grip is going to do you any good if anything goes wrong?”
Me: “….Well, no, but it makes me feel better.”
Dad: Laughing, “I know what you mean, I’m doing the same thing over here.”

So I inherited my fear of heights from dad. But we both did it, up and down, and didn’t have heart attacks.

While the views are great, pictures didn’t turn out so great with all the glare.

Probably shouldn’t have looked behind me to see how high up it goes. Meep!

After returning to solid ground, my parents took the shuttle back, and we continued on the trail.

Just some forest shots. I guess most people don’t do this section as we didn’t run into many people here.

The side trail to Towering Inferno.

Towering Inferno is a redwood that was struck by lightning. If I recall correctly, it was fairly recently (like, in the last 10 years, I think). Anyway, after being struck it smoldered for about a week. It is still alive, and family trees will most likely grow for many years to come.

Looking up through the charred remains. You can see some green leaves still growing

Baby Cathedral Tree.

 

Looking up.

Funny little sign.

Approaching Candelabra Tree.

Candelabra Tree. According to the sign, the horizontal tree has roots that feed the vertical trees, and the vertical trees feed the horizontal one they are growing out of via photosynthesis. The redwoods are seriously amazing and have an awesome will to survive.

More giant trees.

Green green trail.

After the wonderful trail through the redwoods, the trail then goes into the Trail Of Tall Tales. Which is a nice section of carved tree art.

Mossy branch.

The story of Paul Bunyan.

Another big tree.

Cool archway.

Big dog!

Snake.

Square worm.

Pretty trail.

Little hobbits, gnomes… something.

Squirrel!

Mama Bear and Flapjack. To be honest, other than Paul Bunyan, I don’t recognize any of the other “tall tales” represented here. Not sure if I just don’t remember, or if they are more local.

Native Americans and the redwood canoes they made.

I love how the moss grows on just about anything out here.

I love this shot of a Steller’s Jay. Funny, I never recalled seeing one until our hike to Timpanogos Cave back in Utah. Or maybe it is because that is where I first learned what they are called.

This giant stump they put date markers on.

That is fascinating.

And of course the trail ends at the gift shop. I did get me one of those smashed penny things. I have started collecting those from neat places that offer them. So they got another 50 cents out of me, but that is it. :-p

Back to the giant Paul Bunyan.

And Babe the blue ox. Who I couldn’t help but notice has giant blue balls. HAHAHA. Ok, sorry crass. But it’s funny, admit it.

Afterwards we hopped across the street to the Forest Cafe to grab some lunch. I knew better than to eat at a tourist trap, but we were all hungry and didn't really know what options we had. If you can avoid it, don’t eat there. It was not very good, and the service was terrible. Oh well, we got lunch, and continued on our way to enjoy some more adventures in the redwoods.

The trail is 8/10’s of a mile. There were a lot of interesting things to see, and it was very informative. Even though it was a tourist trap, we really didn’t encounter many people except at the gift shop, and the gondola ride (SkyTrail). I am going to take 1 squirrel away due to the cost so 9 out of 10.

As for difficulty: It was pretty easy. Mostly flat, with some ups and downs. going with a DR3. They also offer a shuttle up to the gondola, so if you have difficulty walking, you can still make it to do that. Also, the SkyTrail cars are handicapped accessible. DR2 for that.

Pets are welcome! On leashes, on all trails, including the SkyTrail.