Sweeping Coastal Vistas, California History, and the Avenue of the Giants

Along 13 winding and picturesque miles of Hwy. 1 — from Bodega Bay to Goat Rock Beach in Jenner — you'll find the Sonoma Coast State Beaches. These beaches are ideal for walking, tide pooling, abalone picking, fishing, and bird-watching for species such as great blue heron, cormorant, osprey, and pelican. Each beach is clearly marked from the road, and numerous pullouts are available for parking. Even if you don't stop at a beach, the drive is spectacular.

This is a reconstruction of the fort established in 1812 by the Russians as a base for seal and otter hunting. Russian farmers also established themselves here, hoping to send wheat and produce to Russia's Alaskan outposts—an effort that ultimately failed. Though the post was abandoned in 1842, the Russians made their mark on California history, as you'll learn at the visitor's center, which has informative exhibits and a very good film about the settlement. The compound contains several buildings filled with of-the-period artifacts, including the first Russian Orthodox church on the North American continent outside Alaska. The park also offers beach trails and picnic grounds on more than 1,000 acres.

Point Arena is typical of the small towns that extend up the Mendocino coast, one of the prettiest regions in the state. It was originally a logging community, but little happens here now, so this is principally a rest stop en route to the north. There are some pleasant cafes where you can get a well-made espresso to fuel the rest of your drive. The Point Arena lighthouse, built in 1908 to replace the one damaged in the famous 1906 earthquake, is worth a short detour to see. It was the first steel-reinforced concrete lighthouse in America.

Life feels good at the Goodlife, a bakery/restaurant that creates salads from locally-grown organic greens, bakes all the fresh breads used in its sandwiches, and serves an array of authentically spicy Mexican dishes. It also serves up a wide array of coffee drinks, if you need a shot of caffeine. This place is beloved, so there could be a short wait to get in, but once you’re inside, service is super speedy and the seating area is sunny and pleasant.

Mendocino is the premier destination on California's Northern Coast. Despite (or because of) its relative isolation, in the 1950s, it emerged as one of Northern California's major centers for the arts. It's easy to see why creative people were — and still are — attracted to this idyllic community in a cluster of New England-style captains' homes and shops on headlands overlooking the ocean. At the height of the logging boom, Mendocino was an important and active port with about 3,500 residents who constructed eight hotels, 17 saloons, and more than a dozen bordellos. Today it has only about 1,000 residents, but on summer weekends, the population seems more like 10,000 as hordes of tourists stroll the streets and pop into galleries and boutiques. The town was most famous, for a while, as one of the locations for the TV series "Murder, She Wrote," but many other recent films and TV shows have also used this picturesque town as a backdrop. Nearby, Russian Gulch State Park is one of the region's most spectacular preserves, where waves batter the cliffs that protect California's coastal redwoods. The most popular attraction is the Devil's Punch Bowl, a collapsed sea cave that forms a tunnel through which waves crash, generating throaty echoes.

Leggett marks the official start of our drive's leg through the forests of coastal redwoods. So, it's quite appropriate that you'll drive through an actual redwood tree here. Set in a private grove, the tree's tunnel is car-sized and was formed by damage from a fire. A hokey but fun gift shop is also on site at this paid attraction.

Thirty-three miles long, the famed Avenue of the Giants was left intact for sightseers after the freeway was built nearby. The giants on this avenue are the majestic coastal redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens); more than 50,000 acres of them make up the most spectacular display in redwood country. Their rough-bark columns climb 100 feet or more, and above those, branches can soar to more than 340 feet. With their fire-resistant bark and immunity to insects, they have survived for thousands of years. The oldest dated coast redwood is more than 2,200 years old. You could spend days trying to see all the groves along the Avenue of the Giants, but we've chosen 3 for you to concentrate on, starting with Bolling Grove, which has a good mix of handsome trees and informative signage.

This offshoot of the Avenue, which is off the main avenue and down a potholed dirt road, has a primordial feel. The bumpy ride is worth it, though, to see the park's tallest redwoods. Interestingly, the one named 'Giant' tree isn't actually the largest of the bunch, but it's close to it. If you want to see a truly monumental redwood, follow the trail to the Flatiron Tree, which is thought to be the biggest along the Avenue of the Giants, though, alas, it's no longer vertical. A typical cross-section of this fallen tree is 17.5 feet wide! The looped trail to see these trees is about half a mile long in total.

Founders Grove honors those who started the Save the Redwoods League in 1918. It has a quick and easy loop with a variety of tree types, as well as plaques commemorating the men and women who had the foresight to protect these wondrous plants from logging and development.

The name doesn't lie: Tuyas serves wonderfully authentic, tasty Mexican food in large, well-priced portions. The menu is the same on both sides of this two-storefront eatery, but in the cantina section, you eat your dinner in the company of sometimes rowdy bar-goers watching sports on the six TV sets affixed to the ceiling.

The town of Ferndale feels largely untouched since the 1890s—and that's a big reason why it's been designated a State Historic Landmark and a National Register Historic district. Your lodgings for the night will be at the proudly Victorian and utterly adorable Gingerbread Mansion. From the tangerine-colored facade to the fine antiques in the rooms, this B&B will bring you back in time. It's a charmer!