Christian Kemp's USA travelogs

< Previous | List | Next > Driving from Eureka to Napa Valley via Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Shelter Cove and parts of Highway 1

We left Eureka in the morning. Thankfully, the weather had improved, so we saw blue sky all day long. We needed to get back to Napa Valley, so opted to head south on a fairly straightforward route that would take us through Humboldt Redwood State Park.

Cape Mendocino Lighthouse Near lunch time, we realized we still had enough time for a short detour, and headed towards the ocean again, visiting Shelter Cove in the King Range National Conservation Area. This place is unlike most of the Pacific Coast in California: there's no highway going along the water; but instead the north/south roads are quite far into the country and one has to take a smallish road westward to get to the cove.

At Shelter Cove, one of the main attraction is the Cape Mendocino lighthouse, which was moved here in 1998, after having been decommissioned at its original location in 1951.

After lunch, we headed back to Highway 101, then still stopped a few times along the coast on Highway 1, and finally headed back towards Napa Valley over Highway 128. We arrived in the valley just as the last rays of sunshine reflected on Mount Saint Helena.

Motel/Hotel Accommodation: ():

Summary written May 20th 2005