The Avenue of the Giants, located about 160 miles north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge, is part of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park, just north of Garberville, California. To reach it, take Highway 101 north from Garberville, and after approximately five miles, the southern entrance of the Avenue, Route 254, will be on the right. The Avenue's northern entrance can also be accessed from Highway 101, south of Rio Dell, Scotia, and Stafford.
Joseph B. Strauss became immortal by designing and building the Golden Gate Bridge, but he considered human immortality a relative concept, reserving true immortality for the mighty northern California redwood trees that watch over the land of the free and the home of the brave. Some of the most impressive examples of these ancient trees can be seen along the aptly named Avenue of the Giants. Driving north on Highway 101, after crossing Strauss’s creation, drivers will cruise over smooth black tarmac before encountering a bright green sign reading “Avenue of the Giants,” a 31-mile-long route through Humboldt Redwoods State Park that evokes tales like Roald Dahl's, David and Goliath, and Gulliver’s Travels. To drive this avenue is a humbling experience, as the towering redwoods—earth’s guardians—loom overhead, their treetops rustling more than 300 feet above. The scenic highway features landmarks such as the “Drive-Thru Tree” and the nearly 1,000-year-old “Immortal Tree.” Along the route, gift shops and picturesque pull-offs provide insights into the forest’s history, which Strauss himself described best in his poem “The Redwoods,” calling these trees “the greatest of Earth’s living forms, / Tall conquerors that laugh at storms,” and reflecting on their enduring nature: “So shall they live, when ends our day, / When our crude citadels decay; / For brief the years allotted man, / But infinite perennials’ span.”
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