Hey Guys!
This post continues our time in the great state of Oregon!
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here & my 10 Day Oregon Itinerary here
I had woken up before my hubby so I made me some coffee and headed for the deck to listen to the birds singing and the sound of the water gently flowing alongside our room.
It was so peaceful.
A little later in the morning, we headed to the lodge for breakfast.
The lodge offers an incredible complimentary breakfast!
They offered eggs, bacon, potatoes, biscuits, gravy, bagels, toast, cereal, fruit, yogurt, waffles and more!
After making our plates, we headed outside to sit at one of the tables on the lodge’s deck.
It was so quiet and peaceful….there was only 2 other couples having breakfast.
The food was delicious!
A shot of the grounds from the deck
After breakfast, we headed back inside the lodge to walk around and check it out.
I loved this old phone!
Weasku Inn’s main lodge is the original historic building & offers 5 different rooms to choose from.
The Inn had so much character and felt so cozy!
After walking around the inside, we headed outside to check out the grounds.
Click here to see a map of the property
The grounds of the hotel are beautiful!
So many trees, plants and flowers!
You could walk across a small bridge and access a walking trail.
There’s also a small pond on the property.
This is the only original A frame home left on the property that was built in the 1920’s.
After spending some time walking the grounds, we checked out of the hotel and headed to our next destination.
Today, we would be crossing into California to spend time in the Redwood Forests!
On the way, we had to pass back through the small town of Rogue River so we stopped to get gas.
Tip: Oregon just lifted a ban on pumping your gas! The law dates back to 1951!
We spotted this cool mural on the side of a building while pumping gas.
After getting gas, we continued our drive.
We passed a sign for the Illinois Valley.
The Illinois Valley is home to the Oregon Caves National Monument, the Wild & Scenic Illinois River, swimming holes and more.
We passed tons of Dutch Bros coffee shops….that’s because the first Dutch Bros opened in Grants Pass, OR! They were always super busy too!
Crossing into California
The drive to the redwoods from the Weasku Inn takes approx. 1.5 hrs.
The drive is very pretty!
Once we arrived, we spotted a sign for the Redwood National Park ..so, of course, we had to stop and take a picture!
After our picture, we continued our drive into the Jedediah Smith State Park.
Driving into the park
The trees are massive!!
Redwood National and State Parks protect 45 percent of California’s remaining old-growth redwoods—an area almost four times the size of Manhattan Island!
There are several state parks located in this area….besides Jedediah, you have Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, and Redwood National Park.
Read reviews of Jedediah State Park here & Click here for hikes in the park and a map of the park
There were pullovers alongside the road so we pulled over and got out so we could take some pictures of these massive trees!!
Pictures will never do these trees justice…they are incredible!
After this stop, we headed to Howland Hill Rd.
Howland Hill Rd is a 6 mile dirt road located inside Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. There are many trailheads along the road, and parking and pullouts are limited. The road predates the park, having been built in 1887 as part of the Crescent City to Grants Pass Road.
Read reviews of the road here
Once we arrived, we pulled into a small parking lot and got out to walk some of the trails.
It’s hard to even describe these amazing trees!
Redwoods can reach up to about 370 feet and their trunks can grow more than 27 feet wide, about eight paces by an average adult person!
Even more incredible: These trees can live for more than 2,000 years. Some coast redwoods living today were alive during the time of the Roman Empire!
It was so peaceful walking amongst these giants!
After spending some time walking around, we continued our drive along the road.
A few minutes later, we pulled over and got out again.
We spotted a sign for the Adams Grove.
Continuing our drive along Howland Hill Rd
The views were spectacular!
We made another stop to check out the trees.
We spotted this huge tree stump!
And more massive trees!
We couldn’t pass up having our picture taken in front of this massive root ball!
After leaving here, we headed to find something to eat.
We spotted one small restaurant nearby but it had just closed so we had to resort to eating pre made sandwiches from the Hiouchi Hamlet convenience store.
It wasn’t too bad!
Gas here was outrageous….$5.39 a gallon!
After eating our lunch, we headed to a trail called Stout Grove...it’s one of the most popular hikes in the park.
Click here for more scenic drives in this area
The trail is a short 0.5 mile in length and the grove is on the edge of the beautiful Smith River.
After getting parked, we walked around in awe of these majestic tress!
A few minutes later, we headed to the Stout Grove Trail.
In 1929, Mrs. Clara Stout donated this 44 acre grove to the Save the Redwoods League to save it from being logged and to memorialize her husband, lumber baron Frank D Stout.
A walk along this loop trail reveals colossal redwoods that stand as tall as 300 ft!
Tip: A short spur trail leads you to the waters of the Smith River
You can see waist high sword ferns that carpet the forest floor.
We spotted this cool looking tree that had fallen years earlier!
So many incredible & massive trees!
Another massive root ball!
My hubby saw this huge banana slug crawling on an old tree!
The banana slug is the largest slug in North America and the second largest slug in the world!! It grows up to 8 inches long and can live for seven years! 
I felt like a little kid again climbing on all of these trees!
Click here for famous trees in this area
We spotted this tree with a deck in front of it but there was no sign stating the significance of it…not sure if it was the biggest tree in the park or what.
After spending a few hours in this area, we headed to our next stop, Trees of Mystery.
We passed Wilson Creek Beach along the way
Once we arrived to the Trees Of Mystery, we headed straight to the 49 ft tall statue of Paul Bunyan and his 35 ft companion, Babe the blue ox.
The statues were constructed largely of wooden beams, chicken wire and stucco…. the current Babe was built in 1950 and the current Bunyan in 1961.
After taking our pictures with the statues, we headed to the entrance to purchase our tickets.
Trees of Mystery opened in 1946 and features interpretive trails through Giant Redwoods, a number of unusual tree formations, a canopy trail, gondola ride, museum, restaurant, gift shop and a motel.
Read reviews of the park here, of the restaurant here & for the motel here
We really only had intentions of riding the gondola but after we entered the park, we realized there was a lot more to see!
See a map of the park here
After purchasing our tickets, we had to walk through the gift shop to enter the park.
Once you enter, there are a few trails that you can walk.
We decided to walk the Kingdom of Trees Trail first.
This trail features beautiful Coastal Redwood, Sitka Spruce and Douglas Fir trees.
This area is home to one of the most majestic trees of all, the Cathedral Tree, which is nine living trees growing as one in a natural cathedral formation.
Next we headed to the Redwood Canopy Trail.
This “trail” is actually an aerial netted suspension bridge that takes you through majestic old-growth redwoods.
The trail features several viewing platforms from 50-100 feet high in the trees. There are 10 platforms, 2 of which are connected by a spiral staircase, and 8 suspension bridges.
I have to admit, I was a bit terrified! You are so high up!
The views were awesome though!
After safely making it back down, we headed to the Sky Trail.
The Sky Trail is a set of 8 gondolas that takes you almost 1600 ft high above the tree tops!
The ride takes around 8-10 mins to reach the top.
Once you reach the top, you can exit the gondola and walk to the small wooden observation deck that offers views of the forest and ocean from a distance.
There is also a one mile trail at the top called, the Wilderness Trail, that you can take to walk back down to the bottom.
After checking out the views, we took the gondola back down.
Once we reached the bottom, we headed to another trail.
The trees here are amazing!
The park highlights a selection of novel tree formations, including the Cathedral Tree, the Brotherhood Tree, the Elephant Tree & the Candelabra Tree.
We then headed to the Trail of Tall Tails.
This trail is devoted to the tales and adventures of Paul Bunyan. He, Babe the Blue Ox, and many other characters from forest lore and legend are depicted in carvings done with chainsaws on huge, milled redwood timbers and slabs.
After finishing this trail, we left the park and headed to our next stop 7 mins away called, the Tour Thru Tree.
The Tour Thru Tree is a massive 800 yr old redwood with a drive-thru tunnel carved out of its trunk.
Read reviews here
Once we arrived, we had to pay a $5 entrance fee.
There were a few cars waiting to drive thru the tree so we had to wait our turn.
The tree was carved out back in 1976 and gets as many as 60k tourists a year!
Heading into the tree!
It was really a cool experience….you could reach out and touch the tree once you were inside.
A shot of our car driving thru the tree.
After leaving here, we headed to our hotel in Crescent City, CA which was a 30 min drive from the tour thru tree.
Tip: Located 20 mins from the tour thru tree is the magical Fern Canyon…you must have a permit to hike this short trail. We tried but didn’t get one. Fern Canyon has been featured in several movies such as Jurassic Park and the Tree of Life.
Once again, we passed the Wilson Creek Beach. 
A few minutes later, we arrived to our hotel, the Anchor Beach Inn.
Our room was nice and spacious and had ocean views!
Read reviews here
After getting settled into our room, we headed out to find something for dinner.
We ended up at the SeaQuake restaurant.
The place was packed out and the wait was long! So, after waiting a few mins for a table, we decided to just place a to go order and take it back to our room and eat.
I ordered the chicken rice bowl and my hubby ordered a burger.
The food was terrible!
The chicken in my rice bowl didn’t even look like chicken!
I managed to eat some of the rice and beans and threw the rest away!
Read reviews here
Later that evening, we made some coffee in the room and sat and watched all of the activity right outside of our window.
Unbeknownst to us, Crescent City hosts the biggest fireworks show in Northern California ..and I just happened to book a hotel that offered awesome views of the fireworks!
The fireworks went on for at least an hour or longer!
It was so cool to be able to watch right from our hotel window!
After watching the fireworks, we called it a night!
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 5!
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here, Day 3 here & Read my 10 Day Oregon Itinerary here