Redwood CoastTravel guide · Humboldt CA

Humboldt County · Northern California

Where to stay in the redwoods

The old growth runs a hundred and fifty miles up Highway 101. Where you sleep decides how much of your holiday you spend driving — so this is the honest comparison first, and our houses second.

Corridor
~150 miles
Bases
Five real options
Our houses
Four
Book
Earlier than feels necessary
Baywood Redwood Retreat among redwoods in Humboldt County
A stay at Baywood puts Arcata, the coast, and the northern redwood parks within reach.

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Decide this first

Illustrated California Redwood Coast map showing regional bases and the four Redwood Retreat vacation homes
The redwoods stretch across a long corridor — choose your base with the drive in mind.

Five bases, compared honestly

Every guide tells you to stay “near the redwoods.” That is not much help when the redwoods are spread across three hours of driving. Here is what each base actually costs you.

BaseNorthern parksAvenueWhat you get
Arcata & Bayside≈ 1 hr≈ 1 hrThe midpoint, and the only base with a real town around it — restaurants, groceries, a Saturday farmers market, a city-owned redwood forest, and Cal Poly Humboldt. Twenty-five minutes to the coast. You are not in the old growth, but you are an hour from all of it.
Trinidad≈ 40 min≈ 1 hr 25Beautiful, right on the water, and closer to the northern parks. Very small — limited food, limited rooms, and you will drive to Arcata for anything you forgot.
Orick≈ 15 min≈ 1 hr 45Closest to Fern Canyon, Prairie Creek and the Tall Trees road. Almost no services at all. A base for people who want the trailhead and nothing else.
Eureka≈ 1 hr 15≈ 50 minThe biggest town, the most hotel rooms, and a Victorian old town worth an evening. Slightly further from everything, and it does not feel like a redwood trip.
Southern Humboldt≈ 2 hrsOn itGarberville, Redway, Miranda, Myers Flat — and the Avenue itself. The right base for the southern groves and Richardson Grove, and a long way from the national park.

Our homes

Four houses on the corridor

Two in the south beside the Avenue, one on the coast at Shelter Cove, one in the north by Arcata. All built for groups, all with a guidebook written for that house.

Baywood Redwood Retreat by the golf course and redwoods

North · Bayside, near Arcata & Cal Poly Humboldt

Baywood Redwood Retreat

Tri-level and newly renovated, backing onto the Baywood golf course with second-growth redwoods behind and room for sixteen or more. Twelve hundred square feet of patio brings together an outdoor kitchen, a gas fire pit that seats ten, a seven-person hot tub, and four hundred feet of string lights. Up a short trail behind the house is a hammock deck with panoramic views. Quiet enough at night that you will hear owls, three miles from dinner in Arcata.

  • 7 bedrooms
  • Sleeps 16+
  • 3 baths
  • Hot tub
  • Outdoor kitchen
  • Fire pit
  • Game room
  • Pool table
Cal Poly Humboldt
3 miles
Arcata Plaza
3 miles
Moonstone Beach
≈ 15 min
Prairie Creek & Fern Canyon
≈ 1 hr
Avenue of the Giants
≈ 1 hr
See the house
Cliff House deck with a fire pit and Eel River Valley views

South · Garberville, above the Eel River

Cliff House

Panoramic views over the Eel River Valley and the mountains beyond. Hot tub, and an outdoor kitchen built around an Evo grill — the deck is where everyone ends up, whether that is morning coffee or watching the fog move up the valley after dinner.

  • 6 bedrooms
  • Sleeps 16+
  • 4 baths
  • Hot tub
  • Evo cooktop
  • 5,000 sq ft outdoors
  • Pets OK
Avenue of the Giants
Minutes
Founders Grove
Short drive
Richardson Grove
≈ 45 min
See the house
Hobbit House patio with outdoor seating among the redwoods

South · Benbow, above the Eel

The Hobbit House

An earth-built straw bale dome on a hilltop above Benbow, with a treehouse casita, a hot tub gazebo and an outdoor kitchen built around a sixteen-foot bar. Fifteen minutes from the Avenue of the Giants.

  • 5 bedrooms
  • Sleeps 16+
  • 12 beds
  • Hot tub
  • Outdoor kitchen
  • Trampoline
Avenue of the Giants
Minutes
Rockefeller Forest
Short drive
See the house
BlackSands living room with leather seating and tall windows

Coast · Shelter Cove, above Black Sands Beach

BlackSands

Four levels half a mile from Black Sands Beach, sleeping fourteen. A 130-inch theater and game room, a seven-person hot tub, radiant heated floors, and a fenced turf backyard. Ten minutes on foot down to the black sand.

  • 4 bedrooms
  • Sleeps 14
  • 11 beds
  • 3 baths
  • 130-inch theater
  • Hot tub
  • Walk to beach
Black Sands Beach
Short walk
Tide pools & lighthouse
Minutes
Avenue of the Giants
≈ 1 hr 15
See the house

Book direct

Check availability

Search every house at once and book direct through Lost Coast Vacation Rentals.

Browse all homes
  • A guidebook comes with every stay — the trails worth the drive, where to eat, and how to spend each day, written for that house.
  • Check-in details arrive before you travel, with directions off US-101.
  • Questions get a real person. Before, during, or at 9pm when something is not working.

Everything else

Other ways to sleep out here

A house is not the only answer, and for a couple or a single night it usually is not the right one.

In the parks

Campgrounds

Humboldt Redwoods has Hidden Springs, Burlington and Albee Creek. Prairie Creek has Elk Prairie and Gold Bluffs Beach. All book out through summer, and Gold Bluffs sits behind the same gravel road as Fern Canyon.

Towns

Motels & inns

Eureka and Arcata have the most rooms. Trinidad, Orick, Garberville and Redway have a handful each, and they fill fast on summer weekends.

On the Avenue

RV parks

Several sit along the southern corridor, including at Myers Flat. The Avenue itself is closed to commercial big rigs but fine for campers.

Backcountry

Trail camps

Redwood Creek has camps along the way to Tall Trees Grove, and Prairie Creek has Miners Ridge and Ossagon. Permits are required, so check with the park before you plan around them.

Practical

Booking a redwood trip

  • Book earlier than feels necessary. There are not many beds in this county. Summer weekends, holidays and graduation weekend at Cal Poly Humboldt go first.
  • Two nights minimum, honestly. Everything here is a drive. One night means most of your stay is the road.
  • September and October are the local’s answer. Clearest skies of the year, summer crowds gone, and the trees do not change.
  • Check what is open in the off season. Restaurant hours contract sharply outside summer, especially in the small towns.
  • Confirm pet policies directly. They vary by property and change.
  • Flying in? ACV in McKinleyville is 15 minutes from Arcata. Airlines, alternatives and drive times are in the airport guide.Airport guide
  • Weddings. Ceremonies of up to twenty are welcome at any of our houses — or thirty-two across two. See the Redwood weddings guide for permits, guest limits and how it works.Redwood weddings guide
  • Groups do better in a house. From about six people, one house is usually cheaper than three hotel rooms and considerably easier.
  • Cell service is patchy everywhere. Sort accommodation before you leave the highway, and download your maps.
Questions about a stay? Call 925-998-2298

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Redwood Coast Travel Guide

Written by people who host in Humboldt County.

Park conditions, road closures, and permit rules change. Check with the National Park Service and California State Parks before you travel.