Crescent City / Redwood National Park

The trees here are so tall and the canopy so thick that even midday light arrives filtered and green, like you're driving through something older than you have words for. Most people who pass through spend time at Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, where you walk a narrow gorge with ferns growing straight out of the walls on both sides — it's a short hike but genuinely unlike anywhere else. The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway is worth taking even if you're just cutting through, since it pulls you off the highway and puts you directly under the big trees for a few slow miles. A lot of travelers also stop at Lady Bird Johnson Grove, which is quieter than some of the more trafficked spots and gives you a good long look at old-growth redwoods without much of a crowd. For overnight stays, the Curly Redwood Lodge in Crescent City is a local institution — the building itself was milled from a single redwood tree. Dinner at the Chart Room or a pint at Seaquake Brewing makes for a solid end to a day on the road. If you're planning a trip up the Northern California coast or cutting across toward Oregon, routing through here gives you a stretch of driving that's hard to match anywhere in the country.