These 5 California redwood walks are all under a mile, and one you can drive straight through
California’s redwoods have a reputation for swallowing a full day — permits, shuttle buses, miles of trail before you reach the good stuff. That reputation is mostly wrong. Some of the most jaw-dropping groves in the state sit five minutes from the parking lot, and one of them you drive straight through without ever leaving your seat.
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Prairie Creek’s Big Tree Loop is over before your legs warm up
The Big Tree Loop at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park covers just 0.3 miles, flat and paved the whole way. It ends at Big Tree itself, one of the largest and most photographed trunks in the park, and most people are back at their car in under ten minutes.
Day use runs $8 per vehicle, though the fee is waived with an America the Beautiful Pass — Prairie Creek shares a fee system with Redwood National Park next door. Grab one here if you don’t already have it.
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Founders Grove doesn’t ask much of you either
Founders Grove Nature Trail in Humboldt Redwoods State Park is a 0.5-mile loop with about 29 feet of elevation gain — flat enough that you’ll spend more time looking up than watching your feet. Halfway around, the path passes the Dyerville Giant, once the tallest tree in the grove until it fell in 1991, and it’s still an enormous presence stretched across the forest floor.
Founders Grove itself is free to visit — no day-use fee required, one of the rare spots on this list where the parking lot doesn’t come with a price tag.
Simpson-Reed is the one we keep going back to
This one’s personal: the Simpson-Reed Trail in Jedediah Smith Redwoods is under a mile round trip and loops through some of the most untouched old growth in the entire redwood system. It’s an easy recommend if you’re traveling with kids, or with anyone who’d rather not commit to a real hike.
Day use here runs $8 per vehicle — same America the Beautiful Pass coverage as Prairie Creek.
Muir Woods trades solitude for the shortest drive from a major city
Coming from San Francisco, Muir Woods’ Main Trail is the move — a mostly flat, boardwalked path that runs about 1.5 miles one-way through Cathedral Grove before you even have to think about turning around. It’s the most visited grove on this list, and the only one that requires a reservation.
Entrance runs $15 per person for anyone 16 and up, plus a separate $9 parking reservation — both bookable up to 90 days out. Skip that step and you risk showing up to a full lot with nowhere to go.
The last one, you don’t even get out of the car
The Chandelier Tree in Leggett is a living coast redwood over 300 feet tall with a tunnel cut straight through its base — wide enough to drive a car through. No trail, no walk from the lot, just idle forward and hit the gas. It’s part of a private park, open daily from 8:30 a.m. to dusk, and it runs $15 per vehicle or $10 if you walk or bike in instead.
It’s touristy and it knows it. It’s still worth the detour if you’re already running Highway 101 through Mendocino County.
Five spots, none of them longer than a mile, and exactly one of them you experience through a windshield. Which one’s going on your route?
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead.
Rules and fees change — always confirm current requirements before you go.
