California’s Redwood trees are world-famous for being the longest-living and tallest in the world. Unique to Northern California and southern Oregon’s coast, these ancient giants are a must-see for families visiting this region.

Fortunately, there are plenty of fun, family-friendly ways to enjoy the Redwoods, whether hiking in, riding over, driving under – or even taking a steam train.

Why visit the Redwoods?

Redwood forests are nature’s cathedrals. On entering, slow down and appreciate the silence, the cool air and the dimmed light. It is somewhere you can take a deep breath of clean air, relax and just be in the moment.

And if you think all this will be lost on your kids, there are always fallen trees to climb, hollowed trees to climb into and wildlife you won’t get anywhere else in the world: ever seen a bright yellow banana slug on a walk through the woods?

The Redwoods are easily accessible from San Francisco and the Bay Area. Or keep going and make them the focus of a road trip up the Northern California coast.

Check out this post from Road Tripping California for some California road trips inspiration.

Redwoods in Silicon Valley: Roaring Camp Railroads

The Santa Cruz Mountains did not have the shiny stuff but there was a still a kind of gold rush here. San Francisco needed lumber to build a city and the Coastal Redwoods were perfect – strong, insect and fire-proof – so they were felled in their thousands.

Roaring Camp was the railroad set up to transport the lumber down to Santa Cruz where it could be shipped out. Fortunately for us, Henry Cowell, who became rich from the trade, was persuaded by conservationists to buy and preserve the area before it was completely deforested. 

The steam train that used to haul lumber is now used to haul tourists. Take the train all the way to Santa Cruz or do the Redwood loop and chug lazily through the forest. It’s a fascinating glimpse into the history and ecology of this special area.

In the summer, Thomas the Tank comes to visit and at Christmas you can ride the holiday train. Check the website for special events throughout the year. 

After the train ride, take the stroller-friendly Redwood loop trail in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park where you will find several trees you can explore, inside and out! The best is the Fremont Tree, an enormous Redwood with a hollow so large the whole family can stand up inside.

Food is available at the onsite cafe and there is a small store selling snacks and souvenirs. 

How to get to Roaring Camp Railroads 

Roaring Camp Railroad is easily accessible by car from Highway 17, a two-lane mountain road that connects Santa Cruz with Silicon Valley. Take it easy on this road, it is notorious among locals for accidents when drivers take the sharp bends too fast. Stick to posted speed limits and stay alert!

Before leaving, check out nearby Ben Lomond, a charming mountain town. Grab a picnic at the market or stay for lunch at local gem, Italian restaurant Casa Nostra. 

Muir Woods: Old-growth forest near San Francisco

Named for naturalist John Muir, the Muir Woods National Monument is the closest Redwood forest to San Francisco, just across the Golden Gate Bridge. The main trail is a boardwalk, perfect for strollers. Families can walk the half-mile loop or the longer hour-long loop through the forest. Both trails start from the visitor center. For families with older kids (or back-carriers), the visitor center can point you in the direction of longer dirt trails.

Before heading off on a a trail, go to the Visitor Center and ask for an activity book if you have a six-year-old or older, so your children can be sworn in as a Junior Ranger. It’s a fun way to learn about the forest and there is a badge as a reward.

Muir Woods is special because there are some old-growth trees here: pre-gold rush, the Pacific coast was home to over two million acres of Redwood forest, which can live for up to 2,500 years. Once gold fever hit in the 1850s, almost all of it – 95%! – was cut down for lumber. Due to its inaccessibility, this area remained relatively unscathed. So unless you go into a basement of a San Franciscan Victorian, you need to go here to see trees older than 150 years old in the San Francisco area.

How to get to Muir Woods

You can either park at the Muir Woods car park with a ticket reserved in advance (you will be turned away if you don’t have one and don’t rely on ordering one on your phone at the car park, there is no cell coverage!) or park offsite and use a shuttle.

If you want to buy a parking ticket, make your reservation here and make sure you arrive during your reservation window. Once you park, you can stay until closing.

There are three park and ride sites, one in Mill Valley and two in Sausalito. If you are using public transport in San Francisco, it is very easy to take a ferry from the Ferry Building over to Sausalito.

San Francisco looks great from the water and you will see Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge on the ride over. If you are feeling active, combine Muir Woods with cycling over the bridge!

If you are staying in the city, check out my post on things to do in San Francisco with kids.

Redwoods Empire

If you drive north out of San Francisco and keep going up the California coast, you will find yourself in the Redwood Empire, a mysterious land of fog and giant trees. The Redwood Empire is made up of several state and national parks along Highway 101, and this is where you will find the oldest and biggest trees.

It feels almost prehistoric up here and it’s easy to imagine you have slipped back in time as you drive by dripping ferns, shafts of sunlight piercing the dense canopy to illuminate the shifting fog. 

Trees of Mystery

Around Klamath, just across the border from Oregon, is the unique Trees of Mystery, a kind of Redwoods theme park. The admission fee gets you an interpretive trail with some good information about the trees and interesting sculptures, but the highlight is the gondola ride. After staring up at these trees, it’s good to get a different perspective and truly appreciate just how tall they are as you glide quietly above the forest. 

There are three trails, with the longest at one mile, so all easy to walk with young children. It’s a good place to learn about the trees and also Paul Bunyan, the legendary logger who stands 49 feet tall outside the entrance.

Avenue of the Giants

Humboldt Redwood State Park has the largest old-growth Redwoods forest in the world and you can see beautiful and unique trees here. Drive through via the Avenue of the Giants, a scenic 31-mile stretch of road parallel to the 101 freeway.

There are lots of good places to stop and admire the trees. Founders Grove is a great spot as you can check out the Dyerville Giant – an enormous fallen tree. Seeing a Redwood from this perspective really brings home just how big they are! 

The Eternal Treehouse is another good spot for kids. There is a cafe and gift shop, as well as the treehouse itself, which is a hollowed out tree with a door, and totally somewhere fairies could live.

If you want to sleep among the Redwoods there are 250 campsites in the park. We preferred to sleep indoors and stayed at the cozy (and affordable) Miranda Gardens Resort in Myers Flat.  

Drive-through trees

There are three drive-through trees in Northern California: Chandelier Tree in Mendocino County, Shrine Tree in Humboldt County and Klamath Tree in Del Norte. If you want to combine a visit to the Avenue of the Giants, Trees of Mystery and a drive-through tree, Shrine is the closest.

Drive through carefully – there is not a lot of room – and have someone walk in front to take your pictures. Be aware, larger cars may not fit. Our crossover SUV made it and so did our other group’s car, an Infiniti. As long as your car can fit into a compact space you should be fine. Entrance fee is around $8.

If you are based in San Francisco, Chandelier Tree is slightly closer at 3.5 hours driving time. All three trees are privately owned and charge an entrance fee.

Whatever your travel plans for Northern California, make sure you include a trip to the Redwoods in your itinerary – they are not to be missed!

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San Francisco has a reputation for not being the most child-centric city to live in, with more dogs than children. As a visitor, however, its small size, mild weather and fun attractions actually make San Francisco with kids the perfect place to spend a day.

Morning

Start the day right with a Morning Bun and a coffee at Tartine, 600 Guerrero Street, before it gets too crowded. By lunchtime on a weekend, there are lines around the block for this neighborhood favorite. Let the kids enjoy the playground at Dolores Park and take a few snaps of city from the top of the hill, before catching a tram to your next stop – one of San Francisco’s unique museums. The challenge is to choose one…

Museum of Ice Cream

Catch the J tram from Dolores Park to Powell Street and visit the Museum of Ice Cream on Grant Avenue at Union Square, which describes itself as an “immersive theatrical experience” and includes tastings. MOIC is $38 a ticket, with children under two free. EDIT The Museum of Ice Cream is currently closed but another exhibition is in town – check out the Immersive Vincent Van Gogh experience at SVN West San Francisco, 10 South Van Ness Avenue. Tickets start from $39.99 for adults.

Lunch at the Cheesecake Factory located in the Macy’s at Union Square is a fun experience, with great views of the area. Alternatively, cross Market Street for Super Duper Burgers, which are genuinely super duper.

Exploratorium

Get the J tram all the way to the Embarcadero, where you can either change to the F or walk to Pier 15. The Exploratorium (open Tuesday-Sunday 10am-5pm, adult ticket $29.95, child 4-12 $19.95 and children under 3 free) is a collection of interactive science and art exhibits. All 650 exhibits are hands-on and a lot of fun. For lunch, check out the Ferry Building, home to an enticing assortment of food stalls and restaurants.

California Academy of Sciences

Before leaving Dolores Park, pick up lunch at Tartine or Bi-Rite market next door as options at Golden Gate Park are slightly limited. Catch the J to Church and Duboce then the N west to 9th and Irving, where you walk into Golden Gate Park. With animals, a rainforest, an aquarium and a planetarium, California Academy of Sciences is a unique natural history museum located within San Francisco’s famous Golden Gate Park. Open Monday-Saturday 8.30am to 5pm, $35.95 for adults, $30.95 for 12-17 year-olds, $25.95 for 4-11 and free for children under 3. Golden Gate Park also hosts a carousel, a great playground and a lake with boats for hire. If you didn’t pack a picnic earlier, there is a good hotdog stand by the Carousel.

Afternoon

Baker Beach

If you have any energy left, you could check out Baker Beach, where you will find sand, fog, crashing waves and a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge. In San Francisco, the closer you get to the ocean, the colder and duller it gets, so you will need to layer up. From Union Square, take the 38R bus to Geary and 25th, then the 29. From the Ferry Building, take the number 1 bus. From Golden Gate Park, take 5R to Fulton and 25th, then the 29.

Cable Cars

San Francisco’s cable cars are also a fun way to spend an afternoon. You can get the California line from near Golden Gate Park or the Ferry Building, or the Powell Hyde line from Union Square. The Powell-Hyde line is a popular route as it meanders through some beautiful neighborhoods, including Lombard Street, famous for being the “crookedest street in San Francisco”. This line terminates in Fisherman’s Wharf, which is a bit of a tourist trap but is worth checking out for the sea lions, which hang out at Pier 39.

If you have older kids…

…then get a ferry to Alcatraz for a day out. Book online at least one month in advance and be on time, as you won’t get another chance if you miss your ferry! Alternatively, and if your family enjoys cycling, hire bikes from the Ferry Building and cycle around the Embarcadero, through the Presidio and over the Golden Gate Bridge. You will get to see some of San Francisco’s prettiest neighborhoods and experience the city’s famous bridge up close. On the other side, spend an afternoon in Sausalito, before heading back on the ferry to San Francisco. There are many great places to eat on the waterfront.

Getting around

Public transport in San Francisco consists of the Muni (trams, buses and cable cars) and the BART (underground train). You can buy a single ticket on board the Muni from the driver ($2.50, 4 and under free) but you must have the exact change. A day pass for the Muni costs $12 on the app MuniMobile, $15 on a Clipper card (including the $3 fee for the card) or $23 for a paper pass. These can be purchased at ticket kiosks, found at most of the major stops. If you are visiting for more than a day, check out CityPASS, a discount card you can buy that includes a 3-day Muni card plus entrance to two museums, an aquarium and a bay cruise.

Where to avoid

San Francisco is a fairly safe city but has some serious social issues including a large and visible homeless population, in part a victim of its own success as tech money pushes house prices beyond what many can afford. It’s often a shock to visitors unused to seeing such poverty amid such obvious wealth, and it seems worse in this city because many of those living on the streets do so right in the center, an area known as mid-market. So if you want to stay right in the center, in Union Square, you’re probably going to see SF’s unpretty side.

Public transport is the easiest way to get around but if you have a car, just DO NOT leave anything on display. Stick to parking garages, which are a little safer.

The neighborhood known as the Tenderloin is best avoided altogether, so don’t wander down Ellis or Eddy Streets from Union Square. Not to say this area is all bad but its certainly one of the sketchier areas here. Union Square itself is fine, home to some of the glitzier hotels, shops and restaurants. At Christmas time, this is where you will find the big tree and an ice rink.

Where to stay in San Francisco

Newly-refurbished Hotel Nikko is conveniently located on Mason Street, just off Union Square. This luxury hotel features an indoor pool, gym, parking and is pet-friendly.

If you want to stay somewhere with some old-world San Franciscan charm, stay at the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco. The bar on the top floor is famous for its views and Martini menu.

Prefer to stay like a local? VRBO has listings for apartments all over the city. The area around Mission Dolores is good for families, with Dolores Park, a ton of great restaurants and close to the downtown.

Some people also warn tourists away from the Mission neighborhood but personally this is one of my favorite places in the city, with an incredible array of restaurants, bars, cafes and interesting shops. If you stay on Valencia Street you will be fine.

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