NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - San Francisco and Northern California - page 188

4 Redwood
National Park
Visitor Center 1111 Second St,
Crescent City. Te l [phone].
Arcata to Crescent City is 78 miles
(125 km). Best route is US Hwy 101.
∑ redwood.national-park.com
Some of the largest original
redwood forests in the world
are preserved in this national
park. Stretching along the
coastline, the 91-sq-mile
(235-sq-km) park includes
many smaller state parks and
can be explored along a day-
long drive. A two-day trip,
however, allows time to walk
away from the roads and
experience the tranquility of the
stately groves, or spot one of
the world's last remaining herds
of Roosevelt elk.
The park's headquarters
are in Crescent City , a few
miles north of which lies the
14-sq-mile (37-sq-km) Jedediah
Smith Redwoods State Park,
with the most awe-inspiring
coastal redwoods. Named after
the fur trapper Jedediah Smith,
the first white man who walked
across the US, it has excellent
campground facilities. South
from Crescent City, the Trees
of Mystery grove features
remarkable-looking giant
fiberglass statues.
The park's main attraction is
the world's tallest tree, a 368-ft
(112-m) giant, standing in the
Tall Trees Grove . Farther south
is Big Lagoon, a freshwater lake
stretching for 3 miles (5 km) and
two other estuaries. Together,
they form Humboldt Lagoons
State Park . The headlands at
Patrick's Point State Park, at the

Lassen Volcanic National park

6 Sonoma Valley
* 8,600. ~ @ 90 Broadway &
W Napa Sts, Sonoma Plaza. n 453 1st
St E, [phone]. _ Valley of the
Moon Vintage Festival (late Sep).
Nestling picturesquely in the
crescent-shaped Sonoma Valley
are 9 sq miles (24 sq km) of
beautiful vineyards. At the foot
of the valley lies the tiny town of
Sonoma. This town has had a
colorful past, as it was here on
June 14, 1846 that about 30
armed American farmers
captured Mexican General
Mariano Vallejo and his men, to
protest the fact that land
ownership was reserved for
Mexican citizens. They seized
control of Sonoma, declared
California an independent
republic, and flew their own
flag, with a crude drawing of a
grizzly bear. Although the
republic was annulled 25 days
later when the United States
annexed California, the Bear
Flag design was adopted as the
official state flag in 1911.
Sonoma's main attractions are
its world-famous wineries and
meticulously preserved
historical sites around the
Spanish-style plaza. Many of the
adobe buildings house wine
shops, boutiques, and
restaurants serving excellent
local cuisine. East of the plaza is
the restored Mission San
Francisco Solano de Sonoma ,
the last of California's 21
historic Franciscan missions
(founded by Father José Altimira
of Spain in 1823). Today, all that
survives of the original building
is the corridor of his quarters.
The adobe chapel was built by

southern end, are great for
spotting migrating gray whales
in winter. Rock pools abound
with smaller marine life.

5 Lassen Volcanic
National Park
@ Chester, Red Bluff. Visitor Center
Te l [phone].
Open daily. ∑ nps.gov/lavo
Before the eruption of Mount St.
Helens in Washington in 1980,
the 10,457-ft- (3,187-m-) high
Lassen Peak was the last
volcano to erupt on mainland
US. In nearly 300 eruptions
between 1914 and 1917, it laid
156 sq miles (405 sq km) of the
surrounding land to waste.
Lassen Peak is considered to
be still active. Numerous areas
on its flanks show clear signs of
the geological processes. The
boardwalk trail of Bumpass Hell
(named for an early guide, who
lost his leg in a boiling mudpot
in 1865) leads past a series of
steaming sulfurous pools of
boiling water, heated by molten
rock deep underground. In
summer, visitors can take
the winding road through
the park, climbing more than
8,500 ft (2,590 m) to Summit
Lake. The road continues
winding its way through the
so-called Devastated Area, a
bleak gray landscape of rough
volcanic mudflows, which
terminates at the Manzanita
Lake, and the Loomis Museum .

E Loomis Museum
Lassen Park Rd, N Entrance.
Te l [phone]. Open late May-
late Sep only; call for times.

Coastal redwood trees