Oh, I'm sorry, forget to mention that. Most probably June 12 :)

My favorite hike in Jedidiah Smith is the one to the Boy Scout Tree:

www.redwoodhikes.com/JedSmith/BoyScout.html

If that one is too long, there are others described on the website above.

For scenic drives, the NPS website describes the most popular:

www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/drives.htm

My favorites are the Howland Hill Drive and the one out to Fern Canyon via Davison Road.

You will most likely spend the whole day in RNP so I would recommend staying in Eureka rather than Garberville. Fortuna or Ferndale would also be good choices.

First question - why Garberville? Other than the historic Benbow Inn, it's an old hippie town with not much there. You could look at either Fortuna, Ferndale (charming) or even Scotia at the Scotia Inn.

Don't worry about all the different names. For all intents and purposes, the whole area is just one big 'park', although there are areas within it of private property.

There are many things to do and see in the redwoods. If your car has reasonable clearance ie; not a low sports car, absolutely drive Howland Hill Road.

Battery Point lighthouse is unique amongst west coast lighthouses as it's only accessible at low tide.

Farther south, as you come into Klamath, you can drive to the top of Requa Road - you'll see it to your right. Go up the hill to the little park and you'll get a fantastic view of the Klamath River.

Cross the Klamath, the freeway starts and a few miles farther on, you'll see an exit for Newton Drury Scenic Parkway. Take it. That is old 101 and will wind through some great trees. You'll end up at Prairie Meadows where you'll probably see elk and can stop in to the ranger station there. There are several shortish hikes in that area.

You may want to stop at the visitors center north of Orick and take a brief walk on the beach if it's not raining. The Little Red Schoolhouse usually has elk in the yard there.

Stop into Trinindad for lunch or just to walk around the tiny fishing port.

You might like to try to fit in a bay cruise on the Madaket - the oldest operating marine vessel in the USA:

humboldtbaymaritimemuseum.com/madaketmainpag…

South of Eureka, you'll see a sign to Loleta. They have a cute little cheese factory you might like with really good cheese :-)

tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g32641-d64…

Thanks for the ideas!

I thought about staying at Garberville because it's only an hour from Eureka, and that would save us an hours drive on the next day, which would otherwise be a very long drive. But I made a mistake with that so it doesn't matter anymore, we might as well stay in Ferndale or Fortuna :)

A really good one-stop shop for hikes, drives, lodging and seasonal tips and more is this website, which h has lots of content about Redwood National Park, the Avenue of the Giants and more: www.redwoods.info

You can request a travel guide from them as well, which they'll drop in the mail, with lots of pretty pictures.

If you are still overwhelmed, they've whittled down the Redwood Coast into 25 top things to do in this one-sheet handout: issuu.com/redwoodcoast/docs/top.25.things.to…

Thanks! I love the 25 top things sheet :) Website is very useful too, I can't order the guide (I think it's only within the US), but they have list of phone apps I can download :)