A hidden getaway Gem up North of San Francisco Avenue of the Giants and Shelter Cove!

SHELTER COVE and Avenue of the Giants!!!

My girlfriend and I are pretty spontaneous and wanted to go explore the redwood trees all throughout Avenue of the Giants. Avenue of the Giants is a scenic 31-mile portion of old Highway 101, which parallels Freeway 101 with its 51,222 acres of redwood groves. The Avenue of the Giants is surrounded by Humboldt Redwoods State Park which has the largest remaining stand of virgin redwoods in the world.

We found a small town by the beach about half an hour away called Shelter Cove. Below is an image during sunset from the lost cost Inn.

The community of Shelter Cove offers an airport, golf course, superb lodging and fine dining, surrounded by beaches, mountains and outstanding coastal views. Shelter Cove boasts excellent ocean fishing, beachcombing and mountain trail hiking, all at your doorstep.

Not even a 5 minute drove from the lost cost inn is a hidden treasure of the lost coast which stretches about 80 miles long.

If you have the courage and skill to master this coast, you will be greeted by peaks that are more than 2000 feet high. The highest is King’s Peak at 4,087 feet. You will also be greeted by a beach named Black Sand Beach. Though you can swim in this beach, most people don’t. It isn’t a beach that attracts a large crowd, except for those that are hiking along the coast and stop to take pictures and such. This beach brings about an extremely dramatic scene, with beautiful water, sand, and peaks all around it. The area is known for its black sand beaches, which get their color from dark colored sandstone called greywacke and an older compressed shale produced by tectonic activity of one continental and two oceanic plates meeting just offshore.

It can get real foggy from the coast hence "shelter cove", check out the view from the patio below!

Within walking distance of the lost coast inn was an old lighthouse.

Cape Mendocino Light was a navigation light at Cape Mendocino, California. The former lighthouse was relocated to Shelter Cove near Point Delgada, California in 1998, and the historic Fresnel lens to Ferndale, California, in 1948. An automated beacon operated for a number of years but was removed in May 2013. Great place for sunsets!

There is a beach you can drive you car onto and fish or just lounge around and BBQ.

overall it was an awesome getaway from San Francisco to explore all the redwoods and the coast. If you have any questions feel free to ask!