Trees of Mystery, California, United States

5Racer70 5:00 PM Aug 20, 2021

Well Worth Your Time
My 12 yr. old daughter and I visited Trees of Mystery on August 11, 2021. It's directly located on Hwy. 101 just south of Crescent City and is in the heart of the Redwoods. *Please be advised of the traffic closure times on Hwy. 101 at "Last Chance Grade" until the end of August 2021!* It will impact your travel if you are coming from the north or heading north afterwards. The park has lots of paved parking and you are greeted by Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. There are nice bathrooms and of course, a large gift shop with the usual souvenir trinkets, fudge and ice cream etc. Once you pay your entrance fee, you are free to follow the trail which leads to the steps and the canopy of the redwood trees, which are linked together by suspension bridges and walkways high up in the trees. There is lots of walking required, so if you have trouble walking, some of the trails and tree canopy bridges may be a problem. However, we saw people of all ages, young and old walking in the tree canopy and bridges. It does give you a different perspective of the large redwood trees when you are high up in them. After going through the trees, you can take the sky tram to the top of the property where you get great views of the ocean. However, the views for us that day were impacted due to the smoke from the nearby wildfires. If you visit at a time other than the wildfire season, you should have awesome views from the top observation deck. At the top, you have the option of returning via the sky tram or walking back down the mile plus trail, which can be difficult for some due to the steep elevation changes. There are also bathrooms at the top and a nice observation deck. Unfortunately, the trail down was closed because it was nearing time to close the park and you wouldn't finish walking the trail until after the park was closed. The park property is very clean and well maintained and offers lots of history of the area and the redwood trees. If you have about 2 hours, I highly recommend visiting Mystery of Trees for anyone who has an interest in the redwoods and wants a different perspective of them.

4jerjon 5:00 PM May 30, 2021

A fun roadside attraction
We were last here back in the 90s but stopped again this past Memorial Day weekend on a road trip through the redwoods. The talking statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe greet you as you enter from the parking lot. It's not terribly expensive and the sky trail walk over the netted bridges was fun and good exercise. The sky tram (I think that's what they call it) was also cool; you get off at an observation platform at one end and then board again for the ride back (note: although you can ride the tram "as many times as you want" be aware that you will be waiting in line to board, we waited about 30 minutes so didn't want to wait again for a second ride). Overall, this is an updated but still kinda retro typical American road side attraction. You will, of course, exit through the massive gift store (which does also have a small museum with a cool collection of indigenous peoples' items).