#2-5 of 80 adventures to do in California

California has a multitude of different landscapes all in one state. There are mountains, valleys, rolling hills, big cities, ocean views, deserts, volcanic areas, huge redwood trees and more! Today I am here to share some of my favorite places to visit in Northern California.

#2 Ocean World

Ocean World Aquarium is located off of highway 101 in Crescent City. It is a very fun place to visit and is kid friendly! They’re open all week long but have longer hours on the weekends verses during the week, so check their website for business hours before you go. They have a touch and feel tide pool, sea lions that are trained to put on a show for you, seals, bat rays, wolf eels and towards the end of the tour you get to pet sharks! But first, before you even enter, be sure to take advantage of their fun props outside, they make some great photo opportunities LOL!! Yep thats me and one of my best friends creating a memorable moment :).

The aquarium tour lasts about 45 miniutes and tickets are purchased in the gift shop. By the way, the gift shop is FULL of adorable items! I spent a good amount of time in it picking out a few favorites :). The tour starts out in the touch and feel tide pool area. It’s filled with lots of interesting sea creatures that live amogst the rocks near the shores of the Pacific North West. These creatures are amazing to interact with, but be careful, they’re also quite fragile and require gentle care. Don’t worry though, the tour guides are there to show you how to make the most of this experience, while keeping these creatures safe and happy.

After the tide pool, you will make your descent underground where there are tanks filled with hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. You are completely surrounded by water, all around and above you. Here you will see many different types of fish, including bat rays, eels and more! Take a moment to really look around, there’s so much to see! As you move forward once again, you will enter the area where the sharks are. This was the highlight of the tour for me!! I loved petting the sharks! Some of them would come right over to you as though they wanted to be pet, almost like a dog lol! I stayed in this area a little longer than the others. It was very fun. Would you pet a shark?

#3 Patrick’s Point State Park

Patricks Point State Park is absolutly beautiful. I would rank this area in my top 5 coastal beaches of California! It’s located 4.5 miles above Trinidad, right on the coast. It is one square mile and filled with several different types of experiences. This is one of my favorite areas to just sit and watch the waves! I could stay in this area for hours!! Its absolutely beautiful and the sound of the waves coming in and hitting up against the rocks is seriously relaxing.

There are campgrounds within the park although I have not stayed in them as of yet. If you stay in one of these campgrounds, share your experience with me! I’m sure they’re wonderful, this state park has a lot to offer. There are plenty of amazing hiking trails here, as well as fishing, snorkeling and even geocashing. Dogs are allowed in the campgrounds and day use areas on leashes but not on the beaches or trails. There are also areas for tidepooling, which is one of my favorite things to do :). The ocean views are amazing and there are so many places to sit and just take in the serenity of the ocean and the waves.

Also within the park is a very cool reconstructed yurok plank-house village. The kids will love to explore these underground little houses. Bring your lunch and have a picnic here.

# 4 The scenic drive along the ocean in Trinidad

The scenic drive to the beaches in Trinidad is not for the beginner driver lol. In certain areas, it is a narrow one lane dirt road with a hill on one side and sheer drop off to the ocean on the other! But the beaches along this drive are GORGEOUS! You can access this road off main street in Trinidad. Off of this road, you’ll find a couple of really cool viewing areas. I’ll go into more detail below.

Luffenholtz view point. This was an absolutely gorgeous mini hike out to the top of a hill that overlooks Luffenholtz Beach. I must say it was a little intimidating at first, as the wind was blowing pretty hard and that little narrow trail had drop offs on both sides! It took me a minute to gather my mindset to walk out there lol!! I am so glad I did though because it is seriously a breathtaking view!

Houda Point and Camel Rock. This beach was very nice! You could walk right up to Camel rock and check out all of the sea life living on it. The beach was pretty flat here as well. My husband and I sat on a smaller rock and listened to the waves coming in and watched the sunset. It was a very romantic spot :).

We even found the most interesting sea animal washed up on the beach. The texture was like a jellyfish but its body structure like a fish. It had a large mouth and two little tails. After doing some research I believe this is called a sea salp. They are really interesting! Has anyone ever seen these before?

#5 Fern Canyon

Another favorite is Fern Canyon! If you’re in the area, this is a must see! It is a gorgeous hike among tall canyon walls filled with green lush ferns! It is near the town of Orick. The hike is a little over a mile long and is perfect for any age. My grandkids loved this hike! Climbing over the logs and playing in the stream was exhilarating for them :). I will have a full post coming soon on this hike as it is one of my favorites!!

Have any of you been to any of these places? If so, comment below! If not, which one speaks to you the most?

I love California and all of its unique little areas. There are so many things to see and do here! I can’t wait to see and share more with you.

Chat soon,

Trudy