A Date with Drive Thru Tree

I turned another year older last month and I celebrated not with gifts and cakes but a nice long drive into some Redwoods. My birthday wish was to go see some redwood trees and having been to Roaring Camp and Big Basin earlier, we chose to drive north of the SF Bay Area this time. Our POIs included a drive-through tree, a house in a tree trunk and a redwood totem pole.

As we left the San Francisco Bay area, we took US 101 and drove all the way north till we hit the junction of 101 and Highway 1.

Leggett is the name of the place where the famous CA 1 — Californians prefer to simply call it Highway 1 — (the highway that runs through California’s Pacific coast) begins. Leggett might be a very small town but it is famous not just because it is the meeting place of two major highways. It is also the home of a well-known tree called the Chandelier Tree and a Totem Pole that is said to be the largest free-standing totem pole.

The Chandelier Tree was our main attraction for the day. This Redwood tree, also called a Drive Thru Tree is one you can actually drive through. At the base of this tall tree is a tunnel that allows a vehicle the size of an SUV to drive through it.

This drive-through tree is a Coast Redwood, which makes the tallest trees in the world. The Coast Redwood can be found on the west coast of the United States.

Did you know that the Redwood (the Coast Redwood and Giant Sequoia) is also California’s State Tree?

Coming back to the redwood tree, which is the most popular one in Legget — the drive-through tree is also called the Chandelier Tree. It is around 315 feet tall and boasts of a diameter of 21 feet. The tunnel I mentioned earlier was hewn out in the 1930s and is almost 7-ft. high and 6-ft. wide.

Now that is a tunnel that everyone wants to try driving through!

When we got to the park it was already afternoon and the mercury had risen to 105 (degrees in Fahrenheit) and there weren’t too many cars waiting to drive through. By the time we walked around, stepped into the souvenir store and picked up some ice cream, there was a long line of cars waiting to go through the famous drive-through-tree, and take a few pictures, maybe.

Wait, we did. We didn’t leave there without a drive and a walk through the tunnel that goes through the 2400-year-old tree.

The park where this tree stands is called Drive Thru Tree Park, thanks to the biggest attraction here.

I wondered why the tree was called the Chandelier Tree and why not simply the ‘drive-through tree.’ Before I left there, I found the answer to that. They say it is because the branches of the tree give it a Chandelier-like look. Now, to see that, you’ll have to stand on your head and look at the tree (or take a picture of it and hold it upside down). 😉

Things to know before you go

• Directions When you’re making a trip here, you can set your destination to Drive Thru Tree on Drive Thru Tree Road.
• Some navigation systems may not show this road so if you are driving from the SF Bay Area or Southern California, take 101 North all the way up till you reach the place where CA 1 joins 101. Take a left onto Highway 1, and take the Drive-thru Tree Road exit on the left (You’ll see the board which says, ‘Welcome to Legget.’)
• The Park is 2 miles down the road on the right.
• Note: The ‘Welcome to Legget’ board also marks a Restaurant and Market but both places were locked and barred when we visited. Moreover, it looked like they had been shut down for quite a long time. So you might want to carry your own food. (You’ll find ice cream at the gift shop.)
• There are picnic tables and restrooms in the park.

Other Redwood attractions mentioned in this post

Roaring Camp – A railway ride into a Redwood forest
Big Basin – The woods are lovely, dark and deep (pictures)

Other: Redwood areas featured on Tipsy from the TRIP
The Park’s Official Site