Leggett · Myers Flat · Klamath

Drive-through redwood trees

Three living redwoods on Highway 101 have tunnels wide enough for a car. They are kitsch, they are wonderful, and the only question that matters is whether your vehicle actually fits.

How many: Three
Spread over: ~150 miles
Narrowest: 6 ft
Widest: 7 ft 4 in

Car on a road beneath giant coast redwoods in Northern California

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Read this before you drive an hour

Will your car fit?

The three tunnels are different sizes. People pay, queue, reach the tree in a full-size SUV and discover they cannot get through.

Tree	Tunnel	Where	Fits
ChandelierLeggett	6'0" W × 6'9" H	160 miles north of San Francisco	Cars and small SUVs. Fold mirrors in. Minivans are a very tight squeeze.
ShrineMyers Flat	Tightest	On the Avenue of the Giants	Smaller cars only. The opening is natural and irregular, not a squared-off cut.
Tour-ThruKlamath	7'4" wide	Near Redwood National Park	The roomiest. If you are in something large, this is your tree.

The route at a glance

Three trees, 150 miles

Follow Highway 101 from Klamath through Humboldt County to Leggett, with each drive-through redwood marked along the way.

Illustrated map of Highway 101 showing the Tour-Thru Tree in Klamath, Shrine Tree in Myers Flat, and Chandelier Tree in Leggett — The three tunnels span the Redwood Coast from Klamath in the north to Leggett in the south.

South to north

The three trees

They sit roughly in a line up Highway 101, so which one you visit mostly depends on where you already are.

Leggett · the first one coming from the Bay Area

The Chandelier Tree

The famous one: around 2,400 years old, 315 feet tall and roughly 70 feet around, with a tunnel cut through the base in 1937. It stands in a private park with a gift shop, picnic tables, a pond and short walking trails. If you are driving up from San Francisco, it is right off US-101 at Leggett.

Height: 315 ft
Age: ~2,400 yrs
Tunnel cut: 1937
Opening: 6'0" × 6'9"

Finding it: From US-101 at Leggett, take CA-1 then CA-271 south for about half a mile, then Drive-Thru Tree Road. The turn comes up fast.

Myers Flat · on the Avenue of the Giants

The Shrine Drive-Thru Tree

Its opening was largely made by nature rather than a saw: a naturally angled hollow in the trunk, since enlarged and held steady with steel cables. Behind the gift shop are a fallen redwood with a drive-up ramp, a walk-through stump, and redwood playhouses. It is an easy fit into an Avenue of the Giants day.

Opening: Natural
Fit: Small cars
Also here: Tree houses
Season: Closed in winter

Finding it: In Myers Flat on the Avenue of the Giants, follow the signs to the gift shop.

Klamath · the northern parks

The Tour-Thru Tree

The newest and roomiest: cut in 1976, 167 feet tall, with a tunnel a little over seven feet wide. It is the only one of the three that comfortably takes a larger vehicle, and makes a natural stop when you are exploring the northern parks.

Height: 167 ft
Cut: 1976
Opening: 7'4" wide
Visitors: ~60,000/yr

Finding it: Just off US-101 near Klamath, north of Orick.

All three are privately run and charge a small fee per vehicle. Fees, opening hours and seasonal closures change, so check before making a special trip.

Worth saying

Should you drive through a tree?

It is a fair question, and the honest answer is that nobody would cut these tunnels today.

They were made between 1937 and 1976, before roadside attractions were weighed against tree health as they are now. These three are the last of their kind: a genuine piece of American road-trip history as much as they are trees.

Planning

Can you do all three in a day?

Yes, but only just, and only if that is the whole plan.

Leggett to Klamath is roughly 150 miles of Highway 101: about three hours of driving before stops, queues, or any grove worth pulling over for. It is a full and fairly relentless day.

Driving up from the Bay Area? Take the Chandelier at Leggett, then the Shrine at Myers Flat as you drive the Avenue. Two trees, no detour.
Based in southern Humboldt? Both southern trees are within easy reach: Leggett is south and Myers Flat is on the Avenue.
Based near Arcata? The Tour-Thru at Klamath fits neatly into a northern parks day.
Only doing one? The Chandelier is the famous one and best photograph. The Shrine is the better stop with children.
Driving something big? Klamath is the only one you will definitely get through.

Where to stay

Two homes near the southern trees

The Chandelier and Shrine are in southern Humboldt, within easy reach of the Avenue of the Giants, which is where two of our homes are.

Cliff House & the Hobbit House

Cliff House is mid-century modern on eight private acres above the Eel River, while the Hobbit House is an earth-built straw-bale dome on a hilltop above Benbow. Both sleep 16 or more and are minutes from the Avenue.

Cliff House The Hobbit House

Keep planning

The Shrine Tree is on it