Shrine Drive Thru Tree

Only bathroom in town. That was the best part. $ 6 to pee isn’t the worst money I’ve ever spent.
Oh, there was some stuff to drive on and through too.

It wasn’t the greatest but there was no line when we went and it was an experience. You need a small car for any of the 3 trees that you can drive through. The lady that took our money was very nice and gave us great pointers… like pulling in your mirrors. That was better than what we got from the other attendants at the other trees.

We came on a Friday afternoon during our drive back to the bay area from Eureka. This was a pretty cool experience as we got to drive our car through the redwood tree. It costed $ 6 but was a fun experience. This place also has tree stumps you can walk through and treehouses you can check out. They do have a gift shop and have restrooms to complete your pitstop.

Fun! We managed to get our Cadillac Escalade through unharmed, with a great photo to prove it.

One of the things I remember from my childhood is seeing cars in the redwoods driving through redwood trees. There is so much nostalgia I have around those pictures.
Shine Drive Thru Tree is on the Avenue of Giants in the town of Myers Flat. It is next to a tasting room for a winery and we saw it and I just had to stop. There were a few of these trees created for tourist buzz and this is supposed to be one of three in the area. The entrance fee for a car is $ 6, not too bad. You drive about, seriously, 30 seconds and you are to the area of the tree. The sign warns of your responsibility for any damage to your car, and rightly so. This was made in like the early 21^st century and car sizes were very different back then. We have an Acadia, supposedly on a car frame, and we barely made it. The sign warns you it is 7 by 7 and we needed every millimeter, so be warned. There were not many people, so my wife did the obligatory video of me creeping through. It is something to do, but I think I did it the once I would in my life.
There are a couple of other exhibits including two trees done as a tree house village. A «drive on» tree is also there, but not sure this one is worth it. The gift house has a few things as well.
Overall it was an experience, it was not expensive, but not sure that with the pictures we took that I need to do it again, I will leave it to my daughter when she grows up.

IWe got there 30 min before they close on the weekday. Drove through the tree twice. Our son roamed around climbing on tree logs and played in the little houses made out of logs as well (very cool). It wasn’t crowded, maybe 2 other cars so the place seemed very peaceful. Yes it’s touristy and I can’t say it’s a must see place but if you have time for a little detour from 101 you won’t regret it.

The tourist traps on the avenue of the giants can be ridiculous. Compared to other drive thru trees on the avenue this has to be the best, but still only worthy of a 1 star. Let’s be real the tree is dead. You pay 6 dollars for nearly scratching your car and a 10 minute photo shoot you could have created in Photoshop. The place is in horrible upkeep and needs to be renovated badly, you think the money from having so many dumb tourists would help. The tree is help up by cables and appears to be on its last leg. There is a picnic area where you can watch others who just accomplished the same mediocre feat have looks of disappointment. When leaving there is the option of driving your car on a pavement ramp so it appears you are on top of a log. You can really look like an automotive risk taker. However, this is also not satisfying enough to make up the $ 6 you just spent. This is just another tourist trap.

I only wish I had checked Unilocal before doing this! Not only was it $ 6 wasted, it was 20 minutes of time wasted too! This place is an absolute dump. The tree isn’t much of a tree anymore. It’s about 20′ tall with no top and giant cables holding it up. It looks like it’s going to fall at any minute.
If you REALLY want to drive through a tree, go to the Tunnel Log in Sequoia… it’s FREE!

Complete rip off. We couldn’t even fit our car through the tree. Ultimate tourist trap. Glad I’m only out $ 6. Skip this attraction.

Not worth your $ 6!
You drive up, not even knowing your car will actually fit… Drive through a huge tree, split in two and off you go again.
Maybe another drive through tree is worth your while.

It’s cool. I’ve spent more money on worse things.

Great location! Right on the Avenue of the Giants. But not the best experience as far as drive thru trees go. For one, the tree isn’t grand. Its a little sad. They have a few picnic tables and other photo op places like drive on a tree or tree houses but we were in and out in 10 minutes feeling a little suckered.
If your in the area and have no plans to see any other drive thru trees then stop in or else I’d say skip it.

If you drive a large vehicle this may not be for you. We drive a kia optima and had no problems at all. The owner (?)/​operator was really REALLY nice and this was my sons favorite part of the day. Everyone there seemed to be enjoying themselves. In addition to the drive thru tree, there is a picnic area, a couple of tree houses made from large redwood stumps, a drive «on» tree and a view of the Eel river. It’s right off the road and we will make this a tradition every time we pass through Avenue of the Giants.

Cannot but help to compare the Shrine Drive Thru Tree with the Chandelier Drive Thru Tree.
If I had not been to the Chandelier Drive Thru Tree, then I may have loved this one.
This tree has a crack split in the middle of it. That is what you drive your vehicle through.
For $ 6, it is more expensive than the Chandelier tree which has a $ 5 entry fee per car.
Okay to visit once if you are in that part of Northern California. Not a «Can’t Miss» destination, though.

I already knew it was a tourist trap going in, so I may be biased. It’s $ 6, totally reasonable. The people are super freaking nice, it’s cool to drive through, albeit a bit tight for our SUV. It’s fun to do ONCE. And it’s not even a mile off the highway, do it!

Tree was pretty dead looking, but you can’t really tell for pictures. Still pretty cool though when inside and looking up. Got her at about 11am on a Monday morning an the line was super short.
If you’re going up or down the 101 through the redwood forest, I’d say go, it was only $ 6. If not, your time is better invested with the chandelier drive through tree in Leggett. But this one was still nice since you’re driving through the Avenue of Giants, which a beautiful car ride.

This place epitomizes the cheesy touristy roadside attraction. Keeping this in mind at least it’s only $ 6.
You drive through a giant «tree» which may or may not be alive in the middle of a asphalt parking lot. That’s pretty much it. Loop through the tree — take a photo of your beloved car in the middle — then you’re done. There’s not much else to see/​do here. No scenery. No groves.
It’s super cheesy. But so is the urge to drive through a tree. So don’t complain.
If you want a more majestic option there’s the Chandelier Tree in Leggett but that misses the point — the whole idea is cheesy so might as well get as cheesy as possible.

Was our first experience with the drive thru tree and thought it was THE ONE that I have seen all my life. Wrong! We paid 6 dollars to get in, what looked like someone’s back yard, and had the privilege of driving through a broken splitting tree that looked like it was about ready to fall down. I wish I knew about the Chandlier Tree before I wasted 6 dollars!

The Shrine Drive Thru Tree is a tourist trap near the bottom of the Avenue of the Giants. For $ 6 you get to drive through a tree. It’s kitchy. It’s weird. It’s all-​American. It was totally worth it in my opinion.
There is also a drive through tree in Leggett. It seems like that tree is much busier. We only waited about 5 minutes to drive through this tree.
I enjoyed the experience though it was a bit of a rip-​off. I think this is something everyone should do once in the area.

At $ 6.00 per car, I don’t think the price was unreasonable. Some people say there are better trees out there, but I think a drive-​thru tree is a drive-​thru tree. We were happy with it at least.
I made sure to ask the attendant if our small rental SUV would fit, since I’m not that familiar with the dimensions of it. The attendant said a Chevrolet Suburban would fit through the tree, but I find that extremely doubtful. We actually had to turn in our mirrors and squeeze through. This was a great photo opportunity, especially looking up through the tree through our sunroof.
You’ll also find a few cool wood carvings to look at after you finish with the tree, and a literal «tree house» or two.