U.S. Route 101
The nearly highway's northern terminus is in Tumwater, Washington: the route remains along the Olympic Peninsula's coastal perimeter west, north, and east; the northernmost point on the highway is in Port Angeles. The southern terminus of US 101 is in Los Angeles at the East Los Angeles Interchange, the world's busiest freeway interchange.
U.S. Route 101 in California
Shortly before reaching the western terminus of SR 36, US 101 becomes a freeway again between Fortuna and Eureka. North of Humboldt Hill, the road enters the City of Eureka (a potential new freeway cutting through or bypass of the city was successfully blocked repeatedly). As the route traverses Eureka, the southern portion is known as "Broadway" and then as it bears east along Humboldt Bay, the Highway is aligned on a one-way couplet (4th and 5th streets). later the highway leaves Eureka's northern city limit and continues north. The expressway style section between Eureka and Arcata, which is also a safety corridor, is named the "Michael J. Burns Freeway," in honor of the State Senator who was a proponent of California's Highways. The Highway becomes an unobstructed Freeway south of the center of Arcata. Proceeding north it passes the junction for SR 299 (also the western terminus for that route), in the Valley West (northernmost) part of the college town.
The highway continues north as it skirts westerly around McKinleyville on a high bluff north of the Mad River. As the highway reaches Clam Beach (a county park), motorists get their first magnificent full view of the Pacific Ocean north of the Golden Gate. North of Trinidad, the highway narrows to one lane in each direction after crossing Big Lagoon to pass inland of Stone Lagoon and follow the coastal bar between Freshwater Lagoon and the Pacific Ocean south of Orick. It becomes a undivided freeway through Redwood National and State Parks running inland east of the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park boundary. The freeway narrows to one lane in each direction at the Klamath River before losing its freeway designation in Klamath. The original placement of the highway near giant Coast Redwoods led to increased awareness of the destruction of the redwoods after decades of extensive logging, which ultimately led to the establishment of Redwood National Park in 1968. The original highway segment through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is now a scenic alternate similar to Avenue of the Giants, named Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway in honor of the fourth director of the National Park Service and executive director of the Save-the-Redwoods League