I think it's just luck with banana slugs. They are huge, colorful, and uber cool. Your kids would probably like them better than those darned trees. "who cares about some dumb trees, dad?"
The farther north you go up the California coast, the denser (and taller) they seem to get. There's a combined State/Federal reserve about 1 1/2 hours north of SFO off of the 101 thats right on the coast - you can literally walk right out of the dense forest onto the beach.
The coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) towers over all other trees in the world. At 112.1 meters (367.8 feet) the coast redwood discovered on the banks of Redwood Creek by the National Geographic Society in 1963 was the tallest known tree, known as the Stratosphere Giant. However, in 2006 the world's reigning tallest living tree, seems to have lost its title to not one but three contenders.
Like the 370-foot Giant, the three trees are coast redwoods. They were discovered this summer in Redwood National Park near Eureka by a team of California researchers who spend most of their free time bushwhacking through North Coast forests in search of taller and taller trees.