The hook
A log cabin in the redwoods off Highway 84 where the 1960s more or less caught fire: Ken Kesey's place, where the Acid Tests started and the Furthur bus got its paint.
01Why it's worth it
In the mid-1960s Ken Kesey, fresh off the money from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, bought a rustic cabin on a couple of redwood acres in La Honda and filled it with the Merry Pranksters. This is where the Acid Tests began, where they wired the trees for sound, where Neal Cassady held court and the Hells Angels came to party, and where they painted a 1939 school bus in psychedelic swirls and misspelled "Furthur" across the front. It's ordinary redwood-canyon roadside now, and someone lives there, so there's nothing to tour. The value is knowing what happened here as you roll past on Highway 84: one quiet bend in the road that the whole psychedelic era ran through.
02How to experience it
It's private property, so this is a ride-by, not a visit. Have the story in your head as you come through La Honda on Highway 84, and let the ordinary-looking woods do the rest. Pair it with the San Gregorio General Store or a stop in La Honda proper.