by Alan K. Lee
The mild climate and abundant rainfall of the northern California coast makes for ideal growing conditions for conifers, especially for Sequoia sempervirens, the California Coast Redwoods, the tallest trees in the world. Immersing yourself in a old growth redwood forest is a magical experience. You simply cannot walk through a grove of mature coast redwoods and not be awestruck by their massive size and their incredible height. It can truly be a not-of-this-world experience.
My wife and I had the pleasure of spending a few days exploring the redwoods this summer. On our first day, we drove through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park , part of the Redwood National and State Parks complex that is made up of three California state parks that were established in the 1920s, and the connecting lands of Redwood National Park, established in 1968.
We stopped at a number of places in Jedediah Smith Redwoods to do short hikes into the forest. The out and back hikes to the Grove of the Titans on the Mill Creek Trail and the Nickerson Ranch Trail both take you through old growth redwood groves that are really indescribable. There just aren’t words to adequately express the experience. And the short Stout Grove Loop Trail near the north end of the park is equally impressive.
The best way to experience the redwoods is on foot, of course, and there are 18 miles of hiking trails in the park, but the drive through the park on Howland Hill Road is itself pretty awesome, even if you never get out of your car. The road is unpaved, narrow, and winding, so not suitable for trailers or motor homes, but all other vehicles can manage it okay, at least in the summer.
We stayed in Crescent City, but the park has a large campground and four cabins that can be reserved, if you plan far enough ahead. The campground is located on the Smith River on Highway 199 about five miles northeast of Crescent City. In the summer there is a footbridge across the river connecting the campground to the Stout Grove. Reservations can be made through the state parks website.
The next day, we hiked the short trail to Endert’s Beach, just south of Crescent City in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. The park has eight miles of untouched (and mostly inaccessible at this time) coastline, and another large campground. In 2002 a large parcel of previously logged land was added to the park and is currently the site of a large restoration project. You can learn about the project at the Mill Creek Day Use Area, or on the park website.
Near the south end of the park, Wilson Beach is a nice place to take a break and do some beachcombing. A little farther south, at Requa, we took a short detour to the Klamath River Overlook at the far south end of the park. The overlook provides a good view south across the mouth of the Klamath River, a thousand feet or so below.
Back on Hwy 101, if you take the first exit south of the Klamath River Bridge, the Klamath Beach Road will take you to several beach access points, a campground, and the High Bluffs Overlook, which has a picnic area with nice ocean views. From there, you can either loop back to Hwy 101 on Coastal Drive, or continue south to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, a more scenic and quieter route through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park than Hwy 101.
Along the parkway, we did a short hike on the Ah-Pah Trail. You’ll find a number of other trailheads on the parkway that will also take you deep into the redwoods. We stopped briefly at the somewhat cheesy Big Tree Wayside, then at the visitor center at the park headquarters. Back on Hwy 101 a few miles south of the park headquarters, we also stopped at Elk Meadows Picnic Area, where we hiked to Trillium Falls – a nice hike, but the falls are less than impressive – mostly to kill some time before we headed to Fern Canyon, our afternoon destination.
Fern Canyon is popular enough to require a timed entry parking permit that is available only online. You can reserve either morning or afternoon permits. We had no problem getting a permit the day before we left on our trip, but we were there in the middle of the week. Weekends might be a different story. Parking permits are available on the park website.
The Fern Canyon Trail takes you through a 50 foot deep canyon, its vertical walls covered in a variety of different kinds of ferns. The “trail” is mostly non-existent. You’re essentially hiking the creek bed. There are some makeshift boardwalks, but plan on getting your feet wet. There was also a big logjam that we had to climb over. But that was a small price to pay, because the canyon is wonderfully scenic and utterly unique. I had never seen anything quite like it in all my years of hiking.
We stayed in Eureka that evening. The next morning we started for home. There is another state park a few miles south of Eureka, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, that has the largest contiguous old growth redwood stand in the world (according to the park website), but we didn’t have time to visit on this trip. It was a long drive to our next stop in Ashland, Oregon, and we wanted to get an early start. But we’ll be back, maybe next summer, to continue our exploration of the northern California coast. Mendocino beckons.
Our trip to the redwoods also featured stops in a number of places on the southern Oregon coast between Bandon and the California border. Check out my Bandon and Southern Oregon Coast posts. The southern Oregon coast is sparsely visited, but spectacularly beautiful, and definitely worth a look.
Posted October 3, 2022
All photos ©Alan K. Lee