The redwood trees have been a bucket list item for me since I was a child. I saw pictures of them in a book and ever since have longed to see these giants of the forest. After our stop on the Oregon coast, it was an easy trek down Rt 101 to Crescent City, California, and Redwoods National Park.
We learned a lot about redwoods right from our arrival, starting with the fact that there are actually two distinct, but related, species. Coastal redwoods are the tallest living things on the planet, growing up to 370 feet tall and 22 feet in diameter. The other redwoods, better known as giant sequoias, are not quite as tall but can grow to a massive 40 feet across. Since the sequoias grow in the eastern area of the state in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, we decided to focus this trip on the coastal redwoods only.
As their name suggests, coastal redwoods grow naturally along the California coastline from the southwest corner of Oregon down to central California. The zone is 450 miles long by 25 miles wide and below 3000 feet in altitude, but the redwoods actually grow in long belts or groves instead of in one continuous forest. In fact, the Redwood National and State Parks complex consists of four separate areas covering 139,000 acres — Redwood National Park itself and three Redwood State Parks: Jedediah Smith, Prairie Creek, and Del Norte Coast.
Jedediah Smith State Park:
We stayed at Redwood Meadows RV Resort which was literally just outside the entrance to Jedediah Smith State Park, so we began our exploration there. We walked the easy trails among the towering trees in Stout Grove and Simpson-Reed Grove. The Stout Grove, a breathtakingly beautiful 44-acre grove of old-growth redwoods, was one of my favorites. You can’t help but feel a deep spirituality and sense of peace walking among these ancient beauties.
The old growth redwoods are those that are very tall and very old and have grown slowly over centuries in relatively undisturbed forests (i.e. no logging). While the redwood tree bark is naturally a reddish color, you can tell the old growth trees by their weathered grayish and striped appearance. The tallest living things on the planet are so high that they actually look skinny at times.
Trees of Mystery:
Next, we visited Trees of Mystery, a park and tourist attraction along Rt 101 near the coastal town of Klammath. While this area is mostly second growth trees, it has a cool Canopy Trail that consists of stairways, suspension bridges, and platforms that allow you to stroll among the tress at 100 feet above ground. We also enjoyed the Sky Trail gondola ride which takes you 1500 feet above the forest to an observation deck and beautiful views.
The Kingdom of Trees trail is the main pathway and has many informative displays as you walk among the majestic redwoods. The Trail of Tall Tales displays 50 giant chainsaw sculptures and carvings illustrating stories of logger Paul Bunyan. The End of Trail Collection showcases Native American artifacts and photos. It is collocated with the gift shop, where we purchased a mini redwood plant and a redwood bowl. We are hoping we can keep the tree alive until its full grown….in 300 years! 😁 (actually it has already grown several inches in just 2 months!)
Tour Thru Tree:
Of course, we had to stop at the Tour Thru Tree in Klammath because who doesn’t want to drive their car through a redwood tree!? This privately-owned attraction is one of only three redwood trees that you can actually drive your car through. Although there isn’t much here except the 15-foot diameter tree, it’s still pretty cool to see. The Tour Thru Tree is open 24/7 and payment is via a cash donation box.
Prairie Creek State Park:
We continued on about an hour south to Prairie Creek State Park to see another of the old growth forests. The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway takes you on a dramatic drive through the park and to the Visitor Center. From there we hiked a 3-mile route along the Prairie Creek and Cathedral trails. We stopped to see Big Tree, one of the largest trees in the park at 21.5 feet in diameter.
Fern Canyon:
A very different landscape in Prairie Creek State Park exists at an area called Fern Canyon. To get there, you drive 11 miles on a gravel road with several shallow river crossings to the Golds Bluff Beach area. We stopped to have lunch on the beach and enjoy listening to the waves. Then we walked a short distance to Fern Canyon where 8 different species of ferns completely cover the sides of the steep 30-foot canyon walls.
Lush Five fingered ferns, dark green sword ferns, and delicate lady ferns thrive in one of California’s only rainforests. It’s so dramatic that parts of the movie Jurassic Park 2 were filmed here. From the canyon, we hiked a 7 mile loop among the old growth redwoods along the James Irvine trail, Clintonia trail, and Miner’s Ridge trails.
It was nice that we could visit so many of the redwood areas along the coastline. However, to get to Klammath and Prairie Creek, we had to go south from Crescent City on Rt 101. That meant traveling through a small stretch of roadway called Last Chance Grade that was undergoing a months-long closure to repair a landslide. Daily closures from 8-12 and 3-7 totally blocked the road, with only one lane open at other times. As the only north-south road along the coast, we just planned as best we could and packed our patience.
Crescent City:
The small town of Crescent City was the closest town to our campground. We visited the harbor area where sea lions are known to relax on a floating platform during the day. Nearby Battery Point Lighthouse was built in 1856 and became the 10th lighthouse on the west coast. A rotating group of couples volunteer to live in and maintain the lighthouse for several months at a time. Amazingly you can only access the lighthouse for a few hours each day during low tide.
One of the interesting things we learned on our tour of this structure is that lighthouses that are located fairly close to each other have different flash patterns so that mariners can identify them at night. This lighthouse’s navigation light stays on for 3.5 seconds and then off for 26.5 seconds, 24 hours a day and can be seen up to 14 miles out at sea on a clear night. We could definitely see the need for lighthouses, as even during the daytime the coastline is often hidden by fog and mist.
Our week among the redwood trees was amazing. There are no words or even pictures to fully capture the experience and beauty of these majestic trees. Sadly, only about 5% of the world’s old growth redwoods exist today (95% of those are in California). Of those, 80% are protected in parks and reserves today thanks to conservationists who established the Save The Redwoods League back in 1918 to protect the groves from a booming logging industry. We are so glad they worked to preserve this natural beauty of our country!
Oh, remember those Rainier cherries that I picked in Oregon and loved so much? Well, beware when crossing over the state line into California because they will take your farm fresh produce away from you! California has very strict rules to limit the introduction of pests that could cause problems with their agriculture and has 16 border stations to ensure compliance from visitors. Other than having to give up my fresh fruit and the really high price of gas, we had a great visit to the northern part of California to see the redwoods.
We loved reading about the redwoods and their history. You can never even imagine a tree being big enough to drive through. What an amazing place, we’re so glad y’all got to do all that.
Definitely an amazing place. We are so glad we got to see the giant redwood trees!
Loved your pictures. Good reminder about fresh fruit and crossing into CA. I’d forgotten that. We toured the Redwoods 35 years ago on our way to our assignment at Hickam AFB. It is something I’ll never forget but look forward to doing it again,
Thanks Kathy. I guess I should have done more research about the fresh fruit thing, but we had never driven into California before and didn’t even think about that. So glad you were able to see the redwoods–I don’t think I could ever get tired of looking at them! Have you been on any RV outings yet?
We were able to have our first adventure! We stayed at the Tinker AFB FamCamp for 10 nights. It was a great learning experience. While we were there we got the tow bar installed on the new toad (Ford Ranger) and did a trial hook up but didn’t pull out. We are in the process of getting a faulty hookup with the LP tank fixed and then the Omni is going to rest until after Christmas and then we will try for a trip south till baseball season. We are so ready to get out but several things going on with family through Christmas.
So glad you are getting things figured out. It does take awhile to learn it all and get things sorted out, but so worth it. Hope y’all have a great Thanksgiving!
Amazing photos and article – thanks for sharing!
Thanks Pam–definitely a bucket list place!
We LOVED the Redwoods! They are just spectacular. Somehow, I totally missed that “Trees of Mystery” place, but would have loved it. How cool to be able to see the trees from a high point rather than always looking up (and up, and up!!!).
Sorry about your fruits and veggies. We always, always forgot about those checkpoints, but fortunately, never had anything onboard that we couldn’t have. If we did, I would have sat on the side of the road and ate it all! 🙂
The Trees of Mystery was definitely worth the stop–so many different things all in one place and the elevated walkways were very cool. I will forever be traumatized by the whole fruit episode. lol We just pulled up to the California checkpoint oblivious as to what it was for or I would have stopped to eat the fruit too.😏 I did stuff a handful into my mouth as I was handing it over!
I was completely captivated by the images of all those massive Redwood Trees! Wow what a sight to see. I can imagine how thrilling it is to see them in person. The Sky Trail Gondola Ride sounds and looks exciting, what a thrill that would be too. My favorite is the Drive Thru Tree and The BIG Tree, both seem like unique experiences and the pictures are awesome. Thanks for sharing 🙂
I would definitely say the redwood trees are one of the highlights of our travels!
The redwoods are so breathtaking, everyone should take a trip like this.
Amazing content.
I agree! This was a highlight of our travels.
I live in Santa Cruz and my husband and I are always looking for great places that are close by to go camping in our RV. Crescent City looks great. How did you like the RV park that you stayed at?
I thought the RV park was pretty nice and about 15 min from Crescent City. There are 90 spaces with full hook-ups, some pull-thru and some back-in sites. Decent room between sites. We don’t use the showers but I did see that you pay tokens for that. The laundry room was big and clean. What I liked best was the location: right next to Jedediah Smith State Park. Many other campgrounds were down in the town of Crescent City and right along the main road. The internet and phone signals are not good, but you are surrounded by tall trees. lol
A great post and guide to visiting the California Redwoods! My partner and I were lucky enough to visit them a couple years ago and they’re just incredible! We were limited a little by time and weather but hopefully we will return to see more of them next time like you guys did 🙂
Thanks–I’m glad you have been able to visit the redwoods too. I think I could definitely go back multiple times and never get tired of seeing these magnificent trees!
I had no idea there are 2 kinds of redwoods! And those big tree signs are hilarious, lol! The redwoods may be on my travel list for 2022 so thanks for sharing your insights.
I didn’t know about the 2 kinds of redwoods either. I do love learning new things in addition to seeing all of the beauty of our country. I definitely recommend a visit to the redwoods when you can work it into your travel plans.