Redwood National and State Parks

Redwood National and State Parks stretch roughly 50 miles along the northern California coast from Orick north to Crescent City, protecting 138,999 acres of coast redwood forest, prairie, and wild coastline. The park complex is jointly managed by the National Park Service and California State Parks and includes three state park units — Prairie Creek Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods — alongside the federal Redwood National Park. Together they protect about 45 percent of the remaining old-growth coast redwood forest on Earth. Entry to the national park land is free; state park day-use areas charge a separate vehicle fee. The park ranks 48th in annual visitation among the 63 U.S. national parks, drawing roughly 433,000 visitors per year. UNESCO designated the complex a World Heritage Site in 1980.

Redwood is above all known for the coast redwoods themselves — the tallest living organisms on Earth. The tallest known individual, Hyperion, stands approximately 380 feet inside the park; its exact location is not disclosed publicly to protect the tree from impact. The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway drives beneath a cathedral canopy of old-growth trees without leaving the car. Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park features 50-foot walls covered in five-fern species and was a filming location for the movie The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Roosevelt elk graze the Elk Prairie meadow in visible herds year-round. The Smith River — one of the last major undammed rivers on the Pacific Coast — runs clear and cold through Jedediah Smith and offers premier steelhead and salmon fishing.

By car: US 101 is the main artery through the park, running north–south along the coast. Orick, at the southern end, is the gateway to Tall Trees and Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Crescent City, at the northern end, is the largest town and closest to Jedediah Smith Redwoods. The drive from Arcata to Crescent City along US 101 passes through all major park units and takes about 90 minutes without stops. Howland Hill Road and Gold Bluffs Beach Road are unpaved; check road conditions before using them with low-clearance vehicles or RVs.

By air: Arcata-Eureka Airport (ACV) in McKinleyville is the closest commercial airport, roughly 75 miles south of the park's center. Car rental is available at ACV. San Francisco International (SFO) is about 330 miles south — a practical alternative only if combining Redwood with other northern California destinations.

By bus: Redwood Coast Transit operates limited bus service between Crescent City and Arcata along US 101, with stops near park visitor centers. Service is infrequent and does not reach interior trailheads; a car is necessary for accessing Fern Canyon, Tall Trees, or Jedediah Smith.

Coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) occupy one of the most climatically specific niches of any tree on Earth: a narrow coastal strip in northern California and southern Oregon where summer fog provides moisture even when rain does not fall. Redwood needles intercept fog droplets, which drip to the forest floor and contribute meaningfully to the tree's water supply during dry months. Soils in the alluvial flats along rivers like Redwood Creek and the Smith River are among the deepest and most nutrient-rich in the region, producing the tallest individual trees.

The northern California coast sits above the Cascadia Subduction Zone, where the Juan de Fuca plate dives beneath North America. Episodic uplift over millions of years has raised marine terraces above sea level — the flat benches visible at Gold Bluffs Beach, where prospectors found placer gold in the 1850s. Stream erosion cut the river canyons that now support the park's oldest and tallest trees.

Redwoods are extraordinarily resistant to fire, insects, and rot due to thick, tannin-rich bark up to 12 inches deep. Individual trees routinely live 1,000 to 2,000 years; the oldest confirmed coast redwood exceeded 2,200 years. Fallen logs decompose slowly over centuries, forming the nurse logs that sprout new seedlings and the root systems of entire groups of trees growing in rings called fairy rings.

Roosevelt elk are the most visible large mammals in the park and among the largest elk subspecies in North America. The Prairie Creek herd numbers in the hundreds; the Elk Prairie meadow near the campground provides reliable viewing year-round. Bulls carry large antlers through summer and shed them in late winter. The rut runs through October, when bulls bugle at dawn and spar for dominance.

The marbled murrelet is an endangered seabird that nests exclusively in the large branches of old-growth trees — one of the few seabirds in the world that nests far inland. Redwood is one of its last strongholds. Northern spotted owls also depend on old-growth forest and are present throughout the park. Both species are sensitive to forest disturbance; old-growth protection is directly tied to their survival.

Harbor seals and Steller sea lions haul out on rocks along the coastline; the best viewing spots are near Enderts Beach and Gold Bluffs. California brown pelicans are common along the shore from spring through fall. The Smith River is one of the cleanest rivers in California and supports large runs of Chinook salmon, coho salmon, and steelhead trout — the fishery draws anglers from November through March.

The Yurok, Tolowa, Karuk, Chilula, and Wiyot peoples have lived along the northern California coast for thousands of years. The Yurok hold the largest reservation in California and have strong cultural ties to the redwood forest and the rivers that flow through it. Redwoods provided material for dugout canoes, plank houses, and tools; the rivers were central to food systems built around salmon.

Commercial logging of the coast redwoods began in the 1850s following the Gold Rush, when the sudden demand for lumber in San Francisco and the mining camps was met by mills cutting the ancient forests along Humboldt Bay. By the early 20th century, most accessible old-growth had been logged. In 1918, the Save the Redwoods League was founded and began purchasing groves for state protection; Prairie Creek Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Parks were all established through its efforts in the 1920s and 1930s.

Congress created Redwood National Park on October 2, 1968, after years of advocacy led by the Sierra Club, Save the Redwoods League, and the Johnson Administration. Lady Bird Johnson dedicated the park at a ceremony on August 27, 1969. Congress significantly expanded the park in 1978 to include logged-over lands surrounding the original old-growth core, protecting the watershed above the tallest trees. In 1994, the NPS and California State Parks formalized a cooperative management agreement unifying the four units under a single plan. UNESCO inscribed the park as a World Heritage Site in 1980.