Sights to See in Redwood National and State Parks

Near Redwood Information Center

Lady Bird Johnson Grove

During her 1960s’ stint as First Lady, Lady Bird Johnson promoted many beautification and conservation projects, and was a staunch advocate for the creation of Redwood National Park. With her help, conservationists prevailed upon a recalcitrant Congress to acquire land for the new park.

In 1968, the First Lady attended the park dedication ceremony in what today is named Lady Bird Johnson Grove. Somewhat ironically, it was Lyndon Johnson’s longtime political foe President Richard Nixon who dedicated the grove to Lady Bird Johnson the following year.

An easy, self-guiding nature trail (pamphlet available at the trailhead) loops through the redwoods that crown Bald Hills Ridge. Numerous benches en route offer a chance to rest and to contemplate the park below. While hiking the trail you emerge from the redwoods to gaze out past an ugly clear-cut to the coast. Much of the vista is now protected state and national park domain; it would no doubt all be stump-land had conservationists of the 1960s and after failed in their efforts.

Directions: From Redwood Information Center, travel three miles north on Highway 101 to Bald Hills Road. Turn right and drive 2.7 miles to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove parking area on the right side of the road.

Lost Man Creek

A lovely tumbling creek, rocky pools and a lush forest are highlights of Lost Man Creek, one of the less discovered gems of Redwood National Park. You’ll keep company with some impressive redwoods if you decide to take an easy mile-long hike along a creekside trail.

In 1982, when Redwood National Park was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) the ceremony was held at Lost Man Creek. Such a designation is extended to natural and cultural sites around the world that are adjudged to have international significance.

As the story goes, the “Lost Man” was a timber locator who never returned; he was scouting for tall trees in the remote forested canyon of upper Lost Man Creek when he became permanently lost. Obviously other timber locators were more successful with their missions. The slopes in the upper canyon of Lost Man Creek, as well as surrounding slopes, were heavily logged.

Lost Man Creek Trail is, in fact, an old logging road. It continues for considerable distance past the old-growth redwoods through logged land all the way to Bald Hills Road. I can’t think of any reason why any sane hiker would choose to take this 18-mile round trip trek over sadly denuded land. Opt instead for this short sojourn through a still-standing forest.

Lost Man Creek Picnic Area is a great place to crack open the cooler and prepare an alfresco lunch.

Directions: From Highway 101, some four miles north of the hamlet of Orick, turn east and follow a gravel road two miles to Lost Man Creek Picnic Area.

Tall Trees Grove & Redwood Creek

Tall Trees Grove

A visit to the majestic colonnades of redwoods that form the heart of the national park is apt to be a humbling experience. Voices hush, children shush, eyes look skyward in reverence. It’s little wonder that some hikers feel they’ve entered a natural cathedral and regard their time with the tall trees as a kind of spiritual experience.

Oh, and we hikers come to gawk, too; here is the “World’s Tallest Tree,” a 365.5-foot redwood. At least the ancient giant has been considered the world’s tallest since its discovery by a National Geographic expedition in 1963. Some experts believe as yet undiscovered taller trees may grow in the park.

Tall Trees Trail (3.4 miles round trip with 500-foot elevation gain)  is the most-traveled route to the tall trees. (Redwood Creek Trail offers a longer approach.) Trailside markers are keyed to a park service interpretive brochure.

The highlight of the loop is, of course, the tallest measured redwood. En route are the third-largest and sixth-largest sempervirens as well. After completing the loop, retrace your steps to the trailhead.

Directions:  A (free) permit is required to drive to the Tall Trees Grove trailhead, Obtain one of the limited number of permits as well as the combination to the locked gate from the Redwood Information Center. Motorhome travel is not advised on Bald Hills Road, the approach to the trailhead.

From the Redwood Information Center, travel 3 miles north on Highway 101 to Bald Hills Road. Turn right on Bald Hills Road and follow the signs 14 miles to Tall Trees Trailhead.

Redwood Creek

Redwood Creek Trail travels 8.2  miles through the heart of Redwood National Park to Tall Trees Grove, site of the world’s tallest measured tree. After one of the classic conservation battles of the 1960s, a narrow corridor of land along Redwood Creek was acquired to protect the world’s highest tree, a coast redwood measuring 365.5 feet. This giant was discovered in 1963 by a National Geographic expedition.

The nine-mile stretch along Redwood Creek known as “the worm” was down-slope from private timberlands, where there was extensive and insensitive clear-cut logging. Resulting slope erosion and stream sediments threatened the big trees, so to protect this watershed, the National Park Service purchased an additional 48,000 acres, mostly in Redwood Creek basin. For decades, the park service has been rehabilitating scarred slopes.

Occasional clearings and the bridge crossings allow the hiker to get the “big picture” of Redwood Creek. Three distinct communities of flora can be discerned: Extensive grass prairie--emerald green during the wet season and golden brown during the drier months--dominates the eastern slopes above Redwood Creek. Downslope of the grassland are vast clearcuts, slowly recovering as new-growth red alder forest. Near the creek are the groves of old-growth redwoods and a lush understory of salmonberry, oxalis and sword fern.

During the summer months, the walker may descend to Redwood Creek and travel the creek’s gravel bars nearly to Tall Trees Grove.

Redwood Creek Trail follows an abandoned logging road on a gentle ascent from the outskirts of Orick to Tall Trees Grove. From the Tall Trees, walkers may follow Redwood Creek Trail back to their vehicles.

One word of caution: The three bridges that cross Redwood Creek are in place only during the summer. Use your best judgment and inquire at the visitors center before attempting this hike during the wetter seasons.

Directions:  From Highway 101, about 3 miles north of Redwood Information Center and 2 miles from the town of Orick, turn east on Bald Hills Road. Take the first right to the Redwood Creek trailhead. A free permit is necessary for overnight camping along this trail can be obtained at Redwood Information Center.

Gold Bluffs Beach & Fern Canyon

Gold Bluffs Beach

Gold Bluffs Beach is a beauty--eleven miles of wild, driftwood-littered shore, backed by extensive dunes. Sand verbena, bush lupine, and wild strawberry splash color on the sand.

Gold Bluffs was named in 1850 when prospectors found some gold flakes in the beach sand. The discovery caused a minor gold rush. A tent city sprang up on the beach but little gold was extracted.

Gold Bluffs Beach (both bluffs and beach) is prime Roosevelt elk territory. Roosevelt elk are enchanted-looking creatures with chocolate-brown faces and necks, tan bodies and dark legs. And they’re big: a bull can tip the scales at one thousand pounds.

While nearby elk-viewing opportunities abound—particularly along more southerly stretches of Gold Bluffs Beach and on namesake Elk Prairie up by Highway 101 and the Prairie Creek visitor center—the Roosevelts seem all the more majestic in a wilderness setting.

Another highlight of this wilderness beach is the waterfall-watching possibilities. Waterfalls near the coast are a rarity, so the presence of three of them in close proximity to a coastal trail is a special treat indeed. Gold Dust Falls, a long, slender tumbler, spills some 80 feet to the forest floor. A well-placed bench offers repose and a place to contemplate the inspiring cataract.  An unnamed waterfall is located just south of Gold Dust; another is located just north.

Directions: From Highway 101 in Orick, drive 2 miles north to signed Davison Road. Turn left (west) and proceed 7 miles to road’s end at the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Fern Canyon trailhead. This route gets you to the trail leading to the waterfalls. If you want to visit the amazing beach, just park at one of the sanctioned turnouts and walk the dramatic sands to the impressive surf.

Fern Canyon

A couple beautiful "fern canyons" are found along the North Coast, but the Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is undoubtedly the most awe-inspiring. Five-finger, deer, lady, sword, and chain ferns smother the precipitous walls of the canyon. Bright yellow monkeyflowers abound, as well as fairy lanterns, those creamy white, or greenish, bell-shaped flowers that hang in clusters.

Ferns are descendants of an ancient group of plants which were much more numerous 200 million years ago. Ferns have roots and stems similar to flowering plants, but are considered to be a primitive form of plant life because they reproduce by spores, not seeds.

By taking a short walk you can  explore the highlights of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park--Fern Canyon, magnificent redwood groves, and Gold Bluffs Beach.

The path leads along the pebbled floor of Fern Canyon. In the wettest places, the route follows wooden planks across Home Creek. With sword and five-finger ferns pointing the way, you pass through marshy areas covered with wetlands grass and dotted with a bit of skunk cabbage. Lurking about are Pacific giant salamanders.

Directions: From Highway 101, three miles north of Orick, turn west on Davison Road. The dirt, washboard road (suitable only for vehicles under 24 feet in length) descends logged slopes and through second-growth redwoods to the beach. The road heads north along Gold Bluffs Beach. About 1.5 miles past the campground, the road dead-ends at the Fern Canyon Trailhead.

Backpacking In Redwood NP

Spectacular shoreline and some of the world’s tallest trees.

Explore beaches, bluffs and magnificent redwood groves on Coastal Trail, a 40-mile pathway that connects redwood state and national parklands. With some road links, hikers can trek nearly the length of the park from Tall Trees Grove in the south to Enderts Beach in the north.

Overnight at one of a half-dozen camps and a hostel. For a 12 to 15-mile round trip ramble to remember, follow the coastal trail along Skunk Cabbage Creek through a lush forest filled with the other-wordly cabbages to Gold Bluffs Beach. Watch for the enchanting Roosevelt elk which descend from the fern-filled redwood groves to the shore, as you hike miles of dark, driftwood-strewn sand to a beachside campground. If you have the time, continue on coastal trail to Fern Canyon, Gold Dust Falls,  redwood groves and Sitka spruce forest.

Directions: From Highway 101, two miles north of the hamlet of Orick and the Redwood Information Center, turn west on the signed park road for Skunk Cabbage/Coastal Trail and drive 0.75 mile to road’s end at the parking area and trailhead.