Redwood National and State Parks - July 3 to July 5, 2019
To continue our tour of the big trees, we headed from Sequoia National Park over to the coastal redwoods. The coastal redwoods in general are not as big around as the Sequoias, but they are taller. In fact they are the tallest trees in the world. The coastal redwoods are not in one park, but a string of state parks in addition to the Redwood National Park. Some of the state parks include the Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. All but the Humboldt Redwoods State Park are now cooperatively managed as Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP) by both California State Parks and the National Park Service.
It took us most of the day to get to Humboldt Redwoods State Park from Sequoia. For the first night, we stayed in the Burlington Campground. The campground is located on the Avenue of the Giants and is nestled among old growth and second growth redwoods. The large redwood stumps left by the early days of logging the redwoods are scattered throughout the campground and really make the setting special. The campsites had no hookups, but the restrooms had flush toilets and coin showers along with fresh water and a utility sink for washing dishes. The campsite pads max length is 24 feet, so our Red Tail Lodge easily fit and also would fit if we had the bikes attached to the back. Before heading out the next morning, we walked around the campground and took a short trail over to the South Fork Eel River. Walking among the big trees will never get old. Why do we admire things that are so much bigger than ourselves?
From Burlington Campground, we drove north on the Avenue of the Giants until it ended just past Pepperwood before getting back on Highway 101. The Avenue of the Giants is a 31-mile scenic country road through some of the redwood groves. We only drove about half of it, but wish we would have driven the whole thing. Even though the Avenue of the Giants runs parallel to Highway 101, it has a much different feel and is more scenic. It is a narrow road winding among the large trees, sometimes so close to the trees that some of the trees have been clipped by cars. The dense canopy of the trees keeps most of the sunlight out and makes it feel like driving through a tunnel. It is faster to drive on Highway 101, but we’ll gladly take the extra time to drive the Avenue of the Giants every time.
We continued driving north on Highway 101, also known as the Redwood Highway. Our goal for the day was to go on a good hike through the Redwoods. We had read about a trail called Damnation Creek Trail up in the Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, but we had a concern about a bridge being closed on the trail, so we stopped at the Prairie Creek Visitor Center for more information. There was an information board that listed the bridge as still closed (since 2015). We talked with a ranger because we had read that some people navigated the banks of the stream and went under the bridge. The ranger would not give us any more information than the official position is that the bridge is closed and the official recommendation is to turn around at the bridge. If you do anything else, it is at your own risk. He also made a point of warning us about trying to go on the bridge, as it may collapse. However, he did give us directions to the trailhead which turned out to be a good thing, because the trailhead is not well marked.
We decided to try the hike anyways and make a decision when we get to the bridge about whether we can go under it or not. We are so glad we did. It turned out to be one of our favorite hikes ever. It was about five miles and 1500 elevation gain and offered us a good backpack training opportunity. The trail started from Highway 101, winding through some wonderful redwood trees and then descended down to the coast. There was fog that added to the feeling that we were in prehistoric times, with the big trees, ferns and what looked like huge clover, the leaves the size of our fists. We were half expecting to come across a dinosaur.
When we got to the closed bridge, the stream it crossed was small, but the banks were pretty steep. We decided to go for it. It pushed the limits of our physical ability, but we made it. From there it was not far to the rocky beach of the ocean. Making it to the beach was definitely worth the struggle to get there; however, it may not be for everyone. We can understand why the ranger would not recommend going under the bridge; it was not easy. The stream itself was a breeze to cross, but the steep banks on both sides were the real obstacles. The views though from the beach were spectacular. The steep cliffs along the shoreline had plants and flowers dripping over the edge. There were a group of cormorants on a large rock off shore, holding their wings out to dry in the wind. We enjoyed spending some time just listening to the waves lap the rocky shore before retracing our steps back to the trailhead. On the hike back out we saw a “Leaving Tsunami Hazard Zone” sign. What is weird is that neither one of us remember seeing an “Entering” sign on the hike down.
Our campground for the night was not far from the Damnation Creek Trailhead, Mill Creek Campgrounds in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. Mill Creek had a different feel then Burlington Campground. The camp sites are nestled in the trees and ferns, but not the large trees and stumps like the Burlington Campground. Again, the length limit was 24 feet with no hookups and there were also flush toilets and coin showers. After our hike, we were ready for a shower. We both put coins in the boxes, but we’re not sure it was really necessary, because you had to manually turn the showers on and they didn’t turn off until you manually turned them off. Perhaps the coin box is not really connected to the shower and they just rely on an honor system for people to put money in.
The next day we had to cover some miles to make it to Seattle for an upcoming DCI show. We continued up the Redwoods Highway (Highway 101) to Crescent Bay. There were lots of people camping on the beach. We’re guessing they were the ones setting off the fireworks that we heard the day before, the 4th of July. We could hear the fireworks, but not see them, all day long, from our hike and from the campground. From Crescent Bay we took highway 199 to Grants Pass, which was also a scenic drive as it followed the Smith River through the mountains. It is considered a continuation of the Redwood Highway even though the number of redwood trees thinned out the further we got from the coast.
From Grants Pass we took Interstate 5 north to the French Prairie Rest Area to stop for the night. Yes, we camped in an interstate rest area. Thanks to some research using the Campendium app, we discovered that this rest area is a wonderful place to "camp". Oregon allows people to park in a rest area for up to 12 hours (https://www.tripcheck.com/Pages/Rest-Areas-Regulations). The rest area has an additional parking area that is further away from the highway, with partial shade from trees. With clean restrooms close by, it almost rivaled some of the campgrounds we have stayed at. Obviously there are no hookups, but we were by no means the only ones staying the night, including quite a few semi-trucks. And the price was right, free!
That concluded our visit to the coastal redwoods. It was short and sweet, but we will definitely be back!
Check out our related video: Redwood National and State Parks – July 3 to July 5, 2019
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