The tallest trees on Earth, a foggy coast, and elk on the prairie — and it's free.
Photo: WolfmanSF · CC BY-SA 3.0 · via Wikimedia Commons
The coast redwoods of far Northern California are the tallest living things on Earth — some pushing past 370 feet, taller than a 30-story building, and old enough to have been seedlings when Rome was young. Redwood National and State Parks protect nearly half of all the old-growth that's left, in a cool, fog-soaked strip where the forest runs right down to the Pacific. Walking into one of these groves is the rare landscape that genuinely humbles people into silence.
It's an unusual park in two ways. First, it's free — there's no entrance gate at all, because it's a cooperative of one national park and three California state parks (Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods), managed together since the 1990s and threaded by Highway 101. Second, the variety is wider than 'big trees': Fern Canyon's walls rise about 30 feet in a solid hanging garden of ferns (you may recognize it from Jurassic Park), Roosevelt elk graze the meadow at Elk Prairie, and wild beaches like Gold Bluffs sit where the redwoods meet the surf.
The one thing to plan around is the fog. This is a cool maritime climate where even August highs barely reach the mid-60s and the coast is often gray and misty — that fog is exactly what the redwoods drink, so don't fight it; pack layers and lean in. A couple of the best spots need free permits booked ahead — Fern Canyon and Gold Bluffs Beach from May 15 to September 15, Tall Trees Grove year-round — and some of the prettiest groves are reached on slow unpaved roads. Give it two or three days and let the place set the pace.
Redwood is not one park but a string of them along forty miles of coast, stitched together by US-101 — national park and state parks interleaved, with the highway running through the middle. That means there is no single park road and no gate. You drive the 101 and turn off it, and the two turnings that matter are very different: one takes any vehicle, the other takes almost none.
The highway runs the length of the parks from Orick up to Crescent City, and every grove, beach and parkway hangs off it. There is no entrance station and no fee — you are in and out of protected forest without necessarily noticing where one ends.
Ten miles of the original road through Prairie Creek, running parallel to the 101 and infinitely better. It's paved and closed to commercial vehicles but open to RVs and trailers, which makes it the one everybody can drive — twenty to thirty minutes if you don't stop, and you will stop. On the first Saturday of the month from October through May it closes to motor vehicles altogether and belongs to walkers and cyclists.
Unpaved after the first mile and a half and cut through Jedediah Smith Redwoods so tightly that the park says motorhomes, RVs and trailers simply will not fit. Ten miles from Crescent City to US-199 near Hiouchi, about forty-five minutes. In a normal car it is the closest you will get to driving through a redwood grove.
The bypassed stretch of old highway through Prairie Creek, with old growth standing right at the roadside and pull-offs every few hundred yards. It runs alongside the 101, so choosing it costs you almost nothing in time.
TipTake it in preference to the highway in both directions. The elk are usually out on the prairie at the southern end, morning and evening. On the first Saturday of each month, October through May, the parkway is closed to cars for walkers and cyclists — plan around it, or leave the car and walk it.
Narrow, rutted and slow, threading between trunks with barely a car’s width to spare in places. The park is unambiguous that motorhomes, RVs and anything towing do not fit — this is not a recommendation, it is a description of the road.
TipStout Memorial Grove is on it and is worth the stop. Check current conditions before setting out; storms and downed trees close it.
The only way to drive to Gold Bluffs Beach and the Fern Canyon trailhead. A third of a mile of pavement past Elk Meadow, then seven miles of single-lane gravel through elk meadows and second growth, with two creek crossings you drive through rather than over. They run most of the year and the park recommends high clearance. Trailers are barred and RVs must be 24 feet or shorter.
TipSort the free permit and the $12 fee before you leave the highway — the kiosk takes cash or a check, not cards. Allow about half an hour each way.
A short, steep loop off the 101 south of Klamath that climbs to bluffs high above the surf, with a one-way northbound gravel section between High Bluff Overlook and Klamath Beach Road. The old route south of Alder Camp toward Carruthers Cove is closed to motor vehicles for good.
TipNot for RVs or anything towing north of High Bluff Overlook. Stop at the World War II radar station, built to look like a farmhouse and barn.
An easy, mostly flat loop through ridge-top old growth named for the First Lady who helped dedicate the park in 1968.
Insider tipA 1-mile loop; the best fog-and-light show is in the morning. The Bald Hills Road access climbs to ridge level, so it's often cooler and mistier than the coast — and there's no parking at the trailhead for RVs or trailers.
Plan a trip to this spot →A narrow canyon whose walls rise about 30 feet in a solid hanging garden of ferns — a Jurassic Park filming location, on a 0.7-mile loop with several creek crossings.
Insider tipA free vehicle permit is required May 15 to September 15, booked online through the park's non-profit partner; none are issued on the day itself. Expect ankle- to knee-deep water in the canyon, so wear boots or sandals you don't mind soaking, and go early — the summer footbridges are out the rest of the year.
Plan a trip to this spot →Some of the tallest trees on the planet, in a grove kept deliberately hard to reach to protect it.
Insider tipA free permit is required year-round — it gets you the code for the locked gate on the access road. All-day permits open 180 days ahead; a few half-day slots are released the day before. Budget four hours all in: about an hour's drive each way, six miles of it dirt, then a 4.5-mile round trip that drops 800 feet going in and climbs it coming out.
Plan a trip to this spot →A cathedral-like, flat loop of giants along the Smith River — many consider it the single most photogenic grove in the parks.
Insider tipReached via Howland Hill Road, an unpaved ten-mile drive through old growth — about 45 minutes, passenger cars fine, but motorhomes, RVs and trailers will not fit.
Plan a trip to this spot →A wild, windswept beach backed by golden bluffs where the redwoods meet the Pacific; the road continues to Fern Canyon.
Insider tipSame May 15 to September 15 permit as Fern Canyon, plus a $12 day-use fee — cash or check at the kiosk, or free with an America the Beautiful or California State Parks pass. Gravel Davison Road has two creek fords: no trailers, no RVs over 24 feet.
Plan a trip to this spot →The reliable place to see Roosevelt elk grazing the meadow along the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway.
Insider tipStay 50-plus yards back — bulls are dangerous in the fall rut, cows protective in spring. View from your car or the pullouts.
Plan a trip to this spot →A cool, foggy maritime climate year-round. Winter highs sit in the low 50s and the warmest summer days only reach the mid-60s; lows stay in the 40s. The headline is that even summer is cool and often gray — fog rolls off the Pacific and the redwoods drink it in. Winters are very wet (~71 inches, concentrated November–March); summers are dry-ish but damp underfoot. Bring layers and a rain shell any season.
There's no entrance gate or fee — Highway 101 runs straight through the parks, so you simply drive in.
The parks string along US-101 with no entrance station. Gateway towns are Crescent City (north), Klamath (central), and Orick (south); Eureka and Arcata are about an hour south. The only day-use charge anywhere is $12 per vehicle to drive to Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon — cash or check at the kiosk, or free with an America the Beautiful or California State Parks pass. Camping is $35 a night.
No lodges inside the parks — the gateway towns provide the roofs, and four developed campgrounds sit among the trees and on the beach.
Crescent City and Klamath are closest; Eureka, Arcata, and Trinidad lie about an hour south with more dining and lodging.
Booking tipBase in Crescent City for the northern groves (Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith) or near Orick/Eureka for the southern Prairie Creek area.
Four developed campgrounds — Jedediah Smith and Mill Creek in the north, Elk Prairie and beachfront Gold Bluffs Beach in the south — $35 a night, booked through ReserveCalifornia rather than Recreation.gov.
Booking tipBook at least 48 hours ahead; summer fills. Gold Bluffs Beach is reached by gravel Davison Road — no trailers, and RVs must be 24 feet or shorter. A campground reservation also covers day-use access, so campers skip the Fern Canyon permit.
Is it really free?
Yes — there's no entrance fee and no entrance station anywhere in Redwood National and State Parks. The only day-use charge is $12 per vehicle to drive to Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon, and even that is waived with an America the Beautiful or California State Parks pass. Bring cash or a check; the kiosk takes no cards. Camping is $35 a night.
Do I need a permit for Fern Canyon or Gold Bluffs Beach?
From May 15 to September 15, yes — every vehicle driving in needs a free day-use reservation, issued online by the park's non-profit partner, the Redwood Parks Conservancy. In-advance reservations open six months out; a second batch is released at 9 a.m. the day before. There are none on the day itself and they go quickly. The $12 beach fee is separate. Campers at Gold Bluffs Beach or Elk Prairie don't need one, and neither does anyone walking in from the Prairie Creek Visitor Center.
What about Tall Trees Grove?
The Tall Trees trailhead needs a free permit year-round: the access road sits behind a locked gate, and the permit is how you get the code. All-day permits can be booked 180 days out, with a handful of half-day slots released the day before. Allow four hours all in — about an hour's drive each way, six miles of it dirt, then a 4.5-mile round trip that drops 800 feet on the way in.
When should I go, and what about the fog?
Summer through early fall is driest and best for the beaches and dirt roads, but expect cool temps and frequent morning fog. Late spring is green and quiet. Winters are mild but very wet — beautiful for the mossy groves, though some unpaved roads get muddy.
How many days do I need?
Two to three days does it justice — a day for the southern Prairie Creek area (Drury Parkway, Elk Prairie, Fern Canyon), a day for the northern Jedediah Smith / Stout Grove / Howland Hill area, plus Lady Bird Johnson Grove and a coastal overlook. A rushed taste is doable in one day along 101.
Are there elk, and is Davison Road okay for my car?
Roosevelt elk roam Elk Prairie and Gold Bluffs Beach — keep 50-plus yards back, especially during the fall rut and spring calving. Davison Road is narrow gravel with two creek crossings you drive through, wet most of the year, so the park recommends high clearance; trailers are barred and RVs must be 24 feet or shorter. An ordinary car manages it slowly in dry weather.
Pick your vehicle, line up the stops on the way in and out, and carry the whole route in your pocket.
