Fern Canyon Trail - Redwood National and State Parks

Our August 2013 visit to Redwood National and State Parks continued with a drive through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park along Davison Road to Fern Canyon.  The eight mile gravel road is well maintained although dusty due to the ongoing drought in the area.  The road climbs 400 feet to cross a ridge before dropping down toward the ocean.  While not as scenic as Howland Hill Road in the northern part of the park, it is still a very beautiful drive.  After passing the fee station and the Gold Bluffs Beach Campground, the road ends at a large gravel parking area.  Vault toilets are also located here.  A small sign and a gravel trail mark the beginning of the short 1,000 foot walk to the canyon of Home Creek.  The drive and the trail don't prepare you for the beauty of the 40 foot deep canyon covered in ferns.  The park service has installed several seasonal plank bridges across the creek to allow visitors to keep their feet dry while exploring the canyon.  Although there were numerous snags of downed trees, we walked up the canyon about another 1,000 feet before turning back.  

Davison Road enters the forest after crossing Prairie Creek

Davison Road descending toward the ocean

Gold Bluffs

An elk grazing along the road

Large gravel parking area

Trail head

Ocean view from the trail

The trail winds through lush vegetation...

...and a dry swamp

An example of a seasonal bridge

The outlet of Fern Canyon on Home Creek

Ferns growing on the sidewall of the canyon

Trees down across the creek

The creek crosses from one canyon wall to the other

View from one of the seasonal bridges

A wide variety of ferns grow in the ideal conditions of the canyon

Looking back down the trail

Home Creek rushes down toward the sea

One portion of the trail leaves the creek to avoid a large jumble of trees

The canyon walls are nearly vertical

Large trees loom over the canyon

A cool breeze creates the sense that the ferns are breathing

A lovely place

The trail crosses over these two snags

The canyon is 40 feet deep

Falling water created this opening

Snags stopped our progress

A wisp of a waterfall

Light and shadows play on the canyon wall

Seasonal bridge across Home Creek

Home Creek

Entrance to Redwood National Park is free.  However, Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods California State Parks have a day-use fee of $8 per vehicle at campground entrance stations.  All three state parks honor the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.  This pass is valid for one year for $80.  A lifetime National Park Senior Pass is available for $10 for those 62 years of age or older.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm.

Big Tree and Circle Trail - Redwood National and State Parks

Continuing our August 2013 tour through Redwood National and State Parks, we turned off of US 101 about 25 miles south of Crescent City onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Drive in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.  This paved two-lane road parallels US 101 for nine miles through the park.  We stopped at the Big Tree wayside parking area and walked 100 yards or so to the Big Tree.  From there, we took the very easy 0.3 mile Circle Trail in a clockwise manner back to the Big Tree.  Even on such a short walk, the redwoods seem to affect people today in the same manner as described by John Steinbeck in recounting his travels in Travels with Charley: In Search of America:

“The redwoods, once seen, leave a mark or create a vision that stays with you always. No one has ever successfully painted or photographed a redwood tree. The feeling they produce is not transferable. From them comes silence and awe. It's not only their unbelievable stature, nor the color which seems to shift and vary under your eyes, no, they are not like any trees we know, they are ambassadors from another time.”

I hope you enjoy this short walk through the redwood forest of Prairie Creek.

Paved trail to Big Tree

The base of Big Tree

The top of 304 foot tall Big Tree

Looking up at Big Tree

Ferns along Circle Trail

Coastal Redwoods along the Circle Trail

Circle Trail is a smooth packed dirt surface

Another large tree along the Circle Trail

Only the bases of the trees are visible

The understory consists of ferns and small deciduous trees

A "fish-eye" lens provides a different perspective of the forest

The lowest branches on many redwoods are over 100 feet above the ground

An open area in the forest provides a view of most of a tree

The redwoods provide an open canopy that allows light to filter in to the ground plants

Another "fish-eye" view of the forest

"Can't see the forest for the trees"

The ferns and small trees seem to take over in places

Another big tree along Circle Trail

Fire-damaged tree

Trees, the trail and ferns

Entrance to Redwood National Park is free.  However, Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods California State Parks have a day-use fee of $8 per vehicle at campground entrance stations.  All three state parks honor the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.  This pass is valid for one year for $80.  A lifetime National Park Senior Pass is available for $10 for those 62 years of age or older.  There is no fee to enter this part of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

False Klamath Cove - Redwood National and State Parks

Continuing our August 2013 trip down the California coast, we stopped at False Klamath Cove about 15 miles south of Crescent City on US 101.  This beach area is part of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.  A parking area and picnic tables are located on the beach side of the road.  Across the highway is the former Redwood National Park Hostel.  This former home of the DeMartin family was a hostel from 1987 until it was closed by the park service in 2010 due to structural and seismic deficiencies that were too costly to correct.  

Former youth hostel was previously the DeMartin home

Beach at False Klamath Cove

Beach and sea stacks at False Klamath Cove

Driftwood, sea stacks and rocky outcrop at the north end of the cove

Entrance to Redwood National Park is free.  However, Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods California State Parks have a day-use fee of $8 per vehicle at campground entrance stations.  All three state parks honor the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.  This pass is valid for one year for $80.  A lifetime National Park Senior Pass is available for $10 for those 62 years of age or older.  There is no fee to enter this part of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm.

Enderts Beach Road - Redwoods National and State Parks

During our August 2013 visit to Redwood National and State Parks, we took a short drive south of Crescent City to the end of Enderts Beach Road.  The road ends at a parking area just beyond White Knob, 226 feet above the ocean.  From here, we could look south down on Enderts Beach and north toward a panorama of Crescent City.  A trail follows the original coastal road ½ mile down to the beach, but we didn't have enough time to explore it.

Approaching the crest of Enderts Beach Road

Looking south from the parking area overlook

Looking down on the northern portion of Enderts Beach

Massive rocks mark the southern end of the beach

The old road is visible about 1/3 of the way up the hill

The southern section of Enderts Beach

Both sections of Enderts Beach

Another view from the overlook

A short walk north from the parking area leads to an overview of Crescent City, South Beach and Crescent Beach.

Crescent Beach overview

Crescent Beach

Saint George Lighthouse with Battery Point Lighthouse and the harbor breakwater on the right

The utility poles behind the beach reveal the location of Enderts Beach Road

Clouds continue to form as the warm air flows over the cool water

Entrance to Redwood National Park is free.  However, Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods California State Parks have a day-use fee of $8 per vehicle at campground entrance stations.  All three state parks honor the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.  This pass is valid for one year for $80.  A lifetime National Park Senior Pass is available for $10 for those 62 years of age or older.  There is no fee to enter this part of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm.