Redwood National and State Parks

Redwood National and State Parks protect the tallest living things on Earth: coast redwoods that soar past 350 feet and have been quietly standing since before the Norman Conquest. Draped along a foggy stretch of northern California coast, the parks are an unusual patchwork, jointly managed by the National Park Service and California State Parks after logging nearly erased these forests a century ago.

A forest that dwarfs everything you know

Walking beneath these trees is a genuinely humbling experience. The canopy swallows sound, ferns unfurl in emerald tangles, and light filters down in cathedral shafts. Roosevelt elk graze the meadows at Prairie Creek, and the fern-walled slot of Fern Canyon looks so prehistoric it stood in for a dinosaur set in Jurassic Park. Beyond the groves, a wild, driftwood-strewn coastline unrolls for miles.

For a family flying in from the UK, there is nothing in Britain to compare. Our oldest oaks feel like saplings beside these giants, and teenagers who groan at the word 'nature walk' tend to fall genuinely silent under a 1,500-year-old tree.

You come to Redwood to stand at the foot of something older than nearly every human institution and feel time stretch. These are not just tall trees; they are living monuments, and photographs never prepare you for the scale. Send a teenager ahead on the trail and watch them shrink to a speck against a single trunk.

But the real magic is the variety packed into one visit. In a single day you can wander misty old-growth groves, spot a herd of elk lounging in a meadow, and end on an empty beach where the Pacific crashes against sea stacks. It is wild, uncrowded, and refreshingly free of the tour-bus crush of California's bigger names. Come for the trees; stay for the sense that you have stepped somewhere genuinely ancient and largely untouched.

A car is indispensable here. The parks stretch for some 50 miles along Highway 101, which is the main artery linking the major groves, beaches, and visitor centres. Distances between highlights can be significant, so plan a driving route rather than a single base walk. Several of the most rewarding spots lie on narrow, unpaved backroads: Howland Hill Road and the Coastal Drive reward slow, careful driving with the finest old-growth. The Fern Canyon access road fords a creek and closes seasonally in wet weather. Winter storms occasionally shut sections of road, so check conditions in the rainy months. Fuel and services are concentrated in gateway towns, so top up before heading into the quieter northern groves.

Public transport to and within Redwood is minimal. A limited regional bus service runs along the Highway 101 corridor between towns like Crescent City, Klamath, and Arcata, but it will not get you to the groves, beaches, or backcountry trailheads that make a visit worthwhile. There are no in-park shuttles. For any family hoping to see more than a single roadside stop, hiring a car is strongly recommended and effectively essential. It gives you the flexibility to reach remote old-growth, dodge coastal fog, and link the scattered national and state park units into one coherent trip.

• Fern Canyon requires a day-use permit in peak season, and access involves a creek-ford drive that closes in wet months, so check conditions before setting off.
• The best old-growth is in the state parks (Prairie Creek, Jedediah Smith), not the national park proper, so plan across the whole patchwork rather than one entrance.
• Drive the unpaved Howland Hill Road through Jedediah Smith for the most jaw-dropping groves with almost no crowds.
• Roosevelt elk gather at Elk Meadow and Elk Prairie, best at dawn or dusk. Keep a respectful distance during autumn rut.
• Coastal fog is common even in summer, so layers beat sunscreen most days.
• Book the Tall Trees Grove permit in advance if you want the true giants with solitude.
• Fuel up in Crescent City or Klamath; services inside the parks are minimal.

This is a cool, damp coastal rainforest, and the weather reflects it. Summers are mild, often in the high teens Celsius, with morning fog that can linger all day near the coast. Autumn and spring are pleasant but wetter, and winter brings heavy rain that can flood creeks and close the Fern Canyon approach. It rarely gets hot, so pack layers, a waterproof jacket, and sturdy shoes for muddy trails rather than shorts and sun hats. Even a bright summer morning can turn grey and chilly under the canopy, so a warm mid-layer earns its place in every daypack here.

The nearest airport is California Redwood Coast-Humboldt County Airport in Arcata/Eureka (ACV), roughly an hour's drive south of the main groves, with connections through San Francisco. Crescent City (CEC) sits at the northern end but has very limited service. For most UK families, the practical route is a long-haul flight to San Francisco (SFO) followed by a scenic five to six hour drive north up Highway 101, or a shorter hop to ACV. Many visitors fold Redwood into a wider northern California and Oregon coast road trip. Hiring a car is essential; the parks sprawl across a long coastal corridor with no public transport between the groves, and you will want the freedom to chase fog-free windows and quiet trailheads.