The ULTIMATE Guide to visiting Redwood National Park (+ state parks!) in California

Visiting Redwood National Park? We’re sharing everything you need to know to visit all four of its parks, plus the best things to do and an itinerary!

Along the coastline in northern California lies Redwood National Park, which is home to coastal redwoods, the tallest trees on earth! These trees can live to be 2,000 years old and grow up to 300 feet, with the tallest living tree being 379.7 feet tall.

We have visited Redwood National Park twice now and wandering among giants is an experience that is hard to describe. But after every visit, our neck often hurts a bit from staring up at them for so long.

While the park may be known for its coastal redwoods, the park offers so much more than just trees. You can see waves crash along a rocky shoreline, wander through water as you explore a magical fern canyon, play on the beach, and see elk in the wild. It’s a pretty special place!

Watch how we spent two amazing days visiting all four parks in Redwood National Park!

However, there is something a bit unique about this park that makes it a bit different than any other national park…it’s actually made up of FOUR parks! We will share more about these parks below, but this does add a bit of complexity when visiting, as there is a LOT to choose from and since they are spread out a bit, figuring out how to best structure your time in the park can be more difficult.

But that’s why we are here to help! In this guide we’re going to share everything you need to know before visiting Redwood National Park, the best things to do in each park, where to stay, a two day itinerary, and so much more!

Note: When talking about all four parks, we are going to refer to them as Redwood National Park, just to make things simpler and a bit easier to read. But when referring to specific parks, we will call them by their specific name.

Looking for more things to do in California? Check out these guides & videos:

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About Redwood National Park

Many years ago, northwestern California was home to over 2 million acres of old growth coastal redwood forests. For many years, various Native American tribes called this area home and relied on the natural resources, such as the wood, elk, fish, water, and seeds to live. 

But once gold was discovered in 1850, outsiders moved into the area, eventually forcing Native Americans to leave and also logging many of the redwoods through large scale logging operations. This continued into the mid 1900s, despite many groups pushing back, until 1968 when Redwood National Park was established to protect some of the remaining redwoods. 

Today only 5% of the original 2 million acres of redwoods remain in California and the park contains 45% of them.

And as we mentioned above, Redwood National Park isn’t just one park, but actually four different parks including Redwood National Park, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. 

Together, these parks take up 131,983 acres spread out across Northern California and are jointly managed by both the National Park Service and California State Parks. They are also a UNESCO World Heritage site and International Biosphere Reserve!

Before embarking on your adventure, please review the Leave No Trace principles to ensure you leave every place better than you found it, so that others can enjoy these beautiful places for many years to come!

These seven principles include planning ahead and preparing, hiking and camping on durable surfaces, disposing of waste properly (pack out what you pack in!), understanding campfire rules and always fully extinguishing your fires, respecting wildlife, and being considerate of other visitors. 

When to Visit Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park is a great place to visit any time of the year! The temperatures often don’t exceed the mid 60’s any time of year, with lows being between 40ºF-50ºF, so it’s fairly mild and consistent year round.

However, the big difference between the seasons is rainfall. The late fall (November)-early spring (March) tend to be the rainiest months in the park with between 10-12 inches of rain and some areas, like Fern Canyon, can even flood. While it is pretty magical to walk among giant trees in the rain, it may not be for everyone.

The summer (June-September) is much drier, but is also the busy season in the park and permits for some hot spots can be harder to get.

To have the perfect mix of less crowds and not too rainy weather, we suggest visiting around April or October. This is also a great time to go if you want to avoid the permit for Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon. Our most recent visit to Redwood National Park was in April and we had a mix of sun and rain, but we were able to enjoy so many spots without any crowds. 

Getting to + around Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park is located in very northern California, just south of the Oregon border. While it is a pretty easy park to visit if road tripping the California coast or west coast, it can be a bit trickier to get to by plane.

Flying to Redwood National Park

There are a handful of larger airports that are close-ish to Redwood National Park:

• Eugene Airport (EUG)– 5 hours. This airport in Oregon is medium sized, with a handful of nonstop flights on American, Alaska, Delta, United, and Southwest.
• Sacramento International Airport (SMF)– 5.5 hours. This airport is serviced by several major airlines such as Alaska, Delta, United, and Southwest with many more non stop flight options. 
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO)– 6 hours. SFO has tons of airlines and routes to choose from and is the largest airport out of the three listed. 

If you don’t mind layovers, the closest airport to Redwood National Park is actually the Humboldt County Airport (ACV), which is about 30 minutes south of the southernmost point of Redwood National Park. Unfortunately this airport is much more limited, with the only major airline being United and nonstop flights only from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Denver.

Driving to Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park may be a bit far from many major cities, but it is still close to some popular places to visit in both California and Oregon, making a road trip to the park a whole lot of fun. Here’s how long you can expect to drive from nearby areas:

• Redding, CA: 3.5 hours (173 miles)
• Eugene, OR: 5 hours (268 miles)
• San Francisco, CA: 5 hours, 40 minutes (308 miles) This is from San Francisco itself, not the airport, which is further south.
• Sacramento, CA: 5 hours, 45 minutes (335 miles)
• Portland, Oregon: 6.5 hours (373 miles)

Note: some of these routes may have tolls. Make sure to turn off tolls on Google Maps to avoid them if you don’t want to pay, but do expect a longer drive that way.

Getting around Redwood National Park

Unlike some national parks, Redwood does not have a park shuttle, so you will need to either rent a car or drive your own to get around. 

We visited the park in our 170 WB Mercedes Sprinter van and had no issues parking in the park, so any small sized RVs or vans should be totally fine!

Where to stay when visiting Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park has a variety of campgrounds among its four parks, plus other lodging in the nearby towns. From the southern part of Redwood National Park to the most northern part, it’s about 1 hour of driving (without stops), so staying north or south of the park may require additional driving. 

If you can, we suggest staying in the middle of the park either in the town of Klamath or at the Gold Bluffs Beach Campground, to be more central to all of the best things to do in Redwood National Park. But below are a variety of options from north to south, so you can pick what works best for you!

Campgrounds in Redwood National Park

There are four developed campgrounds in Redwood National Park, spread out among the state parks. Each one costs $35 per night, with some discounts available for some passholders. For those that accept reservations, you can reserve on Reserve California.

Gold Bluffs Campground (Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park)
We stayed here and LOVED it! You get to camp right by the beach! There are only 26 sites, with a 24 foot RV limit (no hookups), and it is open year round.

Elk Prairie Campground (Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park)
This campground has 75 sites and the maximum RV length is 27 feet or 24 feet for a trailer (no hookups). It is also open year round.

Mill Creek Campground (Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park)
This campground has 145 sites and the maximum RV length is 28 feet or 24 feet for a trailer (no hookups)  It is only open May 18-September 30. 

Jedediah Smith Campground (Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park)
There are 86 sites and the maximum RV length is 25 feet or 21 feet for a trailer (no hookups). This campground is open all year, but is only reservable from May 1-October 1.

Hotels near Redwood National Park

Roosevelt Base Camp: This is a brand new lodging option right in Orick, which is on the south end of the parks. They renovated an old motel and it looks beautiful!
Holiday Inn Express (Klamath): This is a great location, right in the center of the parks!

Airbnbs near Redwood National Park

Hunter Creek Cottage (Klamath): This 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom cottage is located in a great central spot to all of the parks.
Beachfront Studio (Crescent City): We stayed here on our first visit to the park and the hosts were awesome, they had a huge private dog park that Kona loved, and it was right across the street from the ocean!
Elk Meadow Cabins: If staying with a larger group, the Elk Meadow Cabins are a great choice! You can rent between a 1-3 bedroom cabin, right in Orick. There are also other cabins in Orick owned by others, which you can see here.

What to bring with you to Redwood National Park

To see everything we take hiking, check out our hiking gear as well as our guide about how to make a 10 essentials kit. But for this specific area, we have a few items we really want to stress bringing with you.

Food and snacks

There are no restaurants inside of the park, so make sure to pack any food items you will need for your time visiting Redwood National Park. There are a couple towns nearby where you can grab food or groceries, including Klamath, Crescent City, Arcata, and Eureka.

Water

While there are some water fill up stations in the park, plus nearby towns where you can get water, we suggest carrying a good amount on you. We like to hike with our 3L Camelbak bladders, which makes it easy to drink and hike at the same time.

Layers

With very mild temperatures in the park, it’s important to bring layers. Even if it’s sunny, being among the tall trees may be shaded and feel cooler. It can also be very rainy at certain times of the year (late fall- early spring), so make sure to bring a rain jacket!

Things to know before visiting Redwood National Park

Entrance fee

Redwood National Park is FREE to visit, but some areas within the state parks do have a fee, including Gold Bluff Beach and Fern Canyon at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. However, the state parks within Redwood National Park are the only state parks in California that do accept the America the Beautiful pass.

This pass is $80 per year and gets you into all National Park Service managed sites and federal lands for free. We highly recommend it!

Respect wildlife

There is a good chance you’ll spot some wildlife in Redwood National Park, including elk. For elk, stay at least 25 yards away, avoid direct eye contact, and make noise so your position is known to the elk. NEVER try to pet or feed wild animals. This may seem obvious, but the account “Tourons of Yellowstone” proves otherwise. 😉

Make reservations in advance

If you’d like to camp in the park or want to visit permit areas such as Gold Bluffs Beach, Fern Canyon, and Tall Trees Grove, make sure to get your permits and reservations in advance. Things can fill up, especially during busier seasons and on the weekends! 

Dogs are not allowed

Despite the majority of the Redwood National Park being state parks, dogs are not allowed on trails in the park. They are allowed at campgrounds, at paved viewpoints, on multiple beaches, and can be walked on Cal Barrel Road and Walker Road, which go through the redwoods.

Curious what we do with Kona when she cannot join us on a hike? Read this guide about how we travel with a dog.

Download Maps

There is very little cell reception in the park, so make sure to download offline Google Maps of the area and any trails you wish to hike on AllTrails. 

Want to get 30% off an AllTrails+ membership? Click this link or use our code aplusk30 (you must redeem this code on the website, not the app)!

We use AllTrails+ on every single hike and it is the most helpful hiking tool out there! Some of the features we love are offline maps (so we can navigate even without cell service), wrong-turn alerts, and its 3D maps feature, so we can get a feel for trails before we hike.

The best things to do in Redwood National Park (+ state parks!)

Redwood National Park

Redwood National Park, the actual national park portion of the overall parks system, is the southernmost area of the 4 park system and makes up 71,715 acres. 

Visit Tall Trees Grove

Miles (round trip): 4.5
Elevation (feet): 800
Reviews & Current Conditions

Quite possibly the best thing to do in Redwood National Park is to hike the Tall Trees Grove Loop! This hike is 4.5 miles (AllTrails reports this as lower, though) and drops 800 feet in the first 1.5 miles, which means hiking back up can be difficult. But on this hike you’ll get to experience some of the tallest trees in the world, including one with a tunnel through it, plus solitude due to the permit system.

A few very important things to know before hiking this trail:

• Only 50 people are allowed to visit Tall Trees Grove per day and you have to get a free permit online in advance, which you can get here.
• Once you have a permit, you will get a gate code sent to you 24 hours in advance to access the road.
• The road to get to the trailhead is a 6 mile narrow gravel road and RVs must be less than 21 feet long and trailers are not allowed. Because of this, we have not been able to do this hike, since our van is 22.5 feet.
• Plan for 4 hours to drive out to Tall Trees Grove + do the hike.

Hike the Trillium Falls Trail

Miles (round trip): 2.6 (we tracked closer to 4 miles)
Elevation (feet): 433
Reviews & Current Conditions

The Trillium Falls Trail is a gorgeous hike that combines the park’s famous redwoods with a waterfall. We hiked this trail on our last visit and loved it!

Walk the Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail

Miles (round trip): 1.5
Elevation (feet): 101
Reviews & Current Conditions

This is the perfect trail for kiddos, strollers, and those in wheelchairs to experience the redwoods!

Backpack the Redwood Creek Trail

Miles (round trip): 15.7
Elevation (feet): 1,128
Reviews & Current Conditions

If you want a longer adventure or want to backpack in the park, the Redwood Creek Trail is a great choice! This hike follows the creek the entire time and ends at Tall Tree Grove. In fact, it is the only way to visit Tall Trees Grove without a permit! However, you will need a backcountry permit, which you can learn more about here.

Drive Bald Hill Road

For some different scenery than redwoods, drive Bald Hill Road! This windy, narrow road takes you up into the mountains, with views of the prairie, as well as a high up view of the redwoods, which is a perspective not everyone sees while in the park. This road is not recommended for RVs and some parts are gravel. You can learn more about the drive here!

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Out of all of the parks in Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is definitely our favorite! This park featured everything that makes the park special, including redwoods, the beach, a unique canyon, and herds of elk.

Look for elk 

Redwood National and State Parks are home to 7 herds of Roosevelt Elk, which are the largest of the six recognized subspecies of elk in North America. The males average about 875 pounds and many live to be 15 years old. 

There are quite a few places to see elk in the park, although it’s never a guarantee you’ll see one, but Elk Prairie at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is a good spot to try. We lucked out and saw quite a few here! Remember, do not approach them.

Walk along the Prairie Creek Trail and Foothill Trail Loop 

Miles (round trip): 2.4
Elevation (feet): 95
Reviews & Current Conditions

If you cannot get a Tall Trees Grove permit or just want something easier to access, this is a great backup! This trail features TWO trees with tunnels, which are so fun to walk through, plus “Big Tree,” which is not the largest Redwood in the park, but it is still pretty impressive at 286 feet tall and almost 24 feet wide. And what is crazy is that it’s estimated to be 1,500 years old! 

Enjoy Gold Bluffs Beach

Gold Bluffs Beach is a huge beach, with cliffs and mountains behind it, and is one of the few dog friendly areas in the Redwoods National and State Parks! There is a campground here (which we highly recommend), plus a day use area.

A few very important things to know before visiting this beach:

• The road to the beach is pretty rough with potholes and dirt, so be prepared! Vehicles longer than 24 feet are not allowed.
• Timed entry permits are required to visit Gold Bluffs Beach (and Fern Canyon) between May 1 and September 30. These permits are free and can be obtained here.
• There is also a fee of $12 (cash only) to access the Gold Bluffs Beach day-use area. The America the Beautiful Pass, California State Park Annual Pass, Golden Poppy Pass, or a current park campground reservation will cover this fee. 
• If you are camping at the Gold Bluffs Beach Campground, you DO NOT NEED A PERMIT. Your campground reservation will give you access to this region. Even more reason to stay at this awesome campground!

Wander through the magical Fern Canyon

Miles (round trip): 1.1
Elevation (feet): 127
Reviews & Current Conditions

Fern Canyon is a magical canyon that has 50 foot tall walls covered in ferns! It truly feels like something out of a fairytale…or maybe even Jurassic Park. Recognize this canyon? Scenes from The Lost World: Jurassic Park were actually filmed here!

While the canyon is beautiful to look at, what makes it even better is that you get to climb over logs and walk through water (if visiting in the wetter seasons) as you go through it. Even though it’s a short hike, it’s a really fun adventure! 

A few very important things to know before hiking Fern Canyon:

• The road to the beach is pretty rough with potholes and dirt, so be prepared! Vehicles longer than 24 feet are not allowed.
• Timed entry permits are required to visit Fern Canyon between May 1 and September 30. These permits are free and can be obtained here.
• There is also a fee of $12 (cash only) to access the Gold Bluffs Beach day-use area and Fern Canyon. The America the Beautiful Pass, California State Park Annual Pass, Golden Poppy Pass, or a current park campground reservation will cover this fee.
• If you are camping at the Gold Bluffs Beach Campground, you DO NOT NEED A PERMIT. Your campground reservation will give you access to this region. Even more reason to stay at this awesome campground! 

Learn more about Fern Canyon, the permit system, and important information about the hike in our guide to Fern Canyon!

Hike the Miner’s Ridge and James Irvine Trail Loop

Miles (round trip): 11.4
Elevation (feet): 1,479
Reviews & Current Conditions

Can’t get a Fern Canyon permit or just want a longer adventure? You can also hike to Fern Canyon along the Miner’s Ridge and James Irvine Trail Loop. While this may seem like a much longer and daunting adventure, it only takes around 5-6 hours and gives you a glimpse at a ton of awesome scenery. You hike through Fern Canyon and along Gold Bluffs Beach, making it the best way to see the park with your legs. 

Drive the Newton B Drury Parkway

For another scenic drive option in the redwoods, head onto the Newton B Drury Parkway. This road cuts through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and is an alternative to the 101, with lots of redwoods along the way.

Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park

Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park has a mix of old growth coastal redwoods and eight miles of wild coastline, making it a diverse park with multiple types of scenery. We especially love this park for its coastal views!

Hike the Damnation Creek Trail

Miles (round trip): 3.4
Elevation (feet): 1,190
Reviews & Current Conditions

The Damnation Creek Trail takes you from the redwoods to the ocean, making it a great way to see all that this park has to offer! However, there is a bridge before you get to the ocean that has been closed, but we have heard that there is a way to climb down around the bridge to continue on to the beach at the end.

Visit some overlooks

For some easy overlooks along the coastline, check out:

High Bluff Overlook, which is a gorgeous overlook of the rocky coastline. The road down to this overlook is a bit steep and narrow and is not recommended for big RVs.
Klamath River Overlook, which shows the mouth of the Klamath River, which starts in Oregon, reaching the Pacific Ocean after 250 miles.  
Crescent Beach Overlook, which has sweeping views of the vast Crescent Beach, as well as Crescent City off in the distance!

Hike the Coastal Trail and Yurok Loop to Hidden Beach

Miles (round trip): 2.3
Elevation (feet): 147
Reviews & Current Conditions

For a gorgeous coastal hike, with access to multiple beaches (including one that is hidden!), check out the Coastal Trail and Yurok Loop. We did this hike in the rain and it only added to the moodiness of this part of the California coast, which is so rocky and rugged.

The hike itself goes through trees, with various spots to soak up the coastal scenery. We did get a bit confused about Hidden Beach, as it shows up on the AllTrails map past the end of this trail, but right where the route ends on AllTrails there will be a walkway through some bushes down to the beach. It’s a very cool beach with huge rocks on the sand and is well worth hiking to!

Although it is a loop, we went out and back on the Coastal Trail and didn’t feel like we really missed out on anything by skipping the Yurok Trail.

Explore the Trees of Mystery

Trees of Mystery is an attraction in the redwoods with a canopy walk, a gondola to ride through the redwoods, and some pretty unique trees to see. While not technically in the park, it’s very close and you’ll drive right past it and if you want something a bit different than hiking, this may be a fun spot to check out!

It costs $25 for those 13-59, with discounts for other age groups.

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is the northernmost park of the bunch and makes up 10,000 acres, with gorgeous drives through the redwoods, the beautiful Smith River, and some great redwood hikes. 

Wander through Stout Memorial Grove

Miles (round trip): 0.7
Elevation (feet): 32
Reviews & Current Conditions

We have done this hike twice and it’s one of our favorites to see the giant redwoods! It includes more open areas than other hikes listed in this guide and you can just wander around through the trees. It’s a peaceful and beautiful experience! And we think it is one of the best photo spots as well.

While there, make sure to see the Stout Tree, the largest tree at Stout Grove which is 325 feet high and 16.7 feet wide! You can also walk down by the Smith River, which is stunning!

Hike the Boy Scout Trail

Miles (round trip): 7.1
Elevation (feet): 938
Reviews & Current Conditions

The Boy Scout trail is a popular option in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park if you want a slightly longer adventure than Stout Grove. Not only does it take you through redwoods, but you end the hike at Fern Falls!

Drive Howland Hill Road

At this point you’ll have likely walked through many redwoods, but what about driving between them? Howland Hill Road is a sometimes narrow road that winds through the redwoods and it’s pretty thrilling to be so close to them in your vehicle. We have only driven a portion of it, on the way to Stout Grove, but the little part we did experience was very cool!

It is worth noting that this road is NOT RV friendly. Our van probably was about as big as you could go, at least if approaching from the east towards Stout Grove.

Go rafting!

For the thrill seekers, go rafting with Redwood Rides! They have a variety of rafting trip options, both in the park, as well as nearby, and it looks like a TON of fun! 

Watch the sunset in Crescent City

We highly recommend watching the sunset in Crescent City! We may be cheating on this one since it’s not in the park, but it’s so close by and worth checking out. During our first visit, we stayed at an Airbnb on S. Pebble Beach Drive and were in awe of the coastal scenery right across the road.

There are a few areas to park and walk down to the water, where you’ll have an incredible view of many sea stacks and the waves crashing against them. This was a hidden surprise during our first trip to the park!

2 Day Redwood National Park Itinerary

As you can see, there are many things to do in Redwood National Park! And to be honest, some of it starts to look a little bit the same, so we wouldn’t necessarily suggest trying to do it all. Instead, we’d advise picking a couple redwood focused hikes, some coastal adventures, plus a unique stop to try to see the diverse scenery the park has beyond just redwoods.

Below is our suggested two day itinerary, based on our experience in the park. Have more time? Feel free to add in any other activities that sounded fun to you from this guide!

Note: This itinerary is in order from south to north (which is what we did on our latest visit), but you can easily reverse it if starting in the north!

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