Redwood National Park has protected forests, beaches and grasslands along Northern California’s coast. A bit of history, the redwood forest once covered more than 2,000,000 acres of the California coast and this area attracted many lumbermen and gold miners during the California gold rush. When the men did not strike gold they decided to start harvesting the giant trees for the growing cities on the West Coast. There was a time of unrestricted clear-cut logging and then conservation began not too long ago. The Redwood National Park was created in 1968 and during that time nearly 90% of the original redwood trees had been logged. The Coast redwood is from the northern California coast north to the southern Oregon Coast. Coast redwoods are the tallest trees on Earth and the tallest tree in the park is Hyperion at 380 feet. Here are 4 things to see and do in Redwood National Park.
Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway
Newton B. Drury Scenic Pkwy, Orick, CA 95555
This scenic drive is 10-miles runs through Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. There are several places to park and take pictures of the humongous redwood trees. Herds of elk roam the woods and are easy to spot right from your car’s windows. There are many trail heads to explore.
Fern Canyon
Get directions from the state park.
Enter prehistoric wilderness in this dense forest and 50-foot-deep canyon that has beautiful, high, fern covered walls. To get there I had to drive along a long, winding, dirt road that was littered with large potholes, drive over a mountain, through the forest, through a creek and then hike a bit. What a rush! Fern Canyon reminded me of the movie Ferngully with it's enchanted rainforest and even had a tree that looked like Hexxus.
Trees of Mystery
15500 US-101, Klamath, CA 95548
Trees of Mystery has a 50-foot-tall Paul Bunyan statue as you arrive and features more than 50 wooden chainsaw-carved sculptures, and the main attraction, the SkyTrail gondola ride, which provides a great view of the forest from 130 feet above the ground.
Drive thru a redwood tree
Shrine Drive Thru Tree - natural made opening in tree - 13708 Avenue of the Giants, Myers Flat, CA 95554
Klamath Tour Thru Tree - for SUV's 430 CA-169, Klamath, CA 95548
Chandelier Tree - for smaller cars - W. Silver Lake Dr. &, Shadowlawn Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90039
Check out the YouTube video of Redwood National Park.
Explore the quirky adventures and misadventures as I take you on a journey of the United States National Parks. These journeys inspired me to explore even more about the history of the United States, the good, the bad and the ugly. These journeys are encouragements to explore, or re-examine these beautiful lands. From mountain roads with hairpin turns to stunning seaside escapes to exploring good old American history, these are amazing journeys to take in this lifetime.
