Things to do nearRedwood National and State Parks

Redwood National and State Parks is a partnership of four parks managed jointly by the National Park Service and California State Parks, encompassing roughly 139,000 acres along a stretch of Northern California coastline that has long defined the region's identity. The coast redwood, Sequoia sempervirens, is the tallest living species on Earth, and the parks protect nearly half of all remaining old-growth redwood forest. Hyperion, the tallest known living tree on the planet, stands somewhere within these boundaries, its exact location kept deliberately obscure to protect it from foot traffic.

Visitors explore the parks through an extensive network of trails ranging from gentle riverside walks to rugged backcountry routes that climb into the Bald Hills, where open grasslands offer sweeping inland views that contrast sharply with the dense forest below. The coastal strip adds another dimension entirely, with broad sandy beaches, tidepools teeming with sea stars and anemones, and sea stacks rising from the surf at places like Gold Bluffs Beach.

The nearby town of Crescent City and the communities along the Redwood Highway provide practical bases with local seafood restaurants serving Dungeness crab and fresh-caught salmon. Ranger-led programs run seasonally and offer guided walks that illuminate the ecology and cultural history of the region, including the deep connections Indigenous peoples such as the Yurok, Karuk, and Tolowa have maintained with these forests for generations.

The combination of ecological rarity, geological drama, and living history makes Redwood National and State Parks one of the genuinely irreplaceable landscapes in North America.