Redwood National and State Parks is more than just the redwood trees in its names. While the trees are often the star, the parks covers a lot of territory so a visit will allow you to see more than just trees. On our second day in the park we saw trees, but we saw more as well.
During our first stop of the day, we saw no redwoods. We would take a fairly short hike around the Yurok Loop. The name Yurok comes from the Native American tribe by that name that lives in the area. The tribe has lived along the coast for many years, and currently their land centers around Klamath, California south of this trail.
The hike starts near the parking lot of Lagoon Creek. It goes along the beach and loops back around to the back of the lagoon. It is about a 1.5 mile hike. The beginning of the hike gives you some nice views of Wilson Beach. Shortly after this the trail splits for the loop. We continued straight going counter-clockwise around the loop. However, after walking the loop, I would suggest walking clockwise around the loop. There is one brief section that is somewhat steep and coming down this steep section is a bit challenging. I personally prefer to go up a steep area rather than come down one.
Walking the loop takes hikers along the ocean high up on a cliff. There are some really nice views here. We also encountered frost. The night before the area had some of the lowest temperatures recorded, and frost was still lingering in the shadows. After walking away from the ocean we came to the steep section, and then the trail continued under a canopy of trees as we walked behind the lagoon. While the winter trees were bare, I think in summer this would create a nice cool walk. Except for the one steep area, the trail was an easy walk for the morning to get us going.
Not much farther down the road we stopped for a photo opportunity. When I was a kid, I remember coming to this area, and one of the things I remember was visiting the Trees of Mystery. In the parking lot stood a huge statue of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe. The Trees of Mystery are still here, and while I didn’t want to go through the park, I wanted a photo of that iconic place with Paul Bunyan so my daughter humored me. We stopped, and I got my photo.
After we crossed the Klamath River, we turned off for a scenic route. This was a drive through the hills and then along the coastline before returning along the Klamath River. The drive must be done clockwise as the dirt road along the coastline is one way. Unfortunately we found this drive uninteresting. The drive along the ocean had no real scenic spots to stop and enjoy the views. The driver might have some nice views, but from the passenger seat, I couldn’t see much.
There is one stop to view a WW II hidden radar station. The military built it to look like an old farmhouse to keep the Japanese from discovering it. We could only see the roof from the road. Continuing on we arrived at the end of the one way road. From here we could see where the Klamath River flows into the Pacific. The interesting thing was how narrow the mouth was to the ocean when the river itself is so wide. We could also see many sea lions lazying along the river’s edge.
We next took a scenic bypass through an area of redwoods located in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. As I mentioned in an earlier post, redwoods grow in areas together called groves. As we drove down the Newton B Drury Scenic Parkway, we saw a number of groves named for people. Like other areas in redwood country, people donated money to buy and save the redwoods from being destroyed. We did stop along the way to take a few photos and learn some things in the process.
One tree we saw was somewhat burned out in the center of the tree. A sign indicated that this is called a goose pen. Farmers used such trees to keep fowls enclosed. While the tree looks quite damaged, it was alive as redwoods will survive this kind of damage.
Toward the end of the bypass we stopped for what turned out to be a very short hike. The information indicated there was a big tree here, which was right near the parking lot. A sign gives the measurements of the tree to show how big it is. Then we went on our short walk on the circle trail. I thought is was at least a half mile, but it turned out to be only about a quarter mile. It was over pretty quickly.
A short drive farther south brought us to the Prairie Creek Visitor Center which we checked out, but there wasn’t much there. We did see a couple of elk nearby. There are signs on the main road about elk being in this particular area, but we only saw a few.
After connecting back to Highway 101, we drove south a short distance and turned off to a road that leads up to the Lady Bird Johnson Grove. We were now in the official Redwood National Park and not in one of the state parks. The Lady Bird Johnson Grove was dedicated to the former first lady. Mrs. Johnson had been an advocate for the establishment of the national park which happened in 1968.
After crossing a bridge over the road from the parking lot, we walked the 1.5 mile trail through the grove. It’s a nice hike. A pamphlet is available that gives information about markers along the way. Unfortunately the pamphlets were all gone when we were there so we were unable to learn what they had to offer. The trail is wide and easy to walk, no roots to trip over. There were many redwoods to see, some very old as well as second growth trees. There is so much to see and photograph here.
In the grove we saw the variety of things we had noticed about redwoods: the gray color of the bark, trees that seemed to grow together forming one big clump, burls on the trunks, fire damaged trees that continued to grow, and of course very tall trees. This was a good reminder of the wonderful aspects of the redwoods that this park is preserving.
After walking the Lady Bird Johnson trail we continued on the road deeper into the park. We reached Redwood Creek Viewpoint that looks out over the hills and all the way to the ocean. The information sign notes that the view we were seeing was not the view seen when the park was established. Much of the area had been logged at that time leaving bare land. Today trees are growing again to fill in the spaces for future generations.
Our time in the redwoods was coming to an end. The next day we would drive all the way south to Santa Clara on Highway 101. We were blessed with beautiful but cold weather for our journey. The redwoods are magnificent and a truly remarkable expression of God’s power and majesty. Visiting these awe inspiring trees should be on everyone’s bucket list. The trees are calling you.
Credit: Andrea Lee took the photo of me taking a picture
Thanks for the trip through the red wood forest. Great photography.
Thanks, Les, I’m glad you enjoyed it.