Some cool information on the Redwood Forest! Also, I have been here and it is a must see, senic, awesome National Park.
Location: California
Established: October 2, 1968
Size: 131,983 acres, including 3 state parks
Sometimes, when the morning fog caresses the great trees, you can imagine the past flowing through the long,
misty shadows Vast redwood forests flourishing across alush and humid North America After the final ice age,
a last stand here in the sustaining climate along the Pacific coast Tree after tree falling to the loggers.
Then, in a windswept moment,
the past vanishes and you stand beside other visitors, gazing up at the Earth's tallest living things.
That is the essence of Redwood National and State Parks.
The park, near the northern limit of the coast redwood's narrow range, preserves the remnants of a forest that once covered two million acres and, at the turn of the
20th century, was badly threatened by logging.
The state of California and the Save-the-Redwoods League came to the rescue by acquiring hundreds of groves
and protecting them within 26 state parks. Three redwood state parksJedediah Smith,
Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creekwere encompassed by the national park when it was created in 1968.
Logging on surrounding private land, however, threatened the parks' protected redwoods.
Soil and sediments from the logged-over tracts washed into the rivers and creeks, settling to the bottom downstream.
Silt deposits can smother redwoods for the giants are amazingly vulnerable.
And the waterlogged soil weakens the trees' resistance to wind. Their roots are shallow, often only ten feet deep.
In 1978 Congress added 48,000 acres to the national park's 58,000 acres, including about 36,000 that had been logged.
The raw, clear-cut land, a park official wrote, had "the look of an active war zone."
Today, in an epic earth-moving projecta redwood renaissance crews are beginning to reclaim vast stretches of logged-over lands.
Hillsides, carved away for logging roads, are being restored.
Most of the 400 miles of roads are being erased.
It will take at least 50 years for the scars of logging to disappear and another 250 or so years for the replanted redwood seedlings to grow to modest size.
The renaissance has added a new dimension to the traditional rite of staring up at redwoods.
Today's visitor can look at hillsides shorn of giants and know that generations from now the trees will grow there again.
How to Get There
Tree-lined US 101, the Redwood Highway, runs the length of the park. From the south, take US 101 to the information center near Orick, about 40 miles north of Eureka.
From the north, enter through Crescent City, also an information center site.
From the east, take US 199, another redwood-flanked highway, to Hiouchi. Airports: Arcata and Crescent City.
When to Go
Year-round. Summer draws highway-clogging crowds, so think about a visit in spring or fall. In both seasons, bird migrations enhance the redwood groves.
Rhododendrons burst forth in spring; deciduous trees add color in fall. Rains, welcome to the redwoods but not to visitors, drench the park in winter.
How to Visit
US 101, with its many redwood sentinels, gives you a windshield-framed panorama of the trees. But to appreciate the redwoods, you must walk among them.
If you have only a day to visit this 50-mile-long park, stop and see the Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Big Tree.
Hike or just stretch your legs (depending on your time) along the Coastal Trail and savor the Pacific prospect of the park.
For a longer stay, visit the Tall Trees Grove, drive Howland Hill Road,
and end your visit with a splash in a kayak on the Klamath River or a jouncy drive to Fern Canyon and Gold Bluffs Beach.
If you are driving an RV or towing a trailer, some stretches of road may be closed to you; check at information centers.
Mill Creek Campground
Sleep beneath towering maples, alders, and young coast redwoods, with access to Mill Creek, miles of varied hiking trails, and seasonal ranger-led programs.
Location: Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, 7 miles south of Crescent City, Calif. on Hwy 101.
Open: May 15 through September 30.
Sites: 145 tent or RV (no hook-ups); hiker/biker sites available.
Facilities: Hot showers, ADA accessible restrooms, dump station, picnic tables, firepits and barbeques, food lockers and trash receptacles, campfire center.
Vehicle Length Limit: 31-foot RV or 27-foot trailer.
Fees: $35 per vehicle and $5 per hiker/biker. $8 for additional vehicles. $17.50 for holders of the America The Beauitful:
National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Senior or Access Passes, or the California State Parks Disabled Discount Pass.
Camping is free for holders of the California State Parks Distinguished Veterans pass.
Reservations: ReserveAmerica or call 1-800-444-7275. Note: ReserveAmerica does not recognize "Mill Creek Campground"
as an official campground name on their website.
When searching or browsing for campgrounds at ReserveAmerica, please note that
Mill Creek Campground is instead referred to as "DEL NORTE COAST REDWOODS SP, CA."
