Redwood National Park

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Redwood National Park does not charge an entrance fee, and it is not one park. It is a national park plus three California state parks (Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods) managed together on the far north coast. Plan two days, reserve the Tall Trees trailhead if you want it, and pack for fog.

I would treat this as a two-night base, not a stop on the way to Oregon. The trees reward slow walking, and the best stops are the short ones. We have done forest days with nieces and nephews along, and a half-mile loop beats a long trail with that crowd.

Is Redwood National Park free?

Yes. The park service says Redwood National Park is free to visit, with no entrance stations. That also means no senior pass or annual pass is sold here.

The state parks inside the system work differently. NPS says Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods collect day-use fees at developed campground entrance stations. On October 2, 2026, parks.ca.gov listed vehicle day use at $8.00 for both Prairie Creek Redwoods and Jedediah Smith.

Gold Bluffs Beach, the road to Fern Canyon, has its own entrance fee inside Prairie Creek Redwoods. NPS says that state fee is waived for holders of any America the Beautiful pass. The amount and the cash-only rule are in the Fern Canyon section below.

Redwood National Park itinerary

Two days is the right size. Day one is the Orick end: Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Elk Meadow, Tall Trees if you booked it, and Fern Canyon. Day two runs north: the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, the Big Tree wayside, the Klamath River Overlook, Enderts Beach and Stout Grove.

Stop	Unit	Distance or time	Permit or fee
Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway	Prairie Creek Redwoods (state)	10 miles one way, 20 to 30 minutes	Paved; commercial vehicles not permitted
Lady Bird Johnson Grove	National park	1- to 1.5-mile loop, 45 to 60 minutes	None stated; small lot
Stout Grove	Jedediah Smith (state)	0.5-mile loop; Howland Hill Road is 10 miles one way	Unpaved road; no RVs or trailers
Fern Canyon	Prairie Creek Redwoods (state)	Davison Road, 7 miles one way	Free reservation May 15 to September 15
Tall Trees Grove	National park	4.5 miles round trip	Free reservation, year-round
Elk Meadow	National park	Picnic and elk viewing	None stated
Klamath River Overlook	National park	Steep half-mile trail to an ocean overlook	None stated
Avenue of the Giants	Humboldt Redwoods (state)	32 miles	Outside the national park; $8.00 vehicle day use listed

The Big Tree wayside is a short, accessible stroll right off the parkway, so it costs almost no time. Do not rush the parkway itself. NPS says to allow at least 20 minutes without stopping, and you will stop.

Redwood National Park hikes

The short walks are the best use of your time. Each of these three suits a damp morning and none needs a reservation.

Lady Bird Johnson Grove

This is an easy first walk in the redwoods, a loop of 1 to 1.5 miles (NPS pages differ) that the park puts at 45 to 60 minutes. The 2.5-mile drive up Bald Hills Road is windy, bumpy and narrow, and heavy trucks use it.

The lot is small. NPS says it is often full from summer mornings into the late afternoon, and parking on the road is not allowed. I would go first thing.

Stout Grove

Stout Grove is a half-mile loop in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, with 300-foot redwoods and a spur trail down to the Smith River. You reach it by Howland Hill Road, 10 miles one way and mostly unpaved. NPS says motorhomes, RVs and trailers will not fit.

Allow about 45 minutes for the drive alone. The slow gravel is part of the appeal, because the trees close in over the road.

Trillium Falls Trail

Trillium Falls is the longer option, a 2.5-mile loop through old-growth forest to a small waterfall, according to the NPS activities page. It is a good pick when the groves are crowded. Expect ferns, moss and a stream that is more trickle than thunder.

Fern Canyon reservations

Fern Canyon is a narrow canyon with 30-foot walls covered in ferns, and it is the stop many people come for. You walk up the creek bed. NPS says to expect water ankle to knee deep, and the loop takes about 45 minutes.

From May 15 to September 15 you need a free reservation to park at Gold Bluffs Beach, which includes Fern Canyon. The Redwood Parks Conservancy takes bookings online until 11:59 pm Pacific the day before, one per vehicle. Its page lists a $12 day-use fee collected at the beach kiosk, by cash or check only. No cards.

The reservation season ends September 15, and the Conservancy page says no reservation is needed from September 16 to May 14, so the fee and the road are the only hurdles in the off season.

The road is the real catch. Davison Road is about 7 miles, mostly unpaved and narrow. Motorhomes must be 24 feet or shorter, trailers are prohibited, and NPS says low-clearance cars often get stuck at the two stream crossings.

Tall Trees Grove permit

Tall Trees is the one stop that needs a reservation all year. NPS says trailhead reservations are required year-round, and they are free. There is no walk-up option for the small lot.

In-advance reservations open up to 180 days out and must be made at least 24 hours ahead. Day-before reservations open at 8 am Pacific for the morning slot (8 am to noon) and at 1 pm for the afternoon slot (1 pm to sunset).

The trail is 4.5 miles round trip and rated moderate to strenuous. It drops 800 feet in the first 1.5 miles, so the climb back out is the hard part. NPS says to allow a one-hour drive from the nearest visitor center, including 6 miles of dirt road, and the lot does not take RVs over 21 feet or trailers.

Redwood National Park elk

Roosevelt elk are the other reason to slow down. NPS says sightings are most frequent in Prairie Creek Redwoods, at Gold Bluffs Beach, along Bald Hills Road and around Orick. The Elk Meadow Day Use Area is the easy spot for a picnic with a view.

NPS recommends staying 25 yards (75 feet) away, and farther in spring and fall. Late May and June is calving season, and late August to October is the rut, when bulls can stomp or charge at people and vehicles. A fall visit through October falls inside that rut window.

I would watch from the car window and keep the zoom lens handy. A parked car makes a better blind than a person standing in a meadow.

Our Base in Klamath

We stayed in Klamath, at the Redwood Hotel Casino run by the Yurok Tribe, because nice lodging close to this end of the park is hard to find. It was fine. A clean room, nothing like a Hilton, and a short drive from the groves, which is what mattered. The gas station beside the casino is a fuel stop and a fast-food counter in one building, with fried chicken and other hot food, and it is the right place to grab lunch before you head into the park, because there is nothing to buy once you are among the trees.

The casino staff will point you to the Tour-Thru Tree, a redwood off Highway 169 that you can drive a car through for $5 a car, per the Roadside America listing (call 707-482-5971 to confirm). It is a pure tourist stop. In hindsight I would skip it and go straight into the park.

The Trees and the Ferns

The redwoods here are beyond anything I can put into words, and the ferns underneath them stand taller than a person, over six feet in places. This is the forest that stood in for the Ewok moon in Return of the Jedi; the Endor scenes were shot in redwood country north of here around Crescent City, and Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek later appeared in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. There are more trails than you can hike in a weekend, and the ones in this post are the ones I would start with.

Redwood National Park from San Francisco

Budget about five hours from the Bay Area to Eureka and about seven to the northern end of the parks. That is a full driving day each way. A weekend only works if you accept the road.

Coming up from the Bay Area, our San Francisco itinerary is the natural start, and the Pacific Coast Highway trip itinerary covers the coast road that gets you here. Heading north from here, Oregon Dunes is the next stop on the Oregon coast. From Oregon you arrive by US 101 from the north, through Crescent City. If you are continuing into southern Oregon, our Crater Lake National Park guide covers the national park inland from there. Building a loop? The Yosemite itinerary covers the other big park in that part of California.

Avenue of the Giants

The Avenue of the Giants is a 32-mile scenic drive through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and it sits outside the national park. It makes a good warm-up on the way north. The state lists vehicle day use at $8.00, and its visitor center keeps seasonal hours: 9 am to 5 pm May to September, and 10 am to 4 pm October to April.

Redwood National Park weather

Expect fog and cool air even in summer. The NWS Eureka office calls the local climate completely maritime, with a dry season from May through September that is typically marked by low clouds and fog. In a typical year at Eureka, the colder lows are in the mid 30s and the warmer highs reach the mid 70s.

The rainy season runs October through April and brings about 90 percent of the annual precipitation. I would aim for the dry season and still pack as if it were not.

The coast is its own weather. NPS warns that sneaker waves can run hundreds of feet up the beach within 30 seconds, and it tells hikers on the redwood coast to carry a tide table and a watch. Enderts Beach, a 1-mile walk from the Crescent Beach Overlook, has colorful tide pools at low tide.

Redwood National Park alerts

In early October 2026, the NPS conditions page listed Bald Hills Road as open with hazard conditions: drive slowly and watch for road damage. Davison Road was open, with stream crossings challenging after rain and high clearance recommended.

The trail list matters more. Miners Ridge Trail was partly open, with a large downed tree blocking the way to Gold Bluffs Beach. James Irvine Trail was partly open, with the easternmost stairs closed for construction and a tree down at 1.25 miles. That trail is the 10-mile round-trip walk NPS points to as a way into Fern Canyon without a reservation. The Boy Scout Tree Trail was blocked by a fallen tree 1.75 miles from the trailhead.

Caltrans had closed the Damnation Creek trailhead on Highway 101 for a safety project. Alder Basin Trail was closed for restoration work, and Dolason Prairie Trail was closed at the Emerald Creek Bridge. Mill Creek Day Use Area was open to the public on weekends only. Redwood Creek dispersed camping is closed October 15 through April 1 for high water.

NPS lists five visitor centers: Hiouchi, Jedediah Smith, Crescent City, Prairie Creek, and Thomas H. Kuchel in Orick. The park phone is 707-464-6101. Check the conditions page again the morning you drive, because closures here come from trees and bridges.

What to pack for Redwood National Park

The list is short, and I would still over-pack the socks. A damp redwood day guarantees the second pair is already wet by lunch. Our national park road trip packing list and national park camping checklist cover the rest.

Bring:

• A waterproof shell and a fleece, even in the dry season
• Shoes that can get wet for Fern Canyon, plus a dry pair in the car
• Cash for the Gold Bluffs fee, which the Conservancy lists as cash or check only
• A tide table and a watch for the coast, as NPS advises
• Long pants tucked into socks, which NPS recommends against ticks and poison oak
• Directions saved offline before you leave the highway

Leave:

• RVs and trailers off Davison, Howland Hill and Bald Hills roads
• Anything visible in the car, since NPS notes break-ins at the Damnation Creek trailhead
• The white sneakers
• Any plan to stand near the surf line

Redwood National Park facts

Do you need a reservation for Redwood National Park?

Only for two places. The Tall Trees trailhead needs a free reservation year-round, and parking at Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon needs one from May 15 to September 15. No other stop in this post carries a reservation rule on the NPS pages.

Can you drive through Redwood National Park?

Yes. The Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway is a paved 10-mile road through Prairie Creek Redwoods, and NPS says to allow at least 20 minutes without stopping. It has pullouts for vehicles of all sizes.

Can you drive an RV through Redwood National Park?

Yes on the main parkway, no on the gravel roads. NPS says any vehicle of any size can use the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. Motorhomes must be 24 feet or shorter on Davison Road with no trailers, and RVs and trailers will not fit on Howland Hill Road.

How many days do you need at Redwood National Park?

Two days covers the highlights in this post at an easy pace. One day gets you the parkway, Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Fern Canyon if the season allows. Add a third day for Tall Trees or the Avenue of the Giants.

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Published October 18, 2026.