Redwood National and State Parks With Kids

Redwood National and State Parks is easily one of my favorite national parks we have visited — and honestly, the entire Redwood Coast has become one of my favorite places we have traveled in California.

I already know I have a bias here. Give me moss, giant trees, ferns, creeks and everything dripping in green over a dry desert landscape any day. The Redwoods felt like someone took all of those things and turned the dial all the way up.

It is genuinely otherworldly.

We visited in the middle of April and spent about a week staying in Trinidad, California, with roughly three days devoted to exploring different parts of Redwood National and State Parks.

April ended up being almost perfect for us.

It was chilly. It drizzled. We wore jackets, hats and plenty of layers.

And there was almost no one there.

There were times when we were standing among some of the largest trees on Earth with hardly another person around. Fern Canyon practically felt private.

I would absolutely trade a little cold weather for that experience again.

Plan Your Trip

A few helpful resources to check before visiting:

What to Bring to Redwood National and State Parks

The biggest thing? Waterproof boots.
We wore neoprene Muck Boots and used them constantly.

I would also bring:

  • Layers
  • Rain jackets
  • Extra socks
  • Water
  • Snacks
  • A camera
  • Clothes you’re okay getting muddy
  • Offline maps
  • Plenty of time

And I mean that last one.
This is not the park I would rush through.

First: Redwood National Park Is a Little Confusing

Before visiting, I don’t think I completely understood how spread out Redwood National and State Parks actually is.

This isn’t a park where you drive through one entrance station, follow one main park road and see everything along the way.

Redwood National and State Parks is actually a partnership that includes Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

That means the places you want to see can be spread pretty far apart along the Northern California coast.

We stayed closer to the southern portion near Prairie Creek, which ended up being perfect for most of what we wanted to do. But the farther-north areas around Jedediah Smith were closer to 45 minutes to an hour away from us.

There was already so much to see close to our campground that we never made it that far north.

That’s probably my biggest regret from this trip.

If you’re planning your first visit, I would look at the official park map⁠ before deciding where to stay. Your campground can make a huge difference in how much driving you end up doing.

Staying in Trinidad Was a Great Base

We stayed at Elk Country RV Resort⁠ in Trinidad and paid around $400 for the week.

We had a large 50-amp full-hookup site in the meadow section.

And it is called Elk Country for a reason.

There were elk everywhere.

They lived around the campground, wandered through the meadow and could literally be standing right outside your RV.

Naturally, that also meant there was plenty of elk poop throughout the meadow, but it really wasn’t a big deal.

Our site was spacious, and because we were visiting in April, the campground wasn’t crowded yet.

We were only about 15 minutes or so from the Prairie Creek area, which made it incredibly convenient for exploring the park.

Eureka was around a 30-minute drive when we needed groceries or wanted to head into town.

The northern parts of the Redwoods were definitely farther away, but I would still stay in Trinidad again.

The drive itself was part of the experience.

You’re traveling along this beautiful section of Northern California coastline with forests, lagoons and beaches around you. Even running errands didn’t necessarily feel like wasted time.

I’ll write a separate full review of Elk Country, but we had a really positive experience there. The staff were kind and helpful, and they even mailed a package to us at our next campground after it arrived after we had already left.

Fern Canyon

Fern Canyon was probably my favorite single place we visited.

Part of The Lost World: Jurassic Park was filmed here, and once you walk into the canyon, that makes complete sense.

It doesn’t look real.

The canyon walls rise around you completely covered in ferns and greenery. A shallow creek runs through the middle. Fallen trees cross the water. Tiny waterfalls and drips fall from the canyon walls.

It was cold when we visited, and we were bundled up in multiple layers with jackets and hats.

It drizzled a little while we were there.

And somehow that made it even better.

The entire place felt moody and prehistoric.

The ferns probably weren’t as bright and lush as they would be later in the summer, and there was still plenty of brown mixed into the landscape, but it was beautiful.

More importantly, there was almost no one there.

We were able to walk through the canyon slowly, climb around the logs, stop beside the creek and actually stand there looking at everything instead of feeling like we needed to keep moving.

That’s something I remember doing constantly in the Redwoods.

Just stopping.

Looking up.

Looking around.

Trying to comprehend what we were standing inside.

The walk through Fern Canyon itself isn’t particularly long or difficult, but you are walking through water and around wet logs.

Bring waterproof boots.

Our neoprene Muck Boots were one of the best things we brought on this trip.

Northern California in April was wet, muddy and damp, and I was grateful for those boots over and over again.

Do You Need a Fern Canyon Reservation?

This is something you’ll want to check before your trip because our April experience was different from what summer visitors should expect.

We visited outside of the current reservation season, so we were able to drive in without making a Fern Canyon parking reservation.

During the current peak season, May 15 through September 15, a free reservation is required to park within the Gold Bluffs Beach Day-use Area, which includes Fern Canyon.

There is also a day-use fee for the area, although qualifying park passes are accepted. We had our park pass and don’t remember paying anything additional during our visit.

Check the official Fern Canyon reservation page⁠ before your trip because fees, dates and access conditions can change.

The Drive to Fern Canyon

I had almost forgotten about this part until thinking back through our trip.

The drive into Fern Canyon is an experience of its own.

The road is narrow and gravel, and we drove through two shallow stream crossings on the way in.

We have an F-350 dually, so it wasn’t remotely an issue for us. The water was probably only around four or five inches deep when we visited.

I actually thought driving through the streams was fun.

A smaller vehicle isn’t automatically a problem, but if you’re uncomfortable driving on narrow gravel roads or through shallow water, it’s something worth knowing about beforehand.

Conditions can change significantly with weather, so I would check the current park conditions⁠ before heading down the road.

Gold Bluffs Beach

We didn’t really spend time hanging out at Gold Bluffs Beach, but just seeing the beach next to this forest was incredible.

That contrast is one of my favorite things about this entire area.

You’re surrounded by dense trees and ferns that feel almost like a rainforest, and then you look through the trees and suddenly there’s this huge, clear stretch of Pacific coastline.

Forest on one side. Ocean on the other.

It is such a uniquely beautiful landscape.

Big Tree

After Fern Canyon, we headed toward Big Tree.

And yes — that’s actually what it’s called.

The sign at Big Tree listed it at around 286 feet tall, approximately 23.7 feet in diameter and estimated to be around 1,500 years old.

That number stuck with me.

Fifteen hundred years.

It’s hard to even process.

We spend so much of our lives caught up in whatever is happening this week, this month or this year.

Then you stand beside a living thing that was has been alive for 1,500 YEARS!

It has survived generations of people coming and going.

Wars. Presidents. Entire civilizations changing.

And there we were, standing beside it for a few minutes.

Places like this have a way of reminding you just how tiny your little piece of time really is.

The walk to Big Tree was short and easy, so this is something I would absolutely recommend even if you’re traveling with little kids or don’t want to commit to another long hike.

We also have a picture of Eli and the kids trying to wrap their arms around one of the giant redwoods.

Between all four of them, they couldn’t even come close.

Photos don’t really communicate how massive these trees are until you put people beside them.

Prairie Creek Was One of My Favorite Areas

I could have spent an entire day just wandering around Prairie Creek.

Honestly, some of my favorite moments weren’t even on a major named trail.

We stopped at the Prairie Creek Visitor Center and asked where we might find banana slugs that are iconic in the area.

We were told to look around some of the wetter, less-traveled areas behind the visitor center.

We didn’t actually find any banana slugs there that day, but we found something better.

Trees everywhere. Huge trees. Hollow trees.

Fallen trees you could walk over.

Openings you could stand inside.

We just wandered.

The kids climbed around. We walked beneath the trees and looked straight up into the canopy.

There is so much moss and greenery that even the ordinary little paths feel special.

That’s something I think is important to understand about the Redwoods.

You don’t necessarily need an attraction every ten minutes.

Sometimes the attraction is simply being there.

Corkscrew Tree

Corkscrew Tree was actually surprisingly difficult for us to find.

The sign wasn’t very obvious, and we ended up having to walk back toward it after initially passing the area.

Eventually we found it, but instead of turning around afterward, we kept walking.

That ended up being one of those unplanned moments I remember most.

We came across a little bridge with a creek underneath it and just continued walking through the forest.

I have a picture of Eli standing there looking up at the trees.

He isn’t doing anything. He’s just looking.

And that’s basically the perfect picture of the Redwoods.

There are places where you feel like you need to hike to the viewpoint, take the picture and move on.

Here, you can stand in one place for ten minutes looking straight up and feel like you’ve done something.

Everything is covered in moss.

Everything is green.

Everything feels old.

Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway

Driving the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway⁠ is something I would absolutely include even if you don’t have time for many hikes.

The scenic road runs through the heart of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park and connects you to several of the places we wanted to explore.

Although you’ll probably still want to stop.

Often.

The entire drive is gorgeous.

This is also one of those parks where the drive between attractions doesn’t feel like dead time. You’re still surrounded by giant trees and beautiful scenery.

Trillium Falls

Another day, we returned specifically to hike toward Trillium Falls.

The complete trail is a loop, although I don’t believe we completed the entire thing.

We hiked into the waterfall and then turned around and came back.

I actually preferred this hike to Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

The forest was beautiful, the little bridge near the falls was especially picturesque, and we were lucky enough to see some trillium flowers blooming while we were there.

It was a really good family hike.

If you want an actual trail experience rather than simply stopping at roadside redwoods, I would probably choose Trillium Falls.

You can find current trail information on the NPS Trillium Falls page⁠.

Lady Bird Johnson Grove

We also spent another day hiking Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

The grove was dedicated in honor of former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson and her conservation efforts.

The trail itself wasn’t difficult and was very manageable with the kids.

We enjoyed it, but if I’m ranking everything we did, I wouldn’t consider it absolutely necessary.

After you’ve already spent time around Prairie Creek, Fern Canyon and the giant trees, there is inevitably some overlap.

That doesn’t make it a bad hike.

It’s actually a really good option if you want an easy family trail through the Redwoods.

It just wasn’t one of our very favorite experiences.

It did, however, finally give us something we had been searching for: banana slugs.

The kids had been looking for them since we first arrived, so finding those giant yellow slugs became a surprisingly memorable part of the trip.

And once we started seeing them, we kept finding more throughout the area.

The Redwood Coast Was More Than the National Park

Part of what made this trip so memorable was that I loved the entire area surrounding the Redwoods.

Northern coastal California felt noticeably different from many of the other places we have visited in California.

It reminded me somewhat of coastal Oregon, but with an even stronger laid-back, outdoorsy, slightly hippie vibe.

There were natural food stores, local businesses, people spending tons of time outside and communities that felt like they had retained their own personality instead of becoming completely built around tourism.

There were things about that culture we personally didn’t love.

For example, there was a marijuana dispensary directly in front of the jiu-jitsu gym where the girls trained, and we could sometimes smell marijuana walking into practice.

That obviously had nothing to do with the gym, but it was definitely part of the atmosphere of the area.

At the same time, there were other parts of that culture that I really appreciated.

People genuinely seemed to use their outdoor spaces.

Redwood Park in Arcata

One of my favorite examples was Redwood Park in Arcata⁠.

We went there with friends the girls had met through jiu-jitsu.

There was a playground for the kids, but what I remember most was the huge open field.

Usually when we stop at playgrounds while traveling, almost everyone around us is there specifically because they have children using the playground.

Here there were adults lying in the grass, sunbathing, relaxing and simply enjoying being outside.

People were walking.

Kids were playing.

Adults were sitting in the grass.

It felt like a community actually using its park.

There were also walking trails around the park and access to more forest, and naturally we found even more banana slugs.

What We Missed

Even after spending around three days exploring the park, I still felt like we missed a lot.

We never really made it into the northern section around Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park or Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.

I would love to see those areas next time.

We also drove past Stone Lagoon and Big Lagoon several times and thought they were beautiful.

I would have loved more time to explore those coastal areas, along with Sue-meg State Park and more of the beaches.

April weather played a role in some of that.

The coast was chilly enough that spending an entire day around the lagoons or beaches wasn’t particularly appealing with kids.

But that’s also what makes me want to return during another season.

Would We Go Back?

In a heartbeat.

Redwood National and State Parks is one of my favorite places we have visited since we started traveling.

But I think what surprised me was how much I loved the entire Redwood Coast.

Trinidad. The beaches. The lagoons. Arcata. The forests. The damp air. The moss.

The elk wandering through our campground.

The banana slugs.

The friends we met.

It all felt like part of the experience.

There are national parks where I remember the main attraction.

Here, I remember the feeling of the place.

I remember standing inside Fern Canyon listening to water drip down the walls.

I remember looking through an impossibly dense forest and suddenly seeing the Pacific Ocean.

I remember the kids trying to hug a tree that four people couldn’t wrap their arms around.

I remember Eli simply standing underneath the redwoods looking up.

And I remember standing next to a tree estimated to have been alive for around 1,500 years and realizing how unbelievably small our own place in time really is.

Some places are beautiful.

Some places are fun.

And some places make you stop long enough to think.

The Redwoods did all three.

Continue Exploring With Rolling Williams


Training Near the Redwoods?
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