Wondering what to do in Redwood National Park? Here's 6 amazing things to do in Redwood National Park. (Bonus: they are all cheap or free!)
Where is Redwood National Park?
Ok, so you're planning a trip to the Redwood Natonal Park! I could not be more thrilled for you! Whether it's your first time or not, you will be in awe at how gorgeous the entire region is!
Redwood National and Stake Parks is located in northern California along the coast. Contrary to what I knew before we visited is that this area is compiled of many state parks that make up the Redwood Forest area.
The great news for you is that most of the areas are close together and many of them do not have entrance fees. If they do, they are cheap!
Visiting the Redwood National Park with Kids
Our Redwoods trip was very much kid-centric since we traveled with a 6, 4, 2 year old and a 3 month-old baby. Gratefully, our children do fairly well on road trips, so we knew we could make our Redwood trip fun for both me and my husband and our children.
We only had a few days, but I wish we would have had more time! However, if you find yourself in the area and only have a short time like we did, there are still some amazing places you should plan in! (Which I will tell you about really soon.)
Things To Take On Your Trip to Redwood National Park
The great thing about visiting Redwood National Park is that you won't need very much stuff. That's the beauty of visiting outdoor travel locations! Besides comfortable clothes for hiking/walking, here's a few things we had that made our trip more pleasant with kids:
- Baby/toddler carriers. We used both the Baby Bjorn for our infant and a Kelty Kids hiking backpack for our 2.75 year old. We also love our Ergo 360 for hiking with older babies since our Ergo doesn't have an infant insert, although I hear that some do now. If you plan to hike, invest in a good carrier. It's worth it!
- Water shoes. If you plan to play in the river or go to Fern Canyon, make sure you have some good hiking/water shoes that can get wet!
- Water bottles. Be sure to have lots of water! We had both a Thermo Flask water bottle(love that keeps water cold for hours and doesn't have condensation on outside) and a camelbak type bag from Costco.
- Snacks
- Camera. Trust me. You'll want to take a billion photos of the ginormous trees!
Where To Stay Near Redwood National And State Parks
We came from Ashland, Oregon, so our drive to the Redwoods was only a few hours from there. We did stop in Grants Pass at a Fred Meyer for groceries and extra diapers and baby wipes. Grants Pass is the last big town before you reach the beginning of the Redwoods National Park, so be sure to stock up on any essentials you'll need. Once you have all the essential supplies, you can choose to stay at an inn or look for campgrounds where you can park your RV (if you don't have one yet and are planning to make a purchase, then check out this helpful buying guide from TheChambersRV). A lot of people who visit Redwoods prefer traveling in their camper vans and RVs. This is because these vehicles are known for helping individuals eliminate the unnecessary cost of lodging. These people tend to install solar panels on their recreational vehicles (with the help of firms like Avalon RV) that can provide a constant electricity supply to the RV and make their camping experience better. Similarly, some people also prefer local inns for their stay.
CRESCENT CITY
We only stayed one night in Crescent City at the Front Street Inn. It was a really cheap motel and we kind of got what we paid for. They upgraded us to a King suite for only $8 more, so it was spacious (including a king bed in a large room, a futon bed in the kitchen area and then a bathroom. It was pretty clean, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. We knew we would really only be sleeping there (and didn't plan to cook any meals), so for us, it was ok.
If you plan to stay in Crescent City longer, I'd spend a bit more money to get a nicer place if you can. There were a lot of hotel/motel options there.
USE BOOKING.COM
We always use Booking.com to reserve a hotel on our family trips. Why?
- Free cancellation is my favorite...if plans change, no problem
- Mobile app is super easy to make reservations on the go
Redwood National Park Camping
The only way to spend the night inside Redwood National Park is to camp. Redwood forest campgrounds fill up fast, so be sure to make reservations early.
Make camping reservations here.
REDWOOD NATIONAL PARK ITINERARY
Here are 6 things to do in the Redwood National Park that we LOVED and would totally recommend doing again!
1. Stout Grove
COST: Free
Our first stop in the Redwood National Park was Stout Grove. Ok, actually it was the ranger station to use the bathrooms and fill up our water bottles, but that doesn't count, right?
DIRECTIONS TO STOUT GROVE
Driving south, you'll see a turn off to the left for Stout Grove.
You'll cross a bridge and end up on a slow, dirt road.
The drive to Stout Grove is only about 4 miles long, but it will take you a little while to get there. Just look out your windows and enjoy the giant trees on your way.
There is parking at the trail head.
I can't describe Stout Grove other than peaceful and almost spiritual. Sure, there were other families hiking there, but for some parts of the walk, we were the only ones in sight.
The trees there are so beautiful and unlike the others we saw. We really could not get over how amazing it was.
The walk/trail is flat, although there is a turn off you can take to make the hike longer. We started down the trail, but after realizing we were leaving the big trees, we decided to turn around and take the Stout Grove loop.
Along the way, you'll see lots of trees that have fallen over. Holy cow, they were huge! Just looking back over these photos, I still can't believe they were that big.
2. Drive Through the Jedediah Smith State Park
COST: Free
As you leave Stout Grove, you can choose to go left (back to the main road) or turn right and drive through the state park towards Crescent City.
We almost went back to the main road, but I'm so glad we didn't. I know I'm a broken record for saying this, but the drive was spectacular. We were talking about how awesome it would be to take Sunday drives through that place.
We passed a few hiking trails that would have been to do, but with 4 littles, we opted not to.
3. Enderts Beach
COST: Free
Just a few minute drive south of Crescent City is Enderts Beach.
From the 101 (the main road) you can turn off on to Enderts Beach Road.
Along the road, you'll see a few beach access paths. You can definitely stop at one of those and walk about ½ mile or less to the beach, but if you want a spectacular view, keep driving all the way up to the hill until you reach the top.
There is a small parking lot at the top of Enderts Beach Road. Park there and take the really short walk to the lookout point. You'll see the beautiful ocean and the gorgeous forests. I think it's quite amazing to have the beach and the Redwoods so close to each other.
We picked up Little Ceasar's pizza from Crescent City and took it with us to the top for a picnic dinner. But if pizza isn't your thing, there are other restaurants as well as a grocery store for food. There are a few picnic tables you can eat on, as well as a small grassy area you could sit on with a picnic blanket. Talk about a dinner with a view! We loved watching and hearing the waves crash against the sea stacks as we ate our dinner.
Note: there are no bathrooms at the top (at least that we could see) so keep that in mind.
After dinner, we drove back down the Enderts Beach Road and pulled off onto the beach picnic access area. There were more picnic tables there and bathrooms! We parked and let our children play in the sand for a while while us parents chilled our on beach blanket while we watched the sunset. That night was definitely memorable!
Day 2 -Redwood National Park Vacations
4. Trees of Mystery, Klamath
COST: Ages 5 & Under: Free; 6-11: $11; 12 and older: $20
DETAILS:
After we left our motel, we stopped at Safeway for some breakfast croissants and fruit and drove about 20 minutes south on the 101 to the Trees of Mystery.
We are picky when it comes to touristy places and I wasn't sure if it was going to be worth the money. But, it actually was super cool! It was only $45 for our entire family and that included the sky trail gondola.
GIANT PAUL BUNYAN
Even if you don't plan to pay admission, you should stop to see the giant Paul Bunyan and his blue ox that will greet you from the main road. Paul Bunyan made for a really fun photo op and he even talks to you!
There's a large gift shop and museum that is free to anyone, so if you want souvenirs, that's a good place for them. We bought a fun Paul Bunyan illustrated book for our children so they could learn the tall tales of him.
SKY GONDOLA RIDE
Our children loved the gondola ride. There wasn't a ton to see at the top since it was foggy day by the ocean, but riding in the tops of the treetops and seeing redwood forest for miles was a fun experience.
We spent a few hours at the Trees of Mystery observing cool trees such as the Elephant Tree, Chapel Tree (people really get married there), and the Brotherhood tree that is 25 feet wide and hundreds of feet tall.
5. Klamath Drive-Thru Tree
COST: $5 per car
After visiting the Trees of Mystery, we drove about 10 minutes south through the small town of Klamath to the Drive-Thru Tree.
The signs are a little hard to see, so be sure you're watching for them.
If you are traveling south on the 101, you'll turn off the right and go under the freeway until you'll see a small little shack where you can pay $5 to go see the tree.
Yeah, it was totally worth it! I had read somewhere that you could only drive through it once, but when we went there were only a few other cars there, so we drove through it multiple times, taking videos and photos. Our children thought it was pretty cool.
6. Fern Canyon
COST: $8 per car
Our last stop was Fern Canyon We've been many places in the world and Fern Canyon was one of the most beautiful places we've seen!
If you only have time for one thing, GO TO FERN CANYON!
DRIVING DIRECTIONS TO FERN CANYON
The drive to get there was long and bumpy. It will take about an hour from Klamath to get there and you'll pass the Big Prairie Creek State Park along the way. I've heard there are really cool hikes there, but we didn't have time for them.
The road is slow and windy. You need a good car to traverse it. Many people have special vehicles with padding, reinforced tyres, Custom Color Seat Belts, and even a roll cage sometimes to help make the travel smoother or safer. Of course, you only need a good car that won't break down as the bare minimum. Once you reach the Gold Bluff Beach access, you'll have to pay the $8 entrance fee, but don't let that stop you.
From there, we drove about 4 more miles until we reached the parking lot. And as a warning–you'll drive through a river, so be sure you're in a taller car. Alternatively, you could also have a car that's customized for this kind of drive, with raised clearance, great suspension, and maybe a great sound system added in there by a Car Audio Installer, for fun. After all, it is a road trip and you need to enjoy it. Anyway, we were in a Pilot, but we saw tons of minivans cross it without problems.
The hike to Fern Canyon is really short–about .10 mile. It's flat and easy for kids to do. Once you reach Fern Canyon, you will be in awe.
Pictures don't do this place justice, trust me! But just imagine the most vibrant green ferns lining the canyon walls. You'll see waterfalls and get to hike through a shallow river. They do have little board bridges you can use to cross in some parts, but you should expect to get wet anyway.
Once you get to the end of the canyon, you can turn around and hike back the way you came, or take the stairs up to walk the rest of the loop through more Redwood trees. We took the stair route since a lady said that walking through it felt like a mystical, magic forest, but we wished we would have just hiked back through the river because it was so amazing.
However, if you do take the forest route, you'll end right back up at the base of the canyon, so you can always play more in the river and canyon after the short hike.
Plan a few hours for this stop at least. It's breathtakingly beautiful and so fun for children!
OTHER THINGS TO DO IN REDWOODS
We only had a few days, but we are planning on going back. Here's what's on our list:
- Visit the Battery Point Lighthouse in Crescent City. The morning we left was super foggy, so we could hardly see it. The lighthouse looks so picturesque, so it would have been fun to take the tour and get some pictures.
- Hike the Boy Scout Trail and Big Tree trail.
- Play in the river at Jedediah Smith State Park Campground and camp there.
- Complete the Junior Ranger program.
QUESTIONS?
You are going to love your trip to the Redwood National Park. If you have any specific questions, I'd love to answer them. Leave a comment below or send an email to [email protected].
Sharon says
Hi, I am really love your blog.
We attend to visit redwood, coming from Portland with kids (7,5 , 4 months),
I have a question about the Tree of mystery, is it stoller friendly? If the sky train is not relevant for the 4 months so there is a parallel path while the olders go up with theirs father ?
Thanks in advance,
Sharon.
melissa says
Most of the park is stroller friendly...there is not a path that goes up to the top of the gondola. However, you could always leave the stroller at the base and get it when you get off the ride.