Located on Highway 199, the Simpson Reed Grove Trail was the seventh (11:48) stop (not counting our…read moreretail stops in nearby Crescent City) during our fourth day of our trip to the northern most point of California. This trail was the primary reason why we came this way, as it was clearly called out as being the best combination of redwood seeing/admiring with more accessible trails for the mobility impaired. My wife, her 85 year old mom, and I knew this to be one of our last forest stops, so decided to take the trail slowly. Not sure if mom would have agreed to take it if she knew exactly how long the loop was (0.8 miles), but with a lot of rest stops (plenty of places to sit on the trail), it ended up being a very worthwhile experience. The Simpson-Reed Grove trail is located in Jediah Smith Redwoods State Park, and is named for the first president of the Simpson Timber Company, whose family made significant philanthropic contributions to preserve the old growth redwoods in the area. There isn't much change in elevation on the main loop of the trail, but a subsequent outshoot loop (Peterson Memorial Trail that adds .13 miles and takes you over foot bridge crossing over small creeks) has more incline. We ended up skipping that portion. There are a lot of fallen trees, left to provide to nutrients for subsequent generations. It gives multiple opportunities to get up close (tactile) and clearly experience some of the largest living things on Earth.

Right off the Redwood Highway, on the north side of the road (just a little ways from Highway 101,…read moresits an astounding grove of redwoods. If you're just driving through the area, or even if you came to camp for a while, this place will provide you with some great photo opportunities. The trail is a wide, flat, and very short loop that even the weakest members of your group can probably tolerate. (Don't expect a real hike on this one. It's more of an easy stroll.) If you don't have the time or the desire to go deep into the forest or get dirty at all, this is the best way to see how truly magnificent the redwoods can be.

To get to Damnation Creek Trail, you'll have to follow a short bit of the Coastal Trail (which…read morefollows the old Highway 101). It's a fun descent to the ocean, over some little bridges and through some high brush at times. Time your hike with the tides. If you reach the trail's end at low tide, you can scramble down the rocks to the rocky beach. There are succulents clinging to the rocky bluffs, wildflowers growing above the beach, and waves crashing on the seastacks. You can find tidepools with all kinds of sea life. Wear waterproof shoes. The hard part is the walk back. The hike is a dead end, and the first half is downhill. That means you'll be walking up hill (the hike begins/ends with a 1000-foot elevation) for the second leg of your hike, so pace yourself. But the views are well worth the effort. You can even cool off by walking a bit of the coastal trail when you're done. It covers part of the old highway, so it's flat and paved. In the spring there are some pretty wildflowers, too. One of my favorite hiking trails in the area.

Beautiful ending to a hike. By the time you get to the bottom (1000 ft) on the ocean, you just…read morewant to stay. However, the climb back will hit you. If you jump into the stream it refreshes you and gets you ready for the hike back up. Takes about 2 -3 hours on a decent pace. Make sure you head down. Don't make a left or right. You will see a sign that says 1.7 miles and dead end. Follow that one. Wear hiking shoes, it gets slippery. I wouldn't do it if it was raining. It can be dangerous.

The Yurok Loop Trail, a little known, gem of a trail, is a short, easy 1 mile loop trail with some…read moreoutstanding ocean views. The trail head is in the Lagoon Creek Picnic Area on the west side of 101. Coming from the south, It is just short of 7 miles north of the Klamath River bridge off Highway 101. From the north it is just south of Hidden Beach. The trailhead can be found at the north end of the Laguna Creek picnic area, which has lots of parking and bathrooms. This is part of Redwood National Park; ironically, there are no redwoods on this trail - but plenty of other beauty to compensate. The trail was pretty from the start: we immediately found ourselves in a mini alder forest that was very picture-worthy. After just a couple minutes, you come to the first trail junction and go left across a bridge that goes over Lagoon Creek. We proceeded up the trail, and soon saw the first of several gorgeous ocean views on our right. Again very shortly, you'll come to another fork in the trail. This is the beginning of the loop and the end of your hike will come back to this spot. We stayed to the right, and quickly emerged to an open ocean viewing spot. This is the best Ocean viewing spot on the trail, and we commandeered a broken down bench and had lunch with the best ocean views of our vacation. After lunch we continued down the trail, and soon reached a junction with the Coastal Trail. Here we turned left to continue our loop back to the parking lot. The Yurok trail at this point goes downhill and is a little overgrown - we had to bat away overhanging vines quite a few times. But you move through a lovely forest with many Sitka Spruce. The loop trail ends at the junction, which is where you started at. Go right, recross Lagoon Creek bridge, and return to the parking lot.

Beautiful spot right of the highway Clifford Kamph Memorial Park has gorgeous sunset views that…read morewill not disappoint. This was about 8:45pm 7/4/2022 just gorgeous

Been coming here my entire life and this place just isn't what it used to be. Days before my trip I…read morehad stumbled on someone's review explaining the tweaker situation, but brushed it off. However, when my family and I had arrived on 7/17/16, the first thing we noticed was a group of people staying way, way back in the brush. They had a couple tents up at the site, but behind them were many more. I instantly got an uneasy feeling because I could clearly see that they were living there. They most certainly looked comfy. While unloading the car the people conveniently were going to their vehicles and watching us do our thing. We stayed at the very last site on the right, aka the furthest one from them. That night, however, this large group of people got loud. And do I mean loud! One of them even stumbled into our lamp with a lantern explaining that she had lost her cigarettes and thought she left them at our camp and started looking around. I told her we found no such thing and I'd let her know if I came across them. Around 11pm I had to run to my car and grab a jacket, and while walking there two of those people were sitting on a table two spots away from us, drinking and smoking, and what I presume was eves dropping. They scared the absolute hell out of me when I walked by. Then, on my way back from the car, one of them approached me in pure darkness and exclaimed "if any of you ladies need anything, let me know." Um, creeper. What was gonna be a three night trip turned into 11 hours. We left the next morning because we didn't feel comfortable leaving our stuff alone. While we were packing the next morning, members of that group would walk by and examine us closely. It was just insane. Aside from the weirdos, however, the "camp host" is a joke and is obviously there for the money. Getting down the beach now is a pain in the ass. The bridge that you cross to get to the sand practically broke in half and is now blocked off. To get down you basically have to go through someone's camp, down a steep flight of stairs, and pray that you don't slip down the rocks you have to maneuver down. This camp site used to be wonderful and I have so many fun memories here. Hopefully some day it can get back to what it once was. It's still a gorgeous beach, though!

This is a great campground! I come here every year in June to celebrate this one birthday. I also…read morecame camping here about a year ago. River bar here is so nice. This would be a great place for river surfing. I love everything about this campground.

Nice spot right on the river. It is not a big campground so it's not crowded long and thin mostly…read moreat tent camping location not a place for your big RV hard to be able to turn your big rig around because the roads are narrow. It sat in a groove of big mature redwoods, which are breathtaking. You could put your tent right underneath them. Picnic tables and fire rings with grills flashing bathrooms no showers. It's around $20 a night. There is a road running behind the campground, so there is some noise from traffic, but it's not a heavily traveled road, so the noise is minimal. There are houses on the other side of the river, but they are far enough away so you don't really notice them the river is fairly shallow and very slow moving and clear. It's a great place to swim even for kids because it's not flowing dangerously. This is the second time we've went to this campsite and we usually stay a couple days when we're here Crescent city it's about 15 minutes away with everything you need as far as food, liquor, camping supplies, etc. it's close to the coast so coastal weather affects this place, but it is usually far enough inland where the fog is not a problem. Note : crescent city in my opinion is not very nice, populated by less then desirable people. Major prison in area seems fitting. Homeless at grocery stores. Watch your stuff. It's also what is now a trump loving area.

I loved it here. There are many ways to explore the redwoods but having something off the side of…read morethe road with easy access and a skywalk and gondola was super convenient. There's a large gift shop with anything you'd need as well as a museum of Native American information and artifacts. One cool thing is that they had a couple of bathrooms in the woods. This is major for people with kids or who drink way too much coffee and need to go to the bathroom a lot. I just liked exploring. The skywalk was great, I loved being high up and feeling like I was one with the forest. That being said it was more wobbly than I thought. Other than it being hard to walk and take pictures at the same time, it wasn't a big deal but for anyone that is slightly afraid of heights or doesn't have good balance I wouldn't recommend because it's long and you are stuck up there having to finish. You aren't allowed to pass people. The front has beautiful landscaping. It had many colorful flowers and a small dahlia garden as well as dahlias lining the front. It looks like it is very well maintained, I'm into flowers and I could see coming out here just to take pictures of the dahlias.

The gift shop had many souvenir options. The store was very large! The staff were very kind. I…read morerecommend stopping here for your souvenirs needs/wants. I would revisit! Side note: I gave 4 stars instead of 5 because their prices are pretty high.

The lighthouse was built in 1882 on an area of exposed rock seven miles off shore of Point St…read more George. You can see it from the Point St. George parking and beach trails area west of the Del Norte County Regional Airport in Crescent City (the northwest corner of California) The only way to physically access the lighthouse is via a six minute helicopter flight. The lighthouse stands 144 feet above the ocean water line, of which the actual granite lighthouse structure raises 72 feet above the concrete base. St. George Lighthouse is completely surrounded by the Pacific Ocean. This is an AAA+ history lesson & one of a kind lighthouse experience. It is worth the helicopter ride !!

Standing on the beach, you can see for miles in every direction. Lots of walking paths, some days…read moreare sunny with high in the lower 60's. Lots of people looking for calms. A fun place.

Amazing National Forest, full of scenic drives, endless stands of trees, beautiful rivers, and…read moretruly unique plants. The purpose of my visit was to see the Darlingtonia Bog, home of one of California's carniverous plants: the California Pitcherplant. The trail to the Bog was clearly marked and easy to access. Free admission and free parking. Be careful and follow instructions to protect these incredible plants.

Beautiful place to live! Great for vacationing as well but I feel lucky to live here for sure.read more