At Home With The Redwoods

In my previous posts, I shared some of the trails within the majestic ancient redwood forest and the gigantic redwood trees.

Redwood Highway ( parallel to the coast)

But Redwood National and State Parks is not all about the redwoods, despite the main attraction of course are these ancient tall trees. Right next to the redwood forest is the Pacific Ocean, and there is an amazing diversity of life that exists here.

Wildflowers Along Del Norte Coast, Redwood National Park

The diverse ecosystem here is recognized as both a World Heritage site and an International Biosphere Reserve. These designations reflects worldwide awareness of the parks' resources as irreplaceable, and as such they must be safeguarded. One may complain that the ocean here seldom reflects the blue color from the sky. Especially during the summer, the ocean here is as gray as it can be. The greyness is due to the dense coastal fogs.

Fern Canyon

Fern Canyon, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, CA

Fern Canyon, in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, still within the boundaries of Redwoods National and State Parks is one of the beautiful natural wonders in the area. If you noticed in most of my redwood pictures, there are a lot of ferns lining up the trail and also covering the ground. What is special about Fern Canyon is that some of the ferns clinging to the steep cliffs are ancient species whose ancestry can be tracked 325 million years ago. 

Experiencing the canyon felt like going back in time. I was not surprised to learn later that this canyon was used as location for The Lost World: Jurassic Park and BBC's Walking With Dinosaurs because of the pre-historic feel when we were traversing its trail.

The hike to Fern Canyon is on an easy almost flat trail, with very little change in elevation. It passes through a moss filled forest, though devoid of redwoods trees, but pretty on its own.

Hiker @ Fern Canyon Trail

Point Reyes National Seashore, CA

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes National Seashore is one of the beautiful nature escapes from San Francisco. We went here for a short day trip from San Francisco last spring 2007. Our day trip also included Muir Woods National Monument and Marin Headlands. Most of the pictures in my post about The Golden Gate Bridge is from Marin Headlands.

Coast Redwoods

Stout Grove Memorial Trail, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

Stout Grove Memorial Trail is the next ancient growth coastal redwoods trail we explored after the Simpson Reed Grove Trail, both of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in the Redwood National and State Parks area. The picture above may not look different from the pictures in the Simpson Reed Grove Trail, but definitely the experience was different. If Simpson Grove trailhead is right next to highway 199, the Stout Grove trailhead is 0.5 mile down the shoulder of Howland  Hill Road. Howland Hill Road is unpaved and amidst the woods. It was a one of a kind experience driving, squeezing between, and zigzagging through the woods. After parking at the dirt turn out, we had to descend 0.5 mile to the trailhead without seeing the redwood groves first, the trail almost parallel to the river. But after a half mile descent, the spectacular Stout Grove loop trail greets our hearts with a warm welcome, suddenly, the trail meanders on these giant and tall trees.

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Redwood National and State Parks, CA

In my older posts, I featured the awe inspiring Fern Canyon, part of Redwood National and State Parks, in Northern California which is both a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve. Fellow blogging friend Sharkbytes, a botanical enthusiast and a long distance hiker, showed interest in knowing what kind of ferns these are.

Fern Canyon, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Simpson Reed Grove Trail, Redwood National and State Parks

Simpson Reed Grove Trailhead, near Hwy 199

One of the parks we visited in our Klamath Region Circle of Parks trip is Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California. From Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, we drove South to Oregon Caves National Monument ( I'll feature Oregon Caves later ) and then continued Southwest to Redwoods National and State Parks.