Active Pursuits

Beaches, Whale-Watching & Bird-Watching

The park's beaches vary from long, white-sand strands to cobblestone pocket coves. The water temperature is in the high 40s to low 50s (low 10s Celsius) year-round; it's often rough, so swimmers and surfers should be prepared for adverse conditions.

Crescent Beach is a long sandy beach 2 miles south of Crescent City that's popular with beachcombers, surf fishermen, and surfers. Just south of Crescent Beach is Endert's Beach, a protected spot with a hike-in campground and tide pools at the southern end of the beach.

High coastal overlooks (such as Klamath and Crescent Beach overlooks) make great whale-watching outposts during the southern migration in December and January and the return migration in March and April. The northern sea cliffs also provide valuable nesting sites for marine birds like auklets, puffins, murres, and cormorants. Birders will thrill at the park's freshwater lagoons as well. These coastal lagoons are some of the most pristine shorebird and waterfowl habitats left, and they're chock-full of hundreds of different species.

Hiking

The park's official map and guide, available at any of the information centers, provides a fairly good layout of hiking trails within the park. Regardless of how short or long your hike may be, dress warmly and bring plenty of water and sunscreen. Pets are prohibited on all of the park's trails.

The most popular walk is the short, heavily traveled Fern Canyon Trail, which leads to a lush grotto of lady, deer, chain, sword, five-finger, and maidenhair ferns clinging to 50-foot-high vertical walls divided by a brook. It's only about a 1.5-mile walk from Gold Bluffs Beach, but be prepared to scramble across the creek several times on your way via small footbridges.

The Lady Bird Johnson Grove Loop is an easy, 1-hour self-guided tour that loops 1 mile around a glorious lush grove of mature redwoods. It's the site where Mrs. Johnson dedicated the national park in 1968. The Yurok Loop Nature Trail at Lagoon Creek is also an easy trek. The 1-mile self-guided trail gradually climbs to the top of a rugged sea bluff (with wonderful panoramic views of the Pacific) before looping back to the parking lot. If someone's willing to act as shuttle driver, have him or her meet you at the Requa Trail Head and take the 4-mile coastal trail to the mouth of the Klamath. And for the whiner in your group, there's Big Tree Trail, a quarter-mile paved trail leading to a big tree.

Tall Trees Trail leads to one of the world's tallest trees -- perhaps 365 feet tall, 14 feet in diameter, and more than 600 years old. It was once touted as the world's tallest tree, but new candidates keep getting discovered, and this proud giant has lost a couple of feet to time. Now, who knows? It's still worth it to see the contender. Go to the Redwood Information Center near Orick for a free map and permit to drive to the trail head. The park issues 50 permits per day, on a first-come, first-served basis. After driving to the trail head, walk a steep 1.3 miles down into the grove. The trail is 3.3 miles round-trip.

Wildlife Viewing

One of the most striking aspects of Prairie Creek Redwood State Park is its 200- to 300-strong herd of Roosevelt elk, usually found in the Elk Prairie, at the southern end of the park. These beasts can weigh 1,000 pounds, and the bulls carry huge antlers from spring to fall. You can also spot elk at Gold Bluffs Beach; it's a rush to come upon them out of the fog or after a turn in the trail. Nearly 100 black bears also call the park home, but they're seldom seen. Unlike the bears at Yosemite and Yellowstone, these are still afraid of people. Keep them that way by giving them a wide berth, observing food-storage etiquette while camping, and disposing of garbage properly.