The Coastal Trail

Last Chance Section

Length 13.0 mi · Climbing 2810 ft

California > Redwood National and State Parks > Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park

The faint trail climbs through mixed coastal woodland

Background

This trail just south of Crescent City follows the old route of the Redwood Highway. Much of the pavement is covered up and overgrown, but after the trail reaches the redwoods the pavement with its white center stripe is still visible.

None of the terrain seems to have been logged. The first three miles are under alder groves, with an occasional redwood, while the last three miles are under increasingly large redwoods. The ocean views are all blocked by trees, although you can catch hear the surf below and catch glimpses of the water.

Driving through Del Norte on Highway 101, you pass through some pretty impressive redwood forest with lots of monster trees, suggesting that the park has some pretty good old growth hiking. The Coastal Trail, although it's not far from the highway, doesn't quite deliver on the promise. Walking on a roadbed is always less engaging than walking on singletrack trail, since the width of the road separates you from the forest and also because roads are relatively straight and flat, with fewer curves to leave you wondering what's around the next bend. Also, on this particular road a fairly dense understory grows alongside the road and screens views of the trees. On the other hand, quite a bit of the understory is made up of rhododendron trees, and this is a prime area for viewing rhododendron blooms in May.

Directions

From the south, drive north on Highway 101 through Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. Descend past the Crescent City viewpoint and, just after reaching the bottom of the hill, turn left onto Enderts Beach Road. Continue along this road until it dead-ends at a parking lot.

From the north, drive south on Highway 101 through Crescent City. Just before the highway begins its climb into Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park, turn right on Enderts Beach Road. Continue along this road until it dead-ends at a parking lot.

Click map to enlarge; click again to show all trails and roads
Map excerpted from the Trail Map of Redwood National and State Parks (Redwood Hikes Press, 2009)

Hike description

The trail starts just at the end of Enderts Beach Road, where there's a parking lot. The trail is level at first, with some views of the ocean below. After an intersection with a trail to the beach, the Coastal Trail begins to climb steeply, switchbacking up a hillside covered in a sparse mixture of trees. The route then levels off and meanders through groves of white-barked alder trees. The trail is cut into the steep hillside high above the surf; despite a few sections where it's has been narrowed due to erosion or landslides, it doesn't feel dangerous. This section of the trail was slightly overgrown when I was there last and doesn't seem to get a lot of use.

There's a fine stand of old-growth redwoods along Damnation Creek

At about mile 3, the trail enters the redwood forest. This appears to be a natural boundary and not the result of logging, since the redwoods are at first small and rather plain-looking. The redwoods gradually get more impressive, and the forest gets darker and cooler. At one point the trail passes a gully where some large redwoods grow.

One of the highlights of the trail are the very impressive redwoods that grow around Damnation Creek. However, the big trees are restricted to a narrow band around the trickling creek. After crossing a footbridge, the trail widens into a double-tracked road with redwood sorrel growing in the median. The redwoods become a little more ordinary, but there are some nice views of attractive old growth above you on the hillside. Traffic noise from Highway 101 also begins to be audible after the creek crossing.

The trail just north of Damnation Creek

The road stays almost level as it meanders through the forest. A few hefty wooden mileposts sit by the side of the road. After a mile or so the woods become more and more impressive, and the best old-growth of the hike is to be found in the last half-mile before the Damnation Creek Trail. There are some great views downhill of a grove located on a less-steep section of the hill.