Prairie Creek
Redwoods State Park
Redwoods, beaches, elk, and the world's most extensive old-growth redwood trail system
Gold Bluffs Beach
The centerpiece of Prairie Creek is a grassy meadow surrounded by giant redwoods standing heroically in the misty coastal sunshine. A herd of Roosevelt elk often grazes languidly on the golden prairie. Nearby, elk wallow in tidal rivers as waves wash up on wide and empty beaches under redwood-capped bluffs.
The park is remarkably intact. In Prairie Creek, as nowhere else, visitors can appreciate the redwood forest without having to imagine what it was like before the loggers. Nowhere else is there such a large swath of old-growth redwoods with a trail system that lets you see it.
Prairie Creek is also the lushest of the old-growth redwood parks. The park is unusual in that, because of its abundant rainfall, huge redwoods grow throughout the entire park, not just along the creeks - although the redwoods are still best along the creeks. Under the redwoods, a deep and unbroken lawn of ferns gives the forest a manicured, garden-like appearance. There seems to be something green on every surface: lichens hang from branches overhead, moss covers every rock, and fallen trees have other trees growing on top of them. The forest seems to consist entirely of soft pastel browns and greens with a gentle fuzzy appearance. Through breaks in the canopy, you might catch glimpses, of distant trees towering toward the sky.
The most impressive woodlands in the park are to be found lining Prairie Creek and several tributary streams that flow into Prairie Creek. This creek runs north-south in an 800 foot deep valley. This valley is sheltered from tree-toppling winter storms by West Ridge, but summer fog can still flow into the valley from the south. Even the tributary creeks such as Godwood Creek and Brown Creek become increasingly scenic as they approach within a half-mile of Prairie Creek. Magnificent redwoods are everywhere and every inch of the forest seems to drip with greenery. Fallen trees have turned into dense gardens with ferns and trees fighting for space on the decaying logs. The rich, primieval look of this forest, especially when seen in the dim light of late afternoon, is like no other.
Fern Canyon
Prairie Creek lacks a "main attraction" alluvial-flat loop hike to serve as a focal point and bring in visitors. The most popular attraction is Fern Canyon, which is the only part of the park that can get busy. Even on summer weekends the rest of the park is never particularly busy, and in the winter you can spend an entire weekend on the trail without seeing even one other hiker.
The one problem with the park is that most of its longer trails run parallel to Drury Parkway, running along a ridge or along Prairie Creek for their entire length. These trails (West Ridge, Prairie Creek, Foothill, and Rhododendron) can get monotonous since the environment changes very little over the length of the trail. Instead of taking one long hike, it's much more enjoyable to combine short segments of ridge and valley trails into short loops, and take several of these short hikes in different parts of the park. The Miners' Ridge and James Irvine loop is a notable exception and is a great all-day hike with plenty of variety.
During winter storms, even mild ones, Drury Parkway is often closed for the day. If the parkway is closed you won't be able to reach many of the park's trails like the Brown Creek loop and the Hope Creek loop. On the other hand, it's a great opportunity to hike the Prairie Creek and Foothill Trails without the usual traffic noise.
The Visitor Center
Old-growth redwood hikes
***** Miners' Ridge and James Irvine (11.6 miles)
Perhaps the world's best redwood hike, this loop takes you through spectacular redwood forest, over wild and scenic Gold Bluffs beach, between the sheer fern-covered walls of Fern Canyon, and finally through the lush Godwood Creek Valley.
**** The Brown Creek Loop (3.5 miles)
The Brown Creek Trail runs along a burbling creek through a shallow valley with the park's densest redwood forest. Isolated from the traffic noise of Drury Parkway and enclosed by the valley and the tree canopy, it almost feels like you're in a huge indoor garden designed for maximum beauty.
*** The Big Tree Loop (3.2 miles)
This easy loop through some of the park's best redwood forest goes from the Visitor Center to the Big Tree. You're never very far from the traffic noise of Drury Parkway, but it's a nice introduction to the park.
*** Ten Taypo and Hope Creek (3.5 miles)
The Ten Taypo Trail starts among impressive redwood lowlands and gradually climbs into less-impressive highlands. The Hope Creek Trail descends steeply back to the starting point.
*** Rhododendron and Cal Barrel (5.1 miles)
The Rhododendron Trail climbs through dense redwood forest, while Cal Barrel Road is a very nice dirt road that descends through outstanding redwoods.
*** West Ridge and Prairie Creek South (5.8 miles)
An outstanding hike that climbs into West Ridge's uplands, then descends to the big trees and the maples along Prairie Creek.
*** West Ridge and Rhododendron North (7.7 miles)
This loop features the northern portion of the Rhododendron Trail, which undulates over ridges and through valleys before descending to the incomparable Brown Creek.
*** The Friendship Ridge Trail (8.0 miles)
The loop starts with a stroll through open grasslands along the base of Gold Bluffs. The route then climbs into the redwoods, meandering along a convoluted hillside where redwoods grow from an unbroken sea of ferns. The hike ends with a walk through Fern Canyon.
** The Ah Pah Trail (0.6 miles)
A short stroll on an erased logging road that passes through exceptionally attractive redwoods. Interpretive signs describe how and why the road was removed.
** The Nature Trail (1.0 miles)
Much of the original Nature Trail has been closed, leaving a short loop that climbs above Prairie Creek and that can only be hiked in summer. The first half of the trail is very impressive, the second half less so. .
The Moorman-Pond Trail
Getting to Prairie Creek
The park is just off Highway 101 40 miles north of Arcata. To get to park headquarters, exit onto Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. To get to Fern Canyon, take Davison Road from the elk viewing area and drive 8 miles to the end of the gravel road. There is no fee to enter the park.
Printed trail maps
A trail map of Redwood National and State Parks, including Prairie Creek Redwoods, is available from Redwood Hikes Press. The printed trail map is almost the same as maps on this website, but without greyed-out trails.
Related websites
Weather
Activities
News
- A 70-year-old man hiking on the Brown Creek Trail was attacked by a mountain lion on January 24, 2007. Two mountain lions were later killed by park rangers. See this description at CougarInfo.org.
© 2006-9 David Baselt
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