Redwood national park is one of the must-visit parks at least once in your lifetime. If you are planning your travel to the park then you need all the information to make your trip memorable. This guide will help you plan your trip so that you have great memories that you can carry throughout your life.
Redwood national park is one of the 9 national parks in the state of California. It is located along the coast in the northern part of California. The park is famous for its giant trees and is one of the three national parks that have giant trees, the others being Sequoia national park in central California and Yosemite National park also in Central California. The tallest tree in the world is found in the redwood national park. The location of the tree is kept a secret to protect it.
Even though there are giant trees in all these parks the species of the tree are different. The redwood national park hosts the coastal redwood with the botanical name Sequoia Sempervirens. This park is also not as crowded as the other parks as it is located in the northern part of California which is a good 5 to 6 hours drive away from big cities like San Francisco and Sacramento.
When people are talking about the redwood national park they really mean redwood national and state parks which is basically 1 national park and 3 state parks combined together. The national park and the 3 state parks are a unique partnership between the national and state level parks. Together they protect more than half of old growth redwoods with a lot of history. Combined they cover an area of 139,000 acres. There is also another state park right before the national park in the south when going from San Francisco which should also be a part of your redwood national park trip. Below are the list of parks that should be part of your trip to the redwood national park.
- Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park
- Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
- Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
- Redwood National Park
- Humboldt Redwoods State Park
The parks have some of the oldest trees on earth and also the largest. This inspired many movies to be shot in here. Jurassic park was also shot here which signifies that this is a pre historic park. By visiting this park you enter an historic era. One clip that comes to mind would be in the second installment of the movie where Julian Moore is clicking pictures of some herbivore dinosaurs in a river bed where her camera starts rewinding which triggers the adults and they attack. If you remember it, then you are my favorite. You could possibly walk through this path to relive the Jurassic moment. More on that later.
Best time to visit Redwood National park
The park has decent weather all year round due to mild coastal temperatures. It also rains almost all year round with high percipitation in winter months and less percipitation in summer months. Due to the geographical region during summer you can expect to see fog rolling in most of the time.
Most people visit the park from May to September when the temperature averages between 15°C to 19°C. Since the park covers a lot of ground even during the peak the crowds are not as high as some other parks making it a good time to visit.
The park is open all year round and it offers something for each season so the best time to visit is all year round. Make sure to pack according to the time of your visit.
Best way to reach Redwood National Park
The best way to reach redwood national park is by driving. There are no shuttle buses in the park and it is also far away from international airports which means the local airports have less frequent planes and also higher cost. You can drive your own car or rent a car to help you travel to the park. You can also drive an RV through the park and there are campgrounds that could accommodate you well. For more details on reaching the park check this article.