For the longest time, it has been a personal desire to visit Eureka and the Redwoods in northern California. They are not particularly easy places to get to, but this trip was our chance. We left our rig in Redding and got a room mid-way between Eureka and Redwood NP.
It turns out that Eureka really is cool. Although a bit touristy, it has a funky tilt that you kind expect from a California coast town. The city has origins in the gold rush, timber, and fishing that led to prosperity in the late 19th century. It has a number of beautiful buildings and mansions that were built during that time, many of which have been fully restored. Today, it has a nice waterfront, good restaurants, inns, and shops.
The redwood forests are protected by a combination of four parks that include Redwood NP and three California State Parks that all work together. We spent most of our time in the National Park, but also visited Prairie Creek State Park as well.
Only 5% of the original CA redwoods still exist, the remainder were lost to logging. The National and State parks protect a third of what’s left, but what is left is magnificent. The trees can be as old 200 years and as tall as 300 feet. While we were there, there weren’t many people at the park and when we walked through the forest, the “quiet and solitude” was astounding.
We had lunch at the Klamath River Overlook which looks down at where the river meets the Pacific Ocean. The view was dynamic and beautiful as the fog rolled in from the ocean. It was surprising (to we east-coasters) how thick fog comes off the ocean at any time of day, completely blankets the shoreline, and rapidly disappears a mile away.
Our last hike was on the renowned Fern Canyon Trail. It takes you down a fern-covered canyon with a running stream where you must walk through stream or over wood debris to complete the hike. The overall effect was like walking though time. Apparently others came to that same conclusion, as Jurassic Park II was filmed there.
