On the way from Crater Lake, we stopped in the town of Grant’s Pass, Oregon to restock at the local Walmart and eat our favorite authentic Oregon Mexican cuisine, Taco Bell. The journey from Grant’s Pass, OR to Crescent City, CA was 2 hours of windy roads along highway 199 in the dark. As we approached Crescent City, the trees along the road grew as wide as cars and the highway seems to bend to avoid the trees. This was our first view of the Redwood giants.
Redwood National and State Parks is a combination of 3 areas: Jedediah Smith, Prairie Creek, and Redwood National. This was the first time that the RV inhibited our experience. The roads leading to the desired hikes in Jedediah Smith were dirt roads that didn’t allow RV, so we were forced to bypass this section and head to Prairie Creek. Again, one of the “must see” areas was only accessed through a road not accessible to RVs… but, could be accessed via a 10-mile hike from the visitor’s center. This is where all of our training would pay off. To access the legendary Fern Canyon, location of scenes from Jurassic Park 2, we would have to hike 3 miles longer than our longest hike. After a family discussion, the vote was 2-1. We were going to see Fern Canyon. The James Irvine Trail to Fern Canyon was awesome. The 5 mile out and back followed a scenic stream through miles of massive old growth redwoods. Fern Canyon did not disappoint.
After completing the hike, we relaxed on the beach at lookout point, facetimed Grandma and Grandpa, and let Bryce enjoy some well-deserved time to run around and chase sand crabs. We camped at Patrick’s Point State Park before embarking on the long road to Lassen Volcanic National Park.
