Redwood National Parks

Long day today exploring the Redwood National Parks. It's a collection of three State parks and one National Park, covering areas of California redwood trees. These are the tallest trees on earth, reaching up to 120m in height which is just crazy. They're more slender than the giant sequoia trees though.

Prior to European settlement these trees covered much of the Pacific northwest, but their timber is excellent and they were enthusiastically logged. So much so that it's estimated over 95% of the trees standing in 1850 have since been felled. Most of the remaining ones are protected inside these parks.

Our first stop though was 20 minutes north, at the Oregon border. We weren't really going into Oregon, we just crossed over and had a brief look around at the first coastal viewpoint. Both found it amusing that a marijuana store was located as literally the first building on the Oregon side of the border, about 20 metres from California. Although it's now legal in California, it's been legal for much longer in Oregon.

Back down the coast, we stopped at various points of interest around the parks. A large grove dedicated by President Johnson's wife, a few particularly special trees, interesting drives and lookouts, etc. Quite nice, and thankfully we had reasonable weather for it as well - a bit overcast but not raining.

Late in the day we made the long drive back north to Crescent City where we were staying, which we'll have to repeat again tomorrow.Read more