Exploring some of the tallest and oldest trees in the world
You can’t go to California and miss out on exploring one of the many amazing parks showcasing the Redwood trees. Not only are they the tallest trees on earth (reaching up to 300 feet), they are nearly as old as the dinosaurs (over 250 million years)! These stunning trees are honestly something that I found very difficult to capture in photos and are truly best experienced in person.
*If your attention span is like MINE, you can instead watch this short 60 second video on my Tiktok that summarizes the great views.
That being said, I’ll do my best! One thing to set straight is where to go to see the Redwoods. There are actually several state parks and a national park devoted to the Redwoods, so there are plenty of opportunities. While they all, of course, have different unique trees to see, in a way they are also all very similar in showcasing these forests. You can’t really go wrong with which park you pick.
My explorations were focused on Prairie State Park. I was not disappointed with the variety of trails to explore here, and there is plenty to keep you busy in a day. I also took a brief tour through the Avenue of Giants, as well as Jedediah Smith State Park.
While in these areas, you are bound to see advertisements for Tree Tunnels, all of which are privately owned and outside of the parks. It is a worthwhile experience to check one out (I went to the Klamath Tour Thru Tree).
If you’re looking for lodging suggestions, I was very happy with The Historic Requa Inn, which is a mere 10 minutes north of Prairie State Park. It is also about 5 minutes east of the coast, which presents plenty of other activities to do (with several beaches nearby like Endert Beach). The one downside was having very few food options. The best spot for food was to go about 30 minutes north to the town of Crescent City - a good sized city with standard fast food and dining options. Otherwise, the nearby town of Klamath was very limited. The only restaurant we liked (and admittingly we DID like it a lot) was Forest Cafe. This is just 5 minutes north of Requa Inn. It is also right next to the Trees of Mystery, an interesting-looking experience where you can walk around IN the treetops of Redwoods. Due to poor planning, I didn’t manage to have this experience; however, I plan to check it out the next time I am here.
On a side note, this is just one of many stops I took during my Great Western American Road Trip. You can learn more about that full trip here for tips on other iconic parks like Death Valley, Redwoods, and Yellowstone:
Read about that amazing journey
With that being said, you really can choose any of the state parks to make as your destination and enjoy hiking through these amazing trees! Here are some of my favorite images. Like I said in the beginning, it can be difficult to capture the scale of these trees in images but I did my best with various focal points for perspective - such as trails/roads or benches and figures.
Dirt road through Redwoods at Jedediah Smith State Park
Ferns on the path
Hiking through the woods at Prairie Creek State Park
Roadside mossy giant
Beach views from Klamath River Overlook
Mossy fence at Tour Thru Tree
Redwood Bark Detail
Mossy trees on the path
Redwoods through boardwalk
Endless clovers
Path winding through the forest
Hiker on the trail
Eerie opening into Redwood
Looking up at the sky
Mossy tree trunk by the path
Redwood by regular-sized trees
Elk by Visitors Center
Beautiful spring flowers by the beach
About the Author
Founder and visual artist, specializing in all aspects of a businesses presence from imagery and video to graphics and web. A graduate of IPFW with a Bachelor in Fine Arts, Concentration Photography as well as an Associates Degree in Business. His personal photography works are focused on landscape, travel, and aerial photography.