Forest for the Trees
See the World's Tallest Treest in Humboldt County at Redwood National Park
The world’s tallest trees can be seen in only one place: California. Specifically, Humboldt County in the far reaches of northern California. The county is a boon of rugged coastal beauty, wildlife like Roosevelt elk, canyons frilled by dewy ferns and trickling waterfalls, and yes—the tallest trees on the planet.
The marquee hike for seeing the trees is at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park (located within Redwood National and State Parks). There’s an 11-mile semi-loop hike that’s got all the greatest hits, and though it’s a long hike (there are shorter options) it’s not super strenuous. But it is magical!
Start and finish on the James Irvine Trail, with an amphitheater of mighty coastal redwoods nearly the entire time as you wander beside Godwood Creek and Home Creek. The trees bathe in both sun and coastal mist as you crane your neck to look wayyy up at them.
Halfway through the hike you can get to Fern Canyon, popularly known as the “Jurassic Park hike” because some scenes from Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World were filmed here. Hulking canyon walls are draped in green ferns so lush they appear almost neon, while tiny oases spill into the riverbed.
Return from this detour on the James Irvine Trail.
TIP: Back at the trailhead, take some time to visit nearby meadows to see if you can spot the resident Roosevelt elk. Please keep your distance to give these magnificent creatures space in their home and freedom to roam.
BONUS: 2024 is the “Year of the California Grizzly Bear” thanks to a recent state resolution. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the last known sighting of a grizzly bear in California’s Sequoia National Park. At the Academy of Sciences’ new exhibition, California: State of Nature, you can now see Monarch, “California’s last grizzly bear” in public view. This magnificent mounted specimen is a symbol of a significant story in California’s history and offers a unique opportunity to understand the grizzly bear’s importance to Indigenous populations, and how ecosystems were impacted by the mass extinction of the grizzlies.
