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This awesome part of the Northern California Coast has the tallest trees on Earth and is a fantastic place for camping.
Campgrounds in the parks are put in really pretty spots. Campers can arrange their tents or park their RVs in the middle of amazing redwood forests surrounded by really old trees.
Sleeping under these super tall redwoods, which are related to the ones around when dinosaurs ruled, feels like going back to ancient times.
There are a bunch of parks together, like Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Redwoods Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods Park. They go along the coast and have four organized campgrounds and some backcountry sites.
Up northeast of Jedediah Smith, along Highway 199, you'll find a few peaceful campgrounds in the Six Rivers National Forest. Or, if you're in Klamath, a town right in the middle but outside the parks, there's a privately run RV park.
In the park, there are campsites you can reserve or grab on a first-come, first-served basis. All the areas have picnic tables, fire pits, and bear lockers for your food. You can reserve sites for up to 30 days, but in the summer, it's 15 days max.
For all the info and cool ideas on where to camp, check out our top list of the best camping and campgrounds in Redwood National and State Parks.
Best Place for Coastal Redwoods for Camping
Up in Humboldt County, California, the North Coast is a special place with lots of tall trees. People often call it a forest Eden because it's home to 45 percent of the last old-growth redwoods in California.
These trees at Humboldt Redwoods Park are super tall, with the biggest one reaching almost 380 feet – that's even taller than the Statue of Liberty!
You can take hikes and explore the area, or if you prefer, hop on the SkyTrail gondola in the middle of the park for an amazing treetop view.
Don't forget to drive down the beautiful 32-mile Avenue of the Giants, where you might see some albino redwoods surviving with the help of healthy trees. And if you go to the, you can see these majestic trees covered in cool, low-lying fog right on the continent's edge.
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Best Redwoods Camping and Campgrounds Near Coasts
Camping in the tall trees at Redwood National and State Parks is a unique experience. If you want to enjoy the trips, it's a good idea to make a reservation at reservecalifornia.com, especially between Memorial Day and Labor Day when campsites are in high demand.
1. Mill Creek Campground
Grown among big pine trees, leafy trees, and large roots from the old logging days in the 1920s, this cool campsite in Del Norte Coast Redwoods Park has cool spots with a visitor center in a super amazing place.
It's about two miles away from the main highway (101), tucked in a foresty spot, and is the biggest campsite in the Redwood National and even State Parks. Even though it's big, it's usually quiet and calm, feeling like a true backcountry place.
The camping places are really private, surrounded by trees, ferns, and big tree stumps. Some areas need a short walk from your car, sometimes upstairs to a carved-out spot in the thick forest, all blocked off from the road and other spots.
These spots can fit trailers up to 27 feet and RVs up to 31 feet. You can book a spot up to six months before on a rolling date basis. If you're camping in the summer, it's smart to get a reservation.
Even though the campsite is closer to the north end of the parks, it's a great home base. You can explore Jedediah and Del Norte Coast Redwoods Parks one day and then check out Prairie Creek Redwoods Park and Redwood National Park to the south the next day.
2. Jedediah Smith Redwoods Campground
In this amazing park, the Jedediah Smith Campground has 86 family sites and some fire rings. Some have room for trailers or RVs.
It's all about where it is, by the pretty Smith River with its greenish-blue color and in an ancient redwood forest. There's even a bridge that lets you get to Stout Grove during certain times of the year.
3. Elk Prairie Campground
In the Prairie Creek area, there's a cool redwood forest and awesome trails for hiking right from the campground.
The campground has different spots. If you pick sites 71 to 76 close to the highway, you'll be near a big open field with a view of the road. Some folks may not like the noise, but you might spot elk in the field, and at night, you can see lots of stars.
For a quieter spot, try sites 18 to 26 toward the back. These sites are surrounded by big, old redwood trees. Along Prairie Creek, there are also nice sites that curve around.
4. Gold Bluffs Beach Campground
A cool place to check out in this area is the Fern Canyon Trail, which is part of the James Irvine Trail. It's a short, flat path that takes you along a riverbed through a narrow canyon with walls covered in ferns.
Lots of folks come to the park just to explore this canyon. Keep in mind that starting in 2022, you need a permit to go there, and you can get it online for free, but you have to get it beforehand.
Most spots in the area are wide open with no trees, great if you love the sun on a nice day but not so good if it gets windy.
If you're camping at Gold Bluffs Beach Campground, know that there are only 26 sites, and they're good for tents or small RVs up to 24 feet. Trailers are a no-go.
The campground has hot showers, flush toilets, and showers but no hookups or dump stations. Keep your tent secure if it gets windy!
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5. Abalone Campground
Abalone Campground is the biggest one in Sue-meg State Park (it used to be Patrick's Point State Park).
You'll find it near the park entrance, close to Palmer's Point and Abalone Point. The trails from the campground take you to awesome views like Rocky Point, Patrick's Point, and Wedding Rock.
There are 70 campsites, all shady and nicely spaced out. Seven are just for tents, and the others can fit small RVs, trailers, and tents. If you're into hiking and biking, there's a special campsite near the Bishop Pine Group, a Picnic Area, and also at Patrick's Point.
6. Mystic Forest RV Park
If you can't find a spot to camp in the park or want more comfort, check out Mystic Forest RV Park. It's halfway through the park system, only five miles from Klamath village, making it super convenient. They have 30 RV sites that can handle big rigs, all with water, sewer, electricity (30 amp), and cable TV.
The park has cool stuff like a gift shop, grocery store, clubhouse, laundry, mini-golf, showers, and toilets.
Plus, nearby, there's Trees of Mystery with a gondola, trails, a museum, and giant wood carvings. It's a great alternative for a comfy camping experience!
Top 3 Places to See Redwoods
People still live where ancient Western men used to reside. The ancient coastal redwoods and giant sequoias have been around for thousands of years, with some towering trees being there when Columbus sailed the seas.
Coastal redwoods, or giant sequoias, only grow naturally in the foggy, damp areas of California and a bit in Southern Oregon. Giant sequoias specifically thrive in higher areas on the western side of the Sierra Nevada.
1. North Coast, Humboldt County, California
The leader right now is super tall, almost 380 feet! That's 75 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. You can go on hikes or ride the SkyTrail gondola in the middle of the park at the crescent city.
There's also a cool 32-mile drive called the Avenue of the Giants. Look out for albino redwoods surviving with help from healthy trees. Go to the to see the trees covered in fog on the edge of the continent.
2. Southern Oregon
People often love the Oregon coast for its rocky shores and thick forests hanging on the cliffs. Here's another great reason to go there! Right past the California-Oregon border, you'll discover a peaceful 1.7-mile loop that takes you through one of the two old-growth redwood groves in the state.
About 18 miles to the north, it is filled with trees reaching up to 250 feet high. The biggest ones are believed to be around 800 years old.
3. San Francisco and Oakland
You can find Redwoods in different places, like a small group near the Transamerica Building in San Francisco's busy Financial District or at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, just 30 minutes away from downtown.
In the Oakland Hills, there's a calming 5.4-mile stretch called the, with babbling water and lush second-growth redwood groves for people to enjoy.
Across the bay, majestic redwoods can be found in the Hoover Redwood Grove. In there is a short, small grove where, in 2019, 75 redwood saplings were planted. These saplings were cloned from ancient tree stumps, hoping they'll grow up to 300 feet or more, just like the old ones.
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Summary
At any of these parks and campgrounds, you can see the Pacific Ocean if you hike up enough or low. Some of them are developed campgrounds with easy access and some awesome biking trails.
The best places are open year-round, like some at California Stae Parks, backcountry campsites, and Jedidiah Smith State Park.
in the summer months, up in Northern California, Redwood National Park takes care of a huge area filled with coast redwood trees—the biggest trees on the planet.
The park works together with three nearby California State Parks: Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creek. All of them together make the Redwood National and State Parks (RNSP), kind of like one big team.