Redwood National and State Parks

This one is an interesting one if you are interested in jurisdictional issues in natural resources management, and is also probably still interesting if you aren't. The Redwood National and State Parks are three California State Parks and one National Park located in Northern California, running from around Crescent City in the north to Orick in the South. The four parks are contiguous and jointly managed by the National Park Service and the California State Park services, but are still considered separate entities. The California State Parks, established in the 1920s and 1930s, are Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creek, while the National Park, established in 1968, is simply Redwoods National Park.

As the name would suggest, the main feature of the parks is the coastal Redwood forest. While Redwoods can grow from extreme southern Oregon to the Los Padres National Forest in Southern California, their ideal climate is the extreme Northern California coast: Del Norte, Humboldt and Mendocino counties. The Redwood National and State Parks are mostly in Del Norte county, with the southern part of the parks reaching into Humboldt County. They preserve some of the last old growth Coast Redwood forest. Within that, they also feature a variety of ecosystems: they reach all the way from the beaches and lagoons of the coast, up into the heights of the coast range. Although Redwoods like cool (but not cold) weather and plenty of humidity, there is much variation, with some growing in what amounts to swamps, while others grow on higher hillsides. This diversity of landscapes also means that there is a variety of activities possible for visitors, including hiking, camping, mountain bicycling, horseback riding and also beach combing and kayaking. The parks are cooperatively managed, and to the visitor, there is probably little difference which one someone chooses to visit (I had visited them before, without having an idea of their management structure). The parks are also very big, which is amplified with them being redwood forests: after about a half mile hiking into a Redwood forest, sounds and sights of the outside world are greatly dampened, and these parks allow people to hike for dozens of miles.

The parks are located alongside US Highway 101, and are quite easy to access from Crescent City. Their location is actually an interesting point, because the center of the Redwood ecosystem is located a bit further south, in Humboldt County. In general, environmental appreciation, and corresponding political and social views in favor of conversation, are also stronger in Eureka and Arcata than they are further north, yet those areas are a bit distant from the National Park. And for that matter, while the three state parks in the north are part of the complex, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, south of the Arcata/Eureka area along the Avenue of the Giants, is not. The particular location and jurisdiction of the parks is probably a result of historical accident more than anything.

When I lived in Humboldt County, I got to visit the parks several times, and I regret not taking advantage of the opportunity to go more often. If you ever get a chance to see the parks, it is an opportunity to be treasured.