Places to Go
Hotels Redwood |
National Park Redwood Information
Inn of the Beachcomber Gold Beach Oregon
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This page about the redwoods and Redwood National & State Parks is for the guests of the Inn of the Beachcomber and those of you that found it in cyber space. The Beachcomber is a 47 unit inn located on the beach in Gold Beach Oregon. We are 53 miles from the Redwood National Parks headquarters in Crescent City, California and all that the coastal redwoods have to offer.
Redwood National Park & State Parks
Redwood National Park Lodging, Beachfront Lodging Gold Beach
If you aren’t from around here the first thing to know about Redwood National Park, and the other Redwood Parks, either California State Redwood Parks or Redwood National Parks, the redwoods is just as simple as it’s not one area or limited to one park. The Redwoods are an eco system that spans from southern Oregon deep into California. It is state land, federal land and private lands all in the same eco system. Redwood National Park Headquarters is in Crescent City, California which in about 52 miles from here, The Inn of the Beachcomber in Gold Beach Oregon. If you were coming from the south by the time you got to Crescent City you would have seen a whole bunch of redwoods. I’m not sure of the history of how Crescent City became the center of the redwoods when the facts show it could almost be at the end. Eureka is a larger city, has a state university and is in the middle of the national park redwood complex. There aren’t really many lodging choices in the redwood park complex. No Redwood National Park Hotels, no famous redwoods lodge like Crater Lake National Park. Eureka, California is the largest city in the complex and it has no oceanfront lodging. This makes Gold Beach with its 5 beachfront properties a logical stop-off for exploring the tallest trees in the world.
Hotels in the Redwoods
Redwood Hostel
For 22 years, the Redwood National Park Hostel (HI)—the only lodging available in Redwood National and State Parks—accommodated travelers from around the world. On January 18, 2010, however, the hostel closed its doors indefinitely due to a lack of available funding for necessary repairs to the historic former pioneer homestead.
As of January 18, 2010, there are no lodging facilities available in Redwood National and State Parks. Numerous camping opportunities are available, however. After leaving the Beachcomber I would look for lodging in Eureka or Fort Bragg as choices heading south. Most people have never really seen the California Northern Coast. The drive up from San Francisco on Hwy 101 is away from the ocean most of the way. If you are looking for a great drive and you like remote the drive through Fort Bragg through Mendocino and on to Jenner is pretty darn cool and is a great way to experience the forgotten California Northern Coast. There is not a lot of beachfront lodging in California, Eureka has none. As far as California, Fort Bragg hotels and motels are located on the beach and are fairly numerous. When I went to Fort Bragg a couple of years ago I ended up off the beach at a national chain on the highway. I will try to get some motel and Fort Bragg Hotel information organized here soon.
Redwood Park HQ Crescent City
To get started on the Redwoods you have to think of them as a large eco system that exists in a humid rain forest that gets lots of its moisture from fog. Temperatures range from 40 to 60 degrees year round along the redwood coastline. The Redwoods rely on the fog that envelops the coast in the summer. Summers are usually mild with warmer temperatures inland which helps create the coastal fog. Winters are cool, not cold, with lots of precipitation. The National Park Redwood site says “Redwood National and State Parks reside in the North Coast of California and Oregon. The North Coast is a loosely defined region from about Ukiah, CA inland and Fort Bragg, CA on the coast, extending to Josephine County in Oregon. When travelling on Highway 101 south to north, you'll notice a distinct change in vegetation from California oak woodlands to the Douglas-fir/coast redwood forests and a very moist climate.”
That’s the big deal with the National Park and the Redwoods you could drive all the way from Josephine County Oregon to Ukiah, California, about 330 miles and see all the Redwood National & State Parks. It’s not the Grand Canyon National Park-one park. It's 330 miles if you’re from the east coast that’s like driving from New York City to Richmond Virginia. Five states and the District of Columbia or the center of the Yankee North to the stronghold of the confederate South. To make a point of the eco system, you can find redwoods down in the Santa Cruz area at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Any way, enough about the logistics of Redwood National Park, Redwood state parks and the eco systems. The trees are unreal and I wish more people could find their way to see the wonder that the redwoods are.
I bought the Beachcomber in August of 2005. In August of 2004 I stayed at the Beachcomber on a long weekend and spent a day at Redwood National Park and did this drive. Not a quick drive but we all had a great time and felt we were seeing things that most of mankind hadn’t seen. Remember to take snacks and drinks.
Good Links
www.shannontech.com/ParkVision/Redwood/Redwood.html#introduction
www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/things2do.htm
Map Links
www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/upload/REDWmap5North.pdf
www.nps.gov/redw/planyourvisit/upload/REDWmap6South.pdf
Links to Redwood State Parks
Jedediah Smith Redwood SP www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=413
Del Norte Coast Redwood SP www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=414
Humboldt Redwoods State Park www.humboldtredwoods.org
Prairie Creek Redwood SP www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=415
Link to Redwood National Park
www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm
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