Walking along a coastal bluff, gulls and sea lions cry amidst the sound of crashing breakers. A gray whale spouts occasionally in the vast blue waters below and wind whistles through the alders. Trails lead down to secluded beaches where the driftwood piles and ancient rocks hide crabs and sea stars.

Although RNSP is best known for its redwoods, the 70 miles (142 km) of Coastal Trail in the parks offers the adventurous hiker a different experience. Tidepool creatures, wet forests, and the Pacific coast await your exploration.

Day hikes and longer backpack trips may be done on the Coastal Trail. Permits are required at some backcountry camps and are available at the park visitor centers.

The Coastal Trail is nearly continuous in the parks; the one major detour is the Highway 101 bridge over the Klamath River. Several access points and five backcountry camps are within an easy day's walk of each other.

If you are interested in obtaining maps or hiking guides, see our cooperating associations page.

To download the parks' map showing the Coastal Trail (in Adobe PDF format), visit the National Park Service Digital Maps web site. To view the map, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 freeware installed. Follow Adobe Systems' downloading instructions and program documentation to properly install Acrobat Reader on your system.

Address for the RNSP park map: http://www.nps.gov/carto/REDW.html