• Image of coast redwood forest along Cal-Barrel Road

    Redwood

    National and State Parks California

  • Davison Road grading—expect delays/closures

    Section of road north of Gold Bluffs Beach Campground to Fern Canyon will be closed 9 am to 4 pm week of 5/14-5/18; during week of of 5/21-5/25, expect short delays between U.S. 101 and Gold Bluffs Beach Campground. More »

  • Northern Section of Hobbs Wall [Loop] Trail closed indefinitely.

    Northern section of Hobbs Wall [Loop] Trail in Del Norte Coast Redwood State Park (accessible from Mill Creek Campground Rd) is closed indefinitely due to slope failure. The section south of the road will remain open, however. More »

  • Miners Ridge Backcountry Camp closed indefinitely.

    Nearest alternative camping locations include Gold Bluffs Beach Campground (~2 mi. away), Ossagon Backcountry Camp (~4.25 mi.), and Elk Prairie Campground (~4.5 mi.). Reservations recommended for campgronds; free permits req'd for bakccountry camps. More »

Prescribed Fire

Living with Fire
During your travels through Redwood National and State Parks, you may notice trees and landscapes (particularly prairies) that have been charred by fire. Some burns happened due to lightning strikes, some from American Indian-ignited fires of the past, and some from park management using prescribed fire.

The American Indian method of managing plant communities with fire contributed to ecosystem health by clearing brush and encouraging new growth. However, management practices by Euro-Americans brought a century of fire suppression and altered landscapes.

Today, park resource managers are returning to the practice of using fire to maintain landscape health. It is the long-term goal for RNSP to restore park lands to the state that existed just prior to Euro-American contact and influence. By using prescribed fire on a regular basis, park managers have set the following goals for prairies and redwood forests.

Objectives for prairies and oak woodlands:

  • Control and eliminate exotic plant species
  • Restrict the spread of an exotic oat grass
  • Kill 80-90 percent of invading Douglas-fir less than six feet tall in prairies
  • Kill 60 percent of Douglas-fir less than six feet tall in oak woodlands
  • Restore native plant species diversity
  • Improve native plant to exotic species plant ratio

Objectives for Old Growth:

  • Provide periodic disturbance to maintain an uneven-aged understory
  • Reduce duff material and small dead and down material
  • Limit old growth mortality to one percent or less
  • Generate hardwood reproduction in the understory
  • Reduce fire intolerant species
  • Limit consumption of large dead and down material
 
Prescribed fire at Dolason Prairie.
Prescribed fire at Dolason Prairie.
NPS Photo

Did You Know?

Did You Know?

The Bald Hills Road serves as a scenic byway to a high prairie landscape dotted with magnificent 300-year-old Oregon white oak trees. This region of the parks offers fields of colorful springtime wildflowers and trail access to several historic ranches. A Roosevelt elk herd could surprise you!