Explore Fern Canyon

We were super nervous about crossing the creeks to get to Fern Canyon in my Tesla but we made it okay! It was beautiful with only a few people there. Drizzling rain off and on. We did not walk in too far due to one of us not having his rain boots but it was still nice to explore. $12 gate fee unless you have a national parks pass then some sort of discount but I didn’t catch how much.

Wear rain boots or whatever you don’t mind getting wet. Absolutely loved walking in the very shallow flowing water, nice and cold, good for your health lol. Was mid February and decent crowd. Funny to see people trying to avoid getting their feet wet. I was told to bring rain boots and it was perfect! Had a wonderful picnic lunch in their picnic table area. They had the vaulted, no flush toilets……if needed for emergency. Drove around Campground and would definitely stay there. It was really windy but I’d still car camp, on the beach! This whole area is a bit of a drive m, several miles, off the main road but it was definitely worth it.

Magical place within redwood national park. Must do trail in the area. Hiking the loop is about a mile long and takes about 30-40 minutes. Elevation about 150ft for the loop. But one can just see the canyon without much effort of a hike. Just a 10 minute walk leads to the river and canyon with a good view. Shoes get wet if river flow is too much but wooden bridges are placed to avoid entering water during summer. Entry is by timed reservation only. Slots are released months ahead but they also release limited slots at 9AM the day before. Need to pay $12 cash at entrance station. Road is mostly gravel for about 7 miles and takes 45 minutes off of 101. Some places have flowing creeks which might be tough for low clearance vehicles. Parking is plenty and we had no issues finding a spot. Pit toilets available at parking.

Beautiful !! Reserved tickets to Gold Bluffs beach a month earlier. A short easy hike to the place. There were a couple of streams of water to the visitor center. The road wasn’t that good, quite bumpy, big potholes. Quite a number of people came in SUVs, but saw a few sedans also.

Amazing hike up a creek valley with lush ferns and other plants hanging from the steep walls. Highly recommend bringing Teva’s or similar water shoes as you will need to cross the creek literally dozens of times. It is a loop trail, with half the loop in the creek bed and the other half high up on the rim of canyon, looking down into the creek.