Crescent City / Redwoods & Tide Pools
A Day in Crescent City, California | Hiking in the Redwoods | Battery Point Lighthouse | Tide Pools | Point St. George | November 2026
We made our first full day in California all about exploring the nature around Crescent City — starting in the Redwood Forest in the morning, and ending with tide pools and coastal walks in the afternoon and evening. Before this trip, Crescent City was the only town in Northern California that I had visited, and this little town had left a big impression on me. And not to give too much away, but after spending a lot more time in California on this trip, I’d say it is still the place that I feel the most drawn to (if we were to live in California that is). But let’s not get too ahead of ourselves. Today, my goal was simply to show Curtis all the reasons why it has been in the back of my mind for the past 8 years.
When we left Florence Keller County Park Campground this morning, we had a feeling that we’d be back that evening to spend another night, but luckily we knew it wasn’t so busy that we felt we had to make that decision right away. We drove East into the Jedediah Smith section of the Redwoods to begin our visit of these collection of parks, which would end up spanning over several days in many different areas. Our time here began with a walk on the Leiffer loop trail off of Walker Road.
We couldn’t have asked for a better first hike in the Redwoods. I believe the forest is best experienced alone, (or together with only your companion) and we had most of this trail to ourselves on this Sunday morning. And how appropriate it felt that it was Sunday morning, and we were here taking in the grandeur of the trees, the most sacred sanctuary I can think of. While silently making our way around the loop, we ended up on a spur trail that took us to a small clearing with a small bench where we sat and took in all the glorious details of the forest. The tall trees, the moss, the lush plants that thrive on the forest floor beneath the giants. And no matter where I was in the forest, I looked for the sun beams shining through the trees, and I remembered the last time I was here with Charlotte in 2017.
When she passed, part of me didn’t know if I could even come back to this place without her. But another part of me longed to return to this very spot for the sake of cherishing the memories I have from that day. It was my first time ever seeing the Redwoods, ever seeing trees this tall, and I was awestruck by every corner I turned, by each tree my eyes laid on. I knew coming here with Charlotte that I wouldn’t be able to hike on any trails, but that didn’t matter to me in the slightest — we were allowed to walk on the dirt roads together, and I knew that would still give us the experience of walking among the Redwoods. So I drove right to Walker Road, pulled over, and took Charlotte on a walk through this magical forest. Along the way, we came to the largest stump I’d ever seen. I picked her up and set her on top of it as a photo opportunity, and she wandered across the top, sniffing the entire thing. I knew that if I made it back here, the one thing I wanted to do the most was to find the stump, sit on it, and remember her.
As we started driving down Walker Road, I spotted it to the left, and so on our way out I made Curtis pull over so I could do just that — sit on the stump, cry, and remember Charlotte. My tiny basset hound puppy among the giant trees. We took pictures here, but when I compare them, I can’t help but notice how the world looked brighter with Charlotte in it. And I also notice the sun beams behind me, and think about how she’s still with me.
I think there’s something special about the first place a person will lay eyes on not just one, but a grove of big trees; something deeply personal about the first time someone will experience the grandness of an old growth forest. Walker Road (and the highway to get there) was the first place for me, and for that reason it will always be my favorite. Curtis, on the other hand, had first seen the large cedars in an old growth forest in British Columbia, and he still considers that to be his favorite forest. I wasn’t hoping to change his mind, but I am thankful that now he’s seen the place where I first fell in love with the Redwoods, and he has now walked the same road that Charlotte and I walked back in 2017.
When we were finished here, we drove further East to visit the visitor center, and then drove to another trail to hike another loop. This brought us to the Stout Grove Trail. This was another beautiful hike among the giant trees, though it was quite a bit busier here and at this time of day, which naturally made us enjoy the other trail more. However, this one was still worth seeing. We did rush our time here a bit because when we were at the visitor center, we learned that low tide was approaching, and there were a couple of tide pool areas in Crescent City that we wanted to check out. After nearly 2 weeks on the coast, the sun and moon had finally aligned for us to visit some good tide pools at the lowest tide during daylight hours!
We drove into town, starting first at Battery Point Lighthouse. Last time I was here, I just saw the lighthouse from a scenic spot further North; today, we parked and walked across the rocks to get a closer look. I stood outside and watched for whales which sadly never showed, while Curtis wandered inside and met the lighthouse keepers of the month. That’s when he learned that this is a volunteer position that we could potentially apply for, and get to stay in the lighthouse for one month and take care of things! We’ll file that away as an idea for something to do someday when we’re looking for a reason to come back.
Next, we wandered around the rocks between the mainland and the island the lighthouse stands on and searched for life in the tide pools. Even though we were in King Tide season and even the low tide is high compared to the Summer months, it didn’t take long before we found our first starfish — and once we knew what to look for, we started seeing more and more. There was one spot where I stood on a rock, and from that one spot I could see 8 spread out around me!
We moved a little further up the coast to another parking area, and wandered down on another beach where we saw more tide pools (and a lot of other beach goers who were searching for agate — something I could see myself getting into if I had more time on the coast). And finally, we ended our time tide pool hopping at Point Saint George, another spot that I visited in 2017. (Back then you could actually boondock in the parking lot here, but sadly it’s now illegal to stay overnight). Out of all the tide pool areas that we visited today, I thought the rocks here were the easiest to walk on. After checking out the tide pools, we walked on the beach for a while and watched the surfers and the sunset. A beautiful ending to a beautiful day in Crescent City.
As expected, we ended up returning to Florence Keller park after dark and camped here one more night. And even with our early sunset, the forest had things to offer. Curtis was able to find several species of bio-luminescent/UV reactive fungi growing on the old stumps. It wasn’t much, and it’s hard to take pictures of, but definitely something we hadn’t seen before.
