Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
land rich with wildlife. Mostly flat, it's about 2.5 miles one way - and nobody takes it be-
cause it's unmarked.
All campsites are first-come, first-served. The park runs two
environmental camp-
grounds
(tent sites $20; Apr-Oct)
; bring water. Stone Lagoon has six boat-in environ-
mental campsites. Check in at
Patrick's Point State Park
, at least 30 minutes before sunset.
Humboldt County Parks
( 707-445-7651; tent sites $20)
operates a lovely cypress-
grove picnic area and campground beside Big Lagoon, a mile off Hwy 101, with flush toi-
lets and cold water, but no showers.
THE ENDANGERED MARBLED MURRELET: KEEPER OF THE FORESTS
Notice how undeveloped the Redwood National State Parks have remained? Thank the
marbled murrelet, a small white and brown-black auk that nests in old-growth conifers.
Loss of nesting territory due to logging has severly depleted the bird's numbers but Red-
wood National Park scientists have discovered that corvid predators (ravens, jays etc) are
also to blame. Because corvids are attracted to food scraps left by visitors, the number of
snacking, picnicking or camping humans in the park greatly affects predation on the
marbled murrelet. Restrictions on development to prevent food scraps and thus protect
the birds are so strict that it's nearly impossible to build anything new.
Redwood National & State Parks
A patchwork of public lands jointly administered by the state and federal governments, the
Redwood National & State Parks include Redwood National Park, Prairie Creek Red-
woods State Park, Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park and Jedediah Smith Redwoods
State Park. A smattering of small towns break up the forested area, making it a bit confus-
ing to get a sense of the parks as a whole. Prairie Creek and Jedediah Smith parks were
originally land slated for clear-cutting, but in the '60s activists successfully protected them
and today all these parks are an International Biosphere Reserve and World Heritage Site.
At one time the national park was to absorb at least two of the state parks, but that did not
happen, and so the cooperative structure remains.
