Tolowa Dunes State Park

Tolowa Dunes State Park is a 4,000-acre protected area on California’s North Coast near Crescent City that surrounds much of the Lake Earl Wildlife Area and includes wetlands, ponds, dunes, and a broad coastal plain around Yontocket. Along with the neighboring wildlife area, it provides sanctuary for birds such as California quail, ruffed grouse, canvasback, and western grebe. The park’s name recalls the Tolowa people, whose homeland included this region before American colonization in the 1850s. Tolowa oral history and the landscape alike reflect long tectonic changes along the Cascadia subduction zone, which have reshaped sea levels, habitats, and the plain’s continuing tsunami risk.

California · United States