Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in northern California protects 14,000 acres of old-growth Coast Redwood forest, broad meadowlands, creek habitat, and coastline within Redwood National and State Parks. Named for Prairie Creek, it is especially known for forest prairies, Roosevelt elk, Fern Canyon, Gold Bluffs Beach, and towering redwoods such as Big Tree and the Cathedral Trees. The landscape was long part of the Yurok homeland before gold discoveries in 1851 brought mining at Gold Bluffs, which faded by 1920. The park was established in 1923 through Zipporah Russ's land donation, expanded by the Save the Redwoods League, and further developed during the Great Depression by a Civilian Conservation Corps camp.

California · United States