Coastal Trail, Lagoon Creek to Klamath River

Overview

This is a 4.35 mile section of trail that parallels the Pacific Ocean in northern California’s Redwoods National Park but you will not find any Redwoods on this trail. This description starts at Lagoon Creek Picnic Area on Route 101 near a small beach. The trail heads south going in and out of a forest until after 1.1 miles, it reaches another small beach known as Hidden Beach. Further south, the trail goes into the forest with no views and goes up slowly to end at Klamath River Overlook parking area 630 ft above the ocean. Unfortunately fog blocked my view of where Klamath River joined the ocean. From the parking area at the end of this description you could follow the trail 400 vertical feet lower to another view point 200 ft above the ocean but the view from the parking area is said to be better.

A parking area at each end of the trail will allow you to do this as an 8.7 mile roundtrip or a 4.35 mile one way hike.

Getting There

Lagoon Creek Picnic Area is on Route 101 roughly 15 miles south of Crescent City, California. Klamath River Overlook is a few miles further south as shown on the map below.

Route Description

At Lagoon Creek Trailhead, get on the signed trail heading north. The trail makes a U-turn going south near a beach dotted with tree logs.

Continue south on a meadow with views of the ocean.

You will soon get a glimpse of Hidden Beach.

Trail under the trees.

At 1.1 miles, you will reach a side trail that takes you 60 ft down to reach Hidden Beach.

This big crab and dead seal kind of freaked me out.

Back on the trail looking down at Hidden Beach.

The trail then goes into a forest giving you no views as it goes up in elevation. In one spot, I could hear what sounded like a colony of seals several hundred feet below on the beach but I could not see anything through the trees and fog. Near the Klamath River Overlook the forest opened up but unfortunately fog completely blocked my view.

External Links

Red Wood Hikes.com