Crescent City, CA Road Trips

Point Saint George is a county park northwest of town. You may beach comb, whalewatch or birdwatch among other activities. Drive 15 miles inland to visit Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park. This state park is one of the very few redwood parks with trails that go into the deep interior. Must-see: Stout Grove. Must-hike: Boy Scout Tree Trail. This trail is a hidden gem, and arguably one of the most beautiful in the entire state. Drive a few miles south to Enderts Beach Road. This road will take you to the sound end of Crescent Beach, and beyond that a trail will take you to a small, rocky cove--Enderts Beach. 1 Battery Point Light House. Visit the Battery Point Light House, one of the oldest lighthouses on the California coast. Accessible at low-tide. The neighboring Lighthouse Jetty, built to protect the town's harbor from waves, is an intriguing piece of infrastructure, but potentially unsafe to explore as numerous warning signs attest. (updated Dec 2016) 2 Tolowa Dunes State Park, ☏ +1 707 464-6101. (updated May 2020) 3 Ocean World, 304 Highway 101 S, ☏ +1-704-464-4900. 9AM–6PM. Aquarium with multiple exhibits and a sea lion show. Kitsch, but potentially fun. Adult $13.95 Age 3 to 11 $9.95 Under 3 Free. (updated May 2023)

Good Harvest Cafe, 575 US Highway 101 South, ☏ +1 707 465-6028.

Best Western Northwoods Inn, 655 US Highway 101 S, ☏ +1 707 464-9771, fax: +1 707 464-9461. Curly Redwood Lodge (US 101 South Edge).

From San Francisco or Portland, US Highway 101 makes a scenic but sometimes slow drive along the coast to Crescent City. Between San Francisco and Crescent City, there are only a few connector roads from the east (Hwy 20, Hwy 299) so if you want to drive along the coast, you can access Hwy 101 near San Francisco and follow it north. From Grants Pass in Oregon, you can take US Highway 199 southwest to reach Crescent City. Grants Pass is also a stop along Interstate 5, which is the major north-south highway on the west coast. Interstate 5 is known as fast and easy to drive and has good connections to further east, but it's often a boring road. If you are traveling on Interstate 5 and want to travel over to the coast, you can take Hwy 299 west where it intersects I-5 at Redding, Ca. Hwy 299 west is a beautiful, highly scenic, curvy/winding route through the rugged mountains of Northern California. This route takes from Redding, through Weaverville and Willow Creek, along the Trinity and Klamath Rivers enroute to its juntion with Hwy 101 at Arcata, CA. Depending on your speed and stops along the way, Hwy 299 will take you approximately two and a half to three hours driving time to reach the coast. (If you take I-5 north to the Hwy 199 cutoff at Grants Pass, Oregon, and head over to the coast, you are looking at a Five plus hour trip.) As a word of caution, Hwy 299 is not advisable during winter months due to Ice, snow and ppssibly slides that can cause long delays and/or road closures.

Crescent City is sometimes remembered as the only place in the 48 contiguous American states to have suffered loss of life from a tsunami in recorded history. Its location is particularly vulnerable to such waves. An extensive warning system has been installed to ensure the safety of residents and visitors alike and it works well. When an offshore quake in 2005 triggered the tsunami alert system as a precaution, the city was evacuated in 20 minutes. However, make sure to keep this concern in perspective; even in Crescent City, many more people die in auto accidents than by tsunamis.