We had heard that Redwood National Park was one of the most “magical” parks and now that we’ve visited, we wholeheartedly agree! The combination of the massive Redwoods, the lush greenery, cliffs, rocks and Pacific Ocean all together is just downright dreamy. We heard from a friend that Klammath is a good city to stay in while exploring the area so we hopped on Campspot and found a beautiful park for a great price and booked it right away!

Where we stayed

Kamp Klammath is a quaint campground with full hookup RV sites and tent sites. The campground is full of grass, trees, and beautiful vegetation all around. We were able to see a map of the park online and book the exact site we wanted, right next to our buddies we were traveling with, the Carew family. 

Location: Kamp Klamath is located right on the Klamath River, and there was a path you could take right to the river. It was walking distance to the beach as well, which motivated us to go almost every evening to take in the sunset.

The Klamath River meets the Pacific Ocean just down the road from the campground and it’s a beautiful place to walk, run, rest, climb rocks, play or have a campfire on the beach!

What the kids thought: The kids’ favorite part of the campground was the large field and playground. They wanted to be there every second we weren’t our exploring somewhere, and even asked to stay back in the campground instead of going out to explore! There was a volleyball net, corn hole boards, horseshoes and even a garden that the staff let the kids pick strawberries from!

Cost: Our full hookup site was only $30/night (the price increases in their busy season), which was a great price for any park, especially one this close to the ocean and National Park.  

The Wildlife: This area of Northern California is FULL of wildlife. During our week here we saw a bear, tons of elk, lots of seals, a rabbit, a skunk and a snake! We were walking home from the beach early one afternoon and passed a bear in a tree-right by the road (read about the full bear story below)! The Carews saw another bear one evening while driving back to the campground. It walked across the road right in front of their truck! 

What we did

The Beach

Walking or driving down Klammath Beach Rd. to where the river meets the ocean was an almost daily activity for us. There were tons of seals hanging out on the sand bar at all times, and a few would swim around trying to catch salmon! You can have a bonfire on the beach, which we enjoyed doing one evening. There are massive rocks for climbing and playing one which we all had fun doing. Waterproof hiking shoes are a great choice for this excursion, as you trek through some rocks, possibly water and uneven terrain to get to the beach.

Our Bear Story

One day, Aaron and I were out on a beach walk with our friends, Shannon and Kenton. On our walk back to the campground from the beach, I heard a noise up in a tree that we were passing. I look up…and I see a black bear only a few feet away from my head! We literally walked only a few feet away from it!

I said, “GUYS, THERE’S A BEAR IN THE TREE!” I swiftly (without running) moved away from the tree as Shannon straight up started running away! 

I said, “SHANNON, DON’T RUN!” I couldn’t see how big the bear was at first, and my first thought was that if it was young, there could be a mama nearby watching us. I didn’t want Shannon to be caught in a game of cat and mouse and get chased! 

This tree was in the front yard of someone’s house, and after a couple minutes the owner came out and told us he had chased the bear out of his house because it had walked in and eaten his brownies! The man had left his door open so the bear decided to make himself at home in his home. The bear ended up running up the tree after the man had chased him out!

We hung around and watched the bear climb back down the tree eventually and scurry off! It was an experience we will not forget!

Fern Canyon

The famous Fern Canyon was one of our favorite spots in the area. You may recognize it from the movie Jurassic Park: The Lost World (you kind of feel like you’re in the movie during the hike!). Fern Canyon is exactly that, a canyon that has ferns all over the canyon walls. It’s incredibly beautiful, but make sure you wear shoes that can get wet if you go. Most of the hike is through a shallow stream.

After we finished up in Fern Canyon, we walked out to the beach on the other side of the parking lot. The kids enjoyed playing on a few sand dunes and also running from the waves while the adults rested on the sand and looked for whales! 

Whales usually finish migrating north around April, but our friends saw a whale while walking on the beach one day that we were there in May, so we kept our eyes peeled for another one the rest of the time. I think they saw the last straggler!

Easy Hikes

In addition to Fern Canyon, we hiked two short trails while visiting the Redwoods.

While picking up Junior Ranger books for the kids at Prairie Creek Visitor Center, we walked the Revelation Trail right behind the center. It took us through some beautiful Redwoods! It was short, but really beautiful and fun. It was also handicap accessible. 

The Visitor Center itself was underwhelming. It was small and didn’t have much more than one or two informational things and a gift shop. It is the closest one to Klammath though, and it’s right by the elk meadow, which is a place where you can see a ton of elk lounging around!

We had heard that lupines were in bloom, so we set out to find some! We pulled over on Bald Hills Road (you have to drive until you reach the gravel section of the road) and hopped out to take some photos. It was a picturesque area that we loved!

On the way to see the flowers we passed Lady Bird Johnson Grove Trail, which we had heard was a cool old growth grove to see, so the next day we drove back out and explored that. It was well worth it. The hike was easy and basically has everything you expect to see in the Redwoods National Park.

Sunsets

There were so many amazing overlooks not far from our campground to watch the sun set over the Pacific, and we took advantage almost daily. It’s hard not to go out, even in the chilly and windy weather, when you have so much beauty all around! 

Summary

To sum up our Redwood experience, we thought Redwood National and State Parks were simply magical. The entire area is just stunning and it’s a bucket list place for sure.

We highly recommend staying at Kamp Klammath if you’re an RVer or tent camper, and you MUST catch as many sunsets as you can. Check out this Instagram reel we made about our time in this area!

*Some products discussed in this blog were gifted to me by adidas however, all opinions are entirely my own.