California · Hiking · Near Hoopa

Elk Meadow Day Use Area

Elk Meadow Day Use AreaPhoto: NPS Photo / G Litten
Mar–Nov
best months

Is Elk Meadow Day Use Area open right now?

Closure in the area

There's a closure order in Redwood National Park. It doesn't name Elk Meadow Day Use Area, so check the source for the area it covers.

  • Closure: Lady Bird Johnson Grove Parking Lot

    Park closure covering Redwood National Park · NPS · Redwood National Park

  • Delays along Highway 101

    Park alert covering Redwood National Park · NPS · Redwood National Park

As of · Source: NPS · Redwood National Park. Agencies don't list every closure — check before you go.

This is a great hub for some hiking, biking, wildlife viewing AND it has plenty of parking! This combination is rare in the redwoods. Walkers and hikers love this place because it leads to the gentle Trillium Falls Trail with its old-growth redwoods, and also to the steep Berry Glen Trail. Seeing old-growth redwood trees - by bike - is an easy adventure from this location. Several designated bike trails cross through here. You can bike east towards the Lost Man Creek Trail and the Bald Hills, north to the Elk Prairie Campground, the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, and the eastern side of Ossagon Trail, or you can bike west along bike trails and dirt roads to Gold Bluffs Beach - and eventually to the western side of Ossagon Trail. The site is currently a habitat restoration area and it has many stories to tell. For several decades in the 20th century there was a redwood logging mill right where the parking lot and meadow now is. Some of the forests next to this site were logged right up to the day before the national park was established in 1968. Interpretive panels show what the site looked like in the early 1990s and they explain the on-going ecosystem restoration efforts in the redwood parks. Some large pieces of logging equipment is still sitting in the meadows nearby, and second-growth forests surround almost the whole site. Prairie Creek runs close by, and salmon and other fish are benefiting from years of river restoration - though more restoration is to come. In autumn, large salmon can be seen here. It is common to see bears and elk in this area so keep smart and safe around these wild animals. Visitor coming here in the next years will see and hear ecosystem restoration efforts happening across HWY 101. This is part of "Redwoods Rising" and we are working in once-logged forests and putting them on a course to grow into thousands of acres of healthier redwood forests.

Around this trail

Add any of these when you start a trip
  • Sleep close

    Hike and Bike Campsites

    Campground

    Campground · 2.5 mi from the trail
  • Eat after

    Palm Cafe

    Restaurant

    On your way back · 2 mi
  • If it rains

    Patrick's Point Visitor Center

    Museum

    Museum · 14 mi from Hoopa

Places © OpenStreetMap contributors

More in Hoopa
  • Best time to go · Mar–Nov

    Best time to visit Elk Meadow Day Use Area

    Best months: March–November. Best months have typical highs of 55–85 °F, lows of 30 °F or warmer (32 °F where the station doesn't record snow), at most one snowy day and no more than 12 wet days.

    1. Jan

      52° / 36°

    2. Feb

      54° / 37°

    3. Mar

      56° / 37°

    4. Apr

      58° / 39°

    5. May

      61° / 43°

    6. Jun

      64° / 46°

    7. Jul

      67° / 49°

    8. Aug

      69° / 49°

    9. Sep

      69° / 45°

    10. Oct

      65° / 42°

    11. Nov

      56° / 39°

    12. Dec

      51° / 36°

    Typical high / low (°F) and days with rain or snow, 1991–2020. Measured at Orick Prairie Creek Park, CA, 3 mi away at 160 ft. This station doesn't record snowfall. Source: NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020.

Keep exploring — more trails worth the drive

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Trillium Falls Trail

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Davidson TrailPhoto: Aleksandr Zykov, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)

Davidson Trail

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4.02-mile out-and-back hike in California with 2,219 ft elevation gain/loss.

Berry Glen TrailPhoto: Aleksandr Zykov, CC BY-SA 2.0 (via Flickr)

Berry Glen Trail

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4.54-mile out-and-back trail in California with 2,506 ft elevation gain/loss.

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Lady Bird Johnson Nature Trail Stop #8

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Coastal Trail: Skunk Cabbage (South)

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Located off HWY 101 on Robinson Road, this is the southern trailhead for the 7.5 long Skunk Cabbage Trail. The northern trailhead is on Gold Bluffs Beach - just north of the entrance kiosk. The Skunk Cabbage Trail is part of the California Coastal Trail system. The Skunk…

Ridge LoopPhoto: Wsiegmund, CC BY 2.5 (via Wikimedia Commons)

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~3 min drive

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Lady Bird Johnson Nature Trail Stop #9

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Lady Bird Johnson Nature Trail Stop #11

~3 min drive

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