Closest airport to Redwood National Park, north end and south.

Which airport for Redwood?

NPS names three airports near Redwood National and State Parks and lists each one by its nearest visitor center, not an entrance. That's because the parks have no formal entrance stations: NPS says you can drive through without realizing you're in them. The parks span about 50 miles of coast, from Crescent City near the Oregon border to the Redwood Creek watershed south of Orick, so pick the airport by the end you're visiting. Crescent City's airport is at the north end. The Hiouchi Visitor Center, near Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, is on Highway 199, 9 miles east of Crescent City. Arcata-Eureka is south of the parks, and Medford is inland in Oregon.

Every airport-to-visitor-center drive.

Every airport-to-visitor-center drive we route, one for each airport. The lines end at visitor centers, not gates. NPS calls the Kuchel Visitor Center the largest and most comprehensive, and the best starting point for first-time visitors. The small Jedediah Smith Visitor Center opens only in summer, NPS hours list it closed from September 8, 2026, to May 19, 2027, and no route here ends there.

Crescent City's airport is the shortest hop: 3 miles to the Crescent City Information Center. From Crescent City, Howland Hill Road runs 12 miles (24 min) to Hiouchi by our routing, but NPS says recreational vehicles, trucks and trailers are too wide for it. Arcata-Eureka is 27 miles from the Kuchel Visitor Center at the south end. Medford is 104 miles (2 h 27 min) to Hiouchi, the longest drive, but its extra airlines can save you a connection. Heading to Kuchel? Look for the brown highway signs: NPS says it's 1 mile south of Orick, not in the town, and online maps can get it wrong.

Match the airport to your end of the park.

North end (Crescent City, Hiouchi, Jedediah Smith): fly to Crescent City, 3 miles from the Information Center, or Medford, 104 miles to Hiouchi. The Jedediah Smith Visitor Center opens only in summer and is closed from September 8, 2026, to May 19, 2027, per NPS hours.

South end (Kuchel, Prairie Creek, Fern Canyon): fly to Arcata-Eureka, 27 miles to Kuchel. The Prairie Creek Visitor Center is on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. Driving to Fern Canyon from May 15 to September 15 takes a free parking reservation; our Redwood fees page has the day-use rules.

Both ends: the parks run about 50 miles along the coast, so you can fly into one airport and out of the other. Crescent City in and Arcata-Eureka out, or the reverse, covers the parks north to south with no backtracking. Check the one-way rental fee before you decide. An NPS alert warns of multiple construction traffic stops on Highway 101 between Orick and Crescent City, so allow extra time between the two ends.

In winter: NPS says the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway is often closed for days at a time by fallen redwood trees or ice, and from October to May it closes to motor vehicles on the first Saturday of each month for Bike and Hike Day. Road detail is on our Redwood road closures page. If you haven't picked dates yet, start with the best time to visit Redwood page.

Small airport, or San Francisco?

We don't publish fares. What sets them is how many routes an airport has, and whether you need a connection. Crescent City has one route, Advanced Air to Oakland, per the airport. Arcata-Eureka has United Express to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Denver, per NPS, and the airport announced Alaska Airlines nonstops to Seattle-Tacoma starting April 8, 2026. Medford has the most airlines of the three: Horizon Air, Delta Connection, Allegiant Air, and United and United Express, per NPS.

San Francisco is the big airport within a long day's drive. NPS puts the parks about 325 miles, a six-hour drive, north of San Francisco, and San Francisco International lists nonstops to 80+ U.S. destinations. It makes sense only if it saves you a connection and a full day on the road suits your trip.

Sacramento isn't one of the airports NPS lists near the parks, and we don't route it. The three NPS names are all much closer to a visitor center.

Rental cars, buses, and finding the visitor centers.

Plan on a car for most trips. At Crescent City's airport, Avis and Budget rent cars from the terminal during scheduled flights, per the airport. We didn't capture rental companies at Arcata-Eureka or Medford.

Redwood Coast Transit serves Smith River, Crescent City, Gasquet, Klamath, Orick and Arcata, per NPS, and its site lists airport shuttles among its services. It's considering fall 2026 changes to local routes, Routes 20 and 199, Saturday and evening service and fares, and none are approved yet, so check the schedule before you count on it.

Don't trust GPS alone. NPS says many GPS and digital mapping services give incorrect directions in the park, sometimes onto unpaved or restricted roads. Use a printed park map and follow official road signs. Park headquarters in Crescent City is an administrative office, not a visitor center, so go to a visitor center for maps and trip planning.

There's no entrance fee: NPS says an entrance pass isn't required, though some day-use areas in the three state parks charge fees. Prices are on our Redwood fees page.

We don't carry live flight status, schedules or fares. Those change daily. Check them on the airline's or the airport's own site before you book.

Common questions.

Which airline flies to Crescent City's airport?

Advanced Air, according to the airport's own site, with daily scheduled flights to and from Oakland. The NPS directions page still names Contour Airlines, so book through the airline the airport lists and check the schedule before you plan around it.

What is the closest major city to Redwood National Park?

It depends on the end. The parks start at Crescent City in the north, and NPS puts the Kuchel Visitor Center about 40 miles north of Eureka in the south. For a major metro area, NPS gives San Francisco: about 325 miles, a six-hour drive.

What is the largest airport near the Redwoods?

Of the three airports NPS lists, Medford has the most airlines: Horizon Air, Delta Connection, Allegiant Air, and United and United Express. It's 104 road miles from the Hiouchi Visitor Center. For a major hub, San Francisco International lists nonstops to 80+ U.S. destinations, but NPS puts the parks about 325 miles north of San Francisco.

Which airport near Redwood National Park does Delta fly to?

Medford. NPS lists Delta Connection, operated by SkyWest Airlines, among Medford's airlines. It's 104 road miles (2 h 27 min) from the Hiouchi Visitor Center by our routing.

Should I fly into Sacramento for Redwood National Park?

Usually not. NPS doesn't list Sacramento among the airports near the parks, and we don't route it. Crescent City is 3 miles from a visitor center, Arcata-Eureka 27 miles, and Medford 104 miles.

Where is the Kuchel Visitor Center?

Just off US 101, 1 mile south of Orick on Freshwater Beach. NPS says it's not in the town of Orick and warns not to rely on online maps for directions, so follow the brown highway signs for Kuchel Visitor Center / Park Information. Don't go to park headquarters in Crescent City for trip planning: it's an administrative office, not a visitor center.

Where these facts come from

The three airports, NPS's carriers for Medford and Arcata-Eureka, the visitor center locations, the no-entrance-station note, the 50-mile span, the San Francisco distance, the Kuchel directions, headquarters and GPS warnings, and Redwood Coast Transit's communities come from the NPS Redwood directions page; Jedediah Smith Visitor Center's season and 2026 closing from the park's NPS visitor center hours on the NPS visitor centers page; the Highway 101 construction stops from an NPS park alert; road status from the NPS current conditions page; the entrance pass rule from the NPS fees page; Howland Hill Road vehicle limits from the NPS Howland Hill Road page; Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway closures from the NPS parkway page. Airport-to-visitor-center distances and drive times are computed by the OSRM routing engine on OpenStreetMap roads (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), with airport coordinates from OurAirports and NPS-named visitor center points; last computed 2026-09-11. They are road distances and no-stop times, not live traffic. The parks have no entrance stations, so every drive ends at a visitor center. Crescent City's airline and rental cars come from the Crescent City airport site; the Alaska Airlines route from Arcata-Eureka's airport site; San Francisco's nonstop count from San Francisco International; the service airport shuttles and proposed fall 2026 changes from Redwood Coast Transit, all read on September 11, 2026. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.