Redwood National Park entrance fee and state park fees.

Where you pay and where you don't.

The national park is free. NPS says an entrance pass is not required to access Redwood National and State Parks, and there are no entrance fees to drive the scenic roads or highways in the three state parks and the national park. With no entrance stations, the park doesn't sell the Senior or Annual America the Beautiful passes.

The state parks charge for day use. Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast, and Prairie Creek Redwoods state parks collect day-use fees at their developed campground entrance stations. California State Parks lists a vehicle day-use fee of $8 at each one. Those areas accept interagency passes, and holders of California State Parks passes can use their state pass. The three state parks honor America the Beautiful passes and give pass holders discounted pricing.

The Access Pass discount works here. Per the California State Parks Prairie Creek page, Del Norte Coast, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek Redwoods are the only parks in the California State Parks system that accept the federal Access Pass discount.

Gold Bluffs Beach costs more. Gold Bluffs Beach, where the Fern Canyon trailhead is, is a fee area. You stop at the California State Parks entrance station on Davison Road and pay $12 per vehicle, and the kiosk takes cash or check only, no cards. Any America the Beautiful pass, a California State Parks Annual or Poppy pass, or a current Gold Bluffs Beach or Elk Prairie Campground reservation covers it. That $12 is not the same as the $8 vehicle day-use fee California State Parks lists for Prairie Creek, so bring cash for the Fern Canyon drive. The fee details are on the NPS Fern Canyon page.

No $100 nonresident fee. Redwood isn't one of the eleven national parks on the NPS entrance fee prices page that charge non-U.S. residents a $100 fee.

Fee-free days and the state parks.

The national park is free every day, so fee-free days only matter for the state park fees. The Redwood fees page lists the 2026 national fee-free dates, but that list is for National Park Service sites that charge an entrance fee, and from 2026 those days are for U.S. citizens and residents only. Lower on the same page, an older list says all entrance and day-use fees in Redwood National and State Parks are waived on a set of holidays, including Martin Luther King Jr. Day, National Public Lands Day, and Veterans Day, with no 2026 dates. Neither list says which 2026 dates waive the state park fees, so plan to pay them.

Free reservations and backcountry permits.

Fern Canyon and Gold Bluffs Beach. To drive to Fern Canyon from May 15 to September 15, you need a free Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon parking reservation, available online only. There are no same-day reservations, only day-before or in advance. Reservations open December 15 and can be made up to six months ahead. The kiosk checks reservations, and you show the government-issued photo ID tied to your permit. A current Gold Bluffs Beach or Elk Prairie Campground reservation counts instead. Two other NPS pages, the Fern Canyon trail page's details box and the scenic drives page, still say May 1 to September 30, so go by the reservations page. Hikers can still reach Fern Canyon without a reservation on the 10-mile round-trip James Irvine Trail from the Prairie Creek Visitor Center. For now the conditions page lists that trail as partly open: the easternmost stairs between it and Fern Canyon are closed for construction, and the western stairs still reach the Fern Canyon Loop. The reservation season covers the park's busiest months: June averages about 3,200 recreation visits a day over the past five years, and July about 2,900. Details are on the NPS Fern Canyon reservations page.

Tall Trees Trailhead. A reservation is required all year to reach and park at the Tall Trees Trailhead, and it's free. It's online only, issued by the park's non-profit partner, the Redwood Parks Conservancy, and visitor centers don't issue them. All-day reservations open up to 180 days ahead and close 24 hours before your hike. Half-day reservations open the day before, at 8 a.m. for mornings and 1 p.m. for afternoons, Pacific time. A locked gate controls the road, and the gate code comes by email. The NPS Tall Trees hike page still says to pick up a permit and gate combination from rangers at a visitor center, but the reservations page describes the current online process. The small lot doesn't fit RVs over 21 feet or vehicles towing trailers. Details are on the NPS Tall Trees reservations page.

Backcountry camping. All backcountry camping needs a permit, and the permit is free, except at Gold Bluffs Beach, which costs $5 per person per night. Request it online up to 160 days ahead and no later than 24 hours before your trip. A campsite stay is limited to 5 nights in a row and 15 nights in a calendar year. Details are on the NPS backcountry page.

Campgrounds. The four developed campgrounds cost $35 a night, reserved at least 48 hours ahead through ReserveCalifornia or 1-800-444-7275. Sites and seasons are on our Redwood camping page.

Do you need a pass here?

You don't need any pass for Redwood National Park. A pass only helps at the state parks. Any America the Beautiful pass covers the $12 Gold Bluffs Beach fee and gets discounted pricing at the three state parks, and a California State Parks pass works there too. The Access Pass discount is accepted here and nowhere else in the California State Parks system. None of these fees change by month, but the Fern Canyon reservation does, so pick your dates on the best time to visit Redwood page with May 15 to September 15 in mind.

Common questions.

Do I need a reservation to enter Redwood National Park?

No. Redwood has no entrance stations and no entrance fee. Two places need a free reservation: the Tall Trees Trailhead all year, and the drive to Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon from May 15 to September 15.

Can you just drive through the redwoods?

Yes. NPS says there are no entrance fees to drive the scenic roads or highways in the national park and the three state parks. You pay only at state park day-use areas that charge, such as the $12 Gold Bluffs Beach kiosk.

What are the new fees for national parks in 2026?

Redwood National Park is free, so none apply here. Elsewhere, eleven national parks charge non-U.S. residents a $100 fee, and Redwood isn't one of them. From 2026, fee-free days at national parks are for U.S. citizens and residents only.

Where these facts come from

The free national park, the no-pass rule for roads and highways, state park day-use collection and pass rules, the Gold Bluffs Beach pass waiver, camping and backcountry fees, and both fee-free lists come from the NPS Redwood fees page. The Gold Bluffs Beach $12 fee, payment rules, and reservation rules come from the NPS Fern Canyon reservations page and the NPS Fern Canyon page; Tall Trees reservations from the NPS Tall Trees reservations page and the older wording from the NPS Tall Trees hike page; the May 1 to September 30 window from the Fern Canyon trail page and the NPS scenic drives page; the James Irvine Trail status from the NPS current conditions page; backcountry permit timing and stay limits from the NPS backcountry page. State park vehicle day-use fees come from California State Parks pages for Prairie Creek Redwoods, Jedediah Smith Redwoods, and Del Norte Coast Redwoods, and the Access Pass note from the Prairie Creek page. The eleven-park nonresident list comes from the NPS entrance fee prices page; the U.S.-residents-only rule for fee-free days from the NPS entrance passes page. Daily visit figures are five-year monthly means (2021 to 2025) of recreation visits from NPS Visitor Use Statistics, divided by the days in the month. Independent site, not affiliated with the National Park Service.