Allow for wet conditions
Pack rain gear and shoes with non-slip soles. The rainforest and coast can be slippery.
Get oriented for winter
Use the coastal groves for your main winter plan, then check higher roads separately.
- Mapped road corridor
- Additional mapped route
- Additional mapped route
- Additional mapped route
- 1 · Crescent City Information Center
- 2 · Jedediah Smith Campground
- 3 · Fern Canyon
- 4 · Prairie Creek Visitor Center
- 5 · Thomas H. Kuchel Visitor Center
- Park boundary
Getting around in winter
Rain and stream levels matter more than snowfall for most coastal visits.
Treat creek trails separately
Redwood Creek runs high and fast in winter, with seasonal footbridges removed. Ask at a visitor center before planning a crossing.
Check higher roads
Bald Hills Road climbs inland above the coastal forests and can see winter snow. Read the road updates before taking this detour.
Things to do in winter
Keep a grove walk or scenic drive as the flexible core of the day.
Explore Prairie Creek
Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway runs through old-growth forest, with trail pullouts. Check its calendar: fall-to-spring Bike and Hike Days close it to cars.
Reconsider Fern Canyon
Its wooden footbridges are a summer feature. Creek wading and log obstacles remain part of the route; check road access and water conditions before setting out.
Where to stay in winter
Choose a gateway room or a basic park cabin. There are no conventional park lodges.
Gateway rooms
Crescent City, Klamath and Orick are among the communities listed by NPS for nearby lodging. Pick a base close to the part of the parks you plan to explore.
Basic campground cabins
Elk Prairie and Jedediah Smith have basic cabins. NPS recommends booking early; check cabin details and availability before travel.
Camping The four developed campgrounds are managed by California State Parks. Check each campground and Reserve California for operating details, available sites and vehicle-size limits.
Redwood winter crowds
The highlighted whole months average 26,407 recreation visits per month. June is the annual peak at 95,116.
Winter months highlightedNovember through March
LowestLowModerateHighPeakAverage month: 52,146
Redwood winter temperatures
NOAA 1991-2020 averages at Klamath, CA. The Klamath station sits at about 28 ft near the Klamath River mouth, near the middle of the parks' 50 miles of coast, so it stands in for the coastal lowland along U.S. 101. NPS says summer brings cool coastal temperatures with frequent fog, while inland areas are typically warmer with clearer skies, and the Bald Hills get much hotter in summer than the coast. The station's snowfall normals are zero.
Winter months highlightedNovember through March
Cooler Hotter
Jan
High55°F
Low39°F
Feb
High56°F
Low39°F
Mar
High57°F
Low40°F
Apr
High59°F
Low43°F
May
High61°F
Low47°F
Jun
High64°F
Low47°F
Jul
High66°F
Low53°F
Aug
High66°F
Low51°F
Sep
High67°F
Low50°F
Oct
High63°F
Low45°F
Nov
High58°F
Low41°F
Dec
High54°F
Low38°F
Redwood winter daylight
Local sunrise and sunset on the 21st of each selected month. These are astronomical times, not a forecast or an access schedule.
| Date | Sunrise and sunset, local clock time | Daylight |
|---|---|---|
| November 21 | SunriseSunset | |
| December 21Shortest day shown | SunriseSunset | |
| January 21 | SunriseSunset | |
| February 21 | SunriseSunset | |
| March 21 | SunriseSunset |
Questions about Redwood winter
Quick answers to the practical questions below.
Is Redwood National Park good in winter?
For a rain-prepared forest visit, yes. Plan around wet trails and higher streams rather than expecting summer creek access. Keep a grove or road-based alternative for your day.
Does it snow in the redwoods?
The coastal groves have ocean-moderated winters with considerable rain. NPS describes winter snow in the higher Bald Hills, so coastal conditions do not describe every inland road.
Can you visit Fern Canyon in winter?
Check access and stream conditions first. The wooden footbridges are installed for summer, and the route requires creek crossings and climbing over logs even when bridges are present.
Are Redwood Creek footbridges available in winter?
No. NPS says the seasonal footbridges are removed until summer, when Redwood Creek is lower. Winter water runs high and fast; ask at a visitor center before planning the trail.
How we built this page.
An independent guide using official data. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Park Service.
- Official guidance
- NPS and the relevant operators. The linked official pages support the access, facilities and rules described here. Confirm details before traveling.
- Crowd context
- 2021–2025 monthly averages. NPS recreation visits describe normal seasonal demand, not trail congestion, parking availability or unique visitors.
- Schedules and conditions
- Planning patterns, not live status. Seasonal information describes the normal pattern or explicitly dated source schedule. Current conditions are handled separately. The official source is the place to confirm today’s access.
Topic sources and data details
NPS Weather describes the coastal rain-and-temperature pattern; Bald Hills Road supplies the higher-elevation snow distinction. NPS Fern Canyon and Redwood Creek pages describe summer footbridges and winter creek limits. Lodging, cabins and campground responsibility come from the NPS lodging and developed-campgrounds pages.
Temperatures are NOAA 1991-2020 normals at Klamath, CA; The Klamath station sits at about 28 ft near the Klamath River mouth, near the middle of the parks' 50 miles of coast, so it stands in for the coastal lowland along U.S. 101. NPS says summer brings cool coastal temperatures with frequent fog, while inland areas are typically warmer with clearer skies, and the Bald Hills get much hotter in summer than the coast. The station's snowfall normals are zero. Daylight is computed from committed USNO 2026 local-time records at Thomas H. Kuchel Visitor Center, CA (41.29N, 124.09W).
The coastal redwood forest has ocean-moderated temperatures and a wet winter, so the mild palette has no snow. NPS separately describes winter snow in the higher Bald Hills; this does not imply snow throughout the coastal groves.
Operational source check: October 21, 2026. Design and emphasized source review: 2026-10-21. A design review does not refresh every underlying record.