Page 148 - 2017 Travel Guide to California

DEL NORTE COUNTY
Primeval forests with the world’s tallest trees
»HIKE, DRIVE,
REFLECT,
EPLORE
Crescent City/
Del Norte County
Visitor Information
delnorte.org
exploredelnorte.com
1-800-343-8300
DEL NORTE COAST REDWOODS
State Park, top; Battery Point
Lighthouse in Crescent City, below.
WHEN STAR WARS CREATOR George
Lucas was looking for a place to represent
the forest moon of Endor in Return of the
Jedi, he wanted “a jungly kind of place, the
color of life, a cradle of life environment.”
He found his home for the Ewoks in Del
Norte County, in the far upper left hand
corner of California, not far from the
Oregon border.
Some of the state’s most gorgeously
primeval redwood forests abound here,
along with 37 miles of rugged, wave-bat-
tered coastline and great fishing.
The county boasts only one incorporated
city—Crescent City, pop. 7,600—and even
that has tenuous footing in this wild land.
Much of the city was destroyed by a
tsunami in 1964, and today one of its most
popular attractions is the Tsunami Histor-
ical Walk, with eight sites within easy
walking distance of downtown.
Del Norte’s crown jewel is Jedediah
Smith Redwoods State Park, just a few miles
inland from Crescent City. There you’ll find
more old-growth redwoods per acre than
146 2017 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
B Y P E T E R W A T T S
anywhere else in California. Densely packed
with impossibly tall, impossibly ancient
trees, its 10,000 acres contain 7 percent of
all old-growth redwoods in the world.
Take a drive along Howland Hill Road,
an old stagecoach trail that cuts through
the park. It’s been described as “hiking in a
car” and “one of the best redwood drives
anywhere.” Be prepared for anything from
a smooth ride to a juddery succession of
potholes, depending on how recently it’s
been resurfaced.
Lighthouse buffs make a beeline for the
Battery Point Lighthouse, which has been in
operation since before the Civil War. You
can only get there at low tide, so be sure to
check the timetables to make sure you have
enough time to get back.
Be aware that the county name is not
pronounced as you would expect. It’s “Del
Nort,” not the normal Spanish pronuncia-
tion of “Del Nor-tay.” It’s because the area
was originally settled by dairy farmers
from the Azore Islands, who used the
Portuguese pronunciation.
JOSEPH S. GIACALONE/SHUTTERSTOCK; JAIRO RENE LEIVA/SHUTTERSTOCK