Crescent City to Arcata Walking

Well it isn’t one straight walk from Crescent City to Arcata, California. But it is some driving and bits and pieces of walks and parks.

Crescent City

When along the coast in Washington and Oregon, we saw signs everywhere declaring the Evacuation Route – in case of a tsunami. The signs are probably around, but I’ve not noticed them in California. A visit to Crescent City reminds me of the damage tsunamis can do.

The city, surrounding a crescent shaped beach, was wiped out in 1964 by a tsunami. The ocean floor by Crescent City perfectly funneled the wave onshore. The earthquake that leveled Anchorage, Alaska caused that wave. In 2011, Crescent City suffered tsunami damage from the Sendai earthquake that caused extensive destruction to Japan including to their nuclear reactor.

We stopped for a one-mile walk at Beachfront Park which has a Visitor Center, terrific playground, picnic areas, horseshoes, disc golf, and marine mammal center. The flat park is on Front St. not far from Hwy 101. Battery Point Lighthouse is nearby,

Even on a gray day, one can enjoy the coast. But one has to remember, the destructive potential of nature. Okay, not on a vacation – we’ll think happy tourist thoughts. It rains a lot in Crescent City – but not this day.

For more information on these nearby parks – click Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

Click Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park

Click Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

Arcata

Arcata sits on a shallow bay (Humboldt Bay) protected from the ocean by a long sand spit. We like to visit the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. Walking around the ponds, wetlands and marshes, we can walk for a couple of miles. Weaving around Butcher’s Slough Trail we came to the Interpretive Center near South G St. (Maps available at the center.)

Access the area from South G Street or South I Street to Marina Way near downtown Arcata. For guided walks by Audubon Society and Friends of the Arcata Marsh, click FOAM.

Other cool stuff: Waterfront in Trinidad – good for very short flat walk. Just north of town is the Trinidad State Beach. Over the mountains via Blue Lake to the Trinity National Forest, Humboldt Redwoods State Park.

This is the last part of our trip to Oregon, Washington and back down the coast to California. It took us 12 days on the road and more than a month to tell about. Travelling is great; telling about it is hard. We had to take a brief vacation to get through it all.

Meanwhile back to Sonoma County and walking…

Lynn Millar