Tolowa Dunes State Park
Crescent City, CA
Tolowa Dunes State Park stretches across dunes, wetlands, and a long undeveloped beach just north of Crescent City, with Kellogg Beach at the end of Kellogg Road as the easiest way in by car. Once you're past the dune grass, the beach itself runs wide and mostly empty, backed by driftwood instead of houses or a boardwalk.
A genuinely big, undeveloped stretch of dunes and beach that most visitors skip in favor of the redwoods further south, though the camping fee logistics catch people off guard.
How we score beachesIf you want to stay overnight, the walk-in campsites require paying the fee in person at the Redwood National Park visitor center in Crescent City first, not at the park itself.
Parking at the Kellogg Beach access point is free; overnight camping elsewhere in the park requires a fee paid at the Redwood National Park visitor center in Crescent City.
A path leads from the Kellogg Beach lot through dune habitat to the sand; the wider park's trails cross wetland and dune terrain that isn't paved.
Dogs on leash are allowed only on the waveslope up to the high tide line, not on the dunes, trails, or the rest of the beach.
The wetlands here draw migratory birds heavily in fall and spring, while summer keeps the usual north coast fog pattern and cold water in the 50s.
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