We managed to snag a two-night stay at the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park campground--the only openings that were available all month.
It was a heck of a lot of driving for such a short stay, but I needed to refresh my memory of how excellent the redwoods up in Humboldt and Del Norte counties are.
We visited the Stout Grove up near Crescent City and the Lady Bird Johnson Grove to the south, both of which were truly awe-inspiring, but the trails right around the campground were also excellent.
I brought a trail cam in case Bigfoot would make an appearance, but we settled for a gray fox that traipsed through around midnight.
The Elk Prairie for which the campground is named had a dozen bulls in residence.
Fern Canyon was a hugely popular spot, with lots of cars parked at the end of the dusty road. I was last there in 2008 when I spent a night camping at Gold Bluffs Beach. I didn't recall there being any more than a couple of cars there at the time. Fortunately, the trail itself wasn't all that crowded, so we were able to maintain "social distancing," and most people wore face masks.
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