California: A Magical Hike to Fern Canyon

As we continued on north, journeying through what felt like a never-ending amount of towering trees, we were both excited about our final stop within the Redwoods — for on this day, we were venturing in to Fern Canyon.

Let me put this out there from the beginning, Fern Canyon may just be the most magical mile I've ever walked. It's a hidden paradise of lush green ferns lining a deep narrow gorge, which has been carved out by a creek. It takes a bit of work to arrive at this gem, but those who do make it are well rewarded.

Turning off the highway, we drove eight miles along a mountainous unpaved road, we made sure to take it nice and easy as our bumperring motorhome was working well overtime. Successfully making it through the mountains, we were stopped in our tracks by a small stream crossing which we didn't want to risk driving through. From there, we decided on a Plan B which would see us park, cross the steam by foot, and walk the rest of the way there. With our luck, without having even walked five minutes, a car pulled up with a family of three inside who kindly offered us a lift the rest of the way.

After a drive of exchanging travel stories with our friendly companions, we hopped out of the car, said our thanks and began to follow the small trail pointing to Fern Canyon. As the trail began, we came to a series of small footbridges crossing the stream. The wall of ferns grew taller and squeezed tighter as we travelled through. We noticed quickly that it was much easier to walk in the stream and get our shoes wet than to navigate the slippery path and fallen trees.

Far too soon, the trail ascends out of the canyon and loops around to where we began. Hesitant to leave, we retraced our steps for a second serve as a truly special place like this is just too hard to leave.

Fun fact: Fern Canyon was a shooting location for a scene in Jurassic Park (The Lost World).