Places to See Wild Native Plants
Seeing native plants in their natural habitats is one of the favorite activities of CNPS members and something we want everyone to do. The chapter helps make this happen by offering short plant walks near our population centers and by organizing day trips and a few over-nighters to more distant sites. These trips are open to any interested person, not just members. We welcome beginners and experts; we enjoy learning from each other. See the activity list for upcoming trips, and look at the lists of past trips in the left column of that page.
Many wonderful guides to hiking in our area are in bookstores and on websites. I find especially useful the two Hiking Humboldt volumes from Back Country Press. Volume 1 by Ken Burton has hikes at least 5 miles long (which can be customized shorter), and volume 2 by Rees Hughes has shorter hikes. For hikes in the Redwood parks, Jerry and Gisela Rohde have written Humboldt Redwoods State Park the Complete Guide and Best Short Hikes in Redwood National & State Parks.
The places we visit are usually open to the public. We encourage you to explore there on your own.
The plan is to add information about each place on this list. If you would like to help develop and improve this list, please contact me! Carol Ralph, Field Trip Chair
Places Very Near Arcata-Eureka listed north to south
| Little River State Beach |
| Hammond Trail |
| Azalea State Reserve |
| Mad River County Park |
| Lanphere Dunes Unit |
| Jolly Giant Creek |
| Humboldt State University campus – conifers |
| Arcata Community Forest |
| Arcata Town and Forest–Native Plants in Gardens and Nature. (Godwit Days walk) |
| Arcata Marsh |
| Jacoby Creek Canyon |
| Jacoby Creek Forest |
| Ma-le’l Dunes North and South |
| Humboldt Coastal Nature Center |
| Manila Dunes |
| Eureka Dunes |
| North Spit |
| Humboldt Area Foundation |
| Sequoia Park, Eureka |
| Elk River Trail in Headwaters Forest Reserve |
| Hikshari’ Trail |
Places North of Arcata-Eureka near to far, with approximate hours driving time
| Baker Beach & Luffenholz Beach | 0.5 |
| Trinidad Head | 0.5 |
| Trinidad State Beach | 0.5 |
| Elk Head | 0.5 |
| Patrick’s Point State Park | 0.5 |
| Big Lagoon County Park | 0.5 |
| Stagecoach Hill Azalea Management Area. | 0.5 |
| Dry Lagoon-Stone Lagoon Trail | 0.5 |
| Stone Lagoon north end | 0.5 |
| Lost Man Creek Trail | 0.75 |
| Old State Highway around Freshwater Lagoon | 1 |
| Bald Hills Rd | 1 |
| Redwood Creek Trail | 1 |
| Dolason Prairie Trail | 1 |
| Skunk Cabbage Trail | 1 |
| Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park–various trails | 1 |
| Carrother’s Cove Trail (Prairie Creek Redwoods SP) | 1.5 |
| West Ridge Trail (Prairie Creek Redwoods SP) | 1 |
| Coastal Road | 1 |
| Flint Ridge Trail | 1 |
| Coastal Trail–Requa to Lagoon Creek | 1 |
| Coyote Creek Basin (Bald Hills Rd.) | 1.25 |
| Mill Creek Campground | 1.5 |
| Dead Lake | 1.5 |
| Lake Earl | 1.5 |
| Point Saint George | 1.5 |
| Tolowa Dunes – Dead Lake | 2 |
| Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park | 2 |
| Stony Creek Trail near Gasquet | 2 |
| South Fork Smith River | 2 |
| French Hill Rd | 2 |
| Myrtle Creek Trail | 2 |
| Rock Creek Ranch, South Fork Smith R. | 2 |
| High Divide Rd | 2 |
| Point St. George | 2 |
| Bear Basin Butte & Buck Lake | 3 |
| Sanger Lake | 3 |
| Rough and Ready Botanical Wayside | 3 |
| Oregon Caves National Monument | 3 |
| Siskiyou Mts. around Selma; Siskyou Field Inst. | 3 |
| North Fork Smith Botanical Area | 3 |
Places East of Arcata-Eureka alphabetically, with approximate hours travel
| Ammon Prairie | 2 |
| Bair Rd. | 1 |
| Big Flat, Trinity Mts. | 3 |
| Board Camp Mt. | 1 |
| Burnt Ranch Campground | 2 |
| Cedar Camp area, out of Orleans | 2 |
| Cold Spring near Horse Mountain (2016) (2021) | 1 |
| Cook and Green Pass | 3 |
| Crogan’s Hole | 2.5 |
| East Fork Willow Creek | 1 |
| Fish Lake and Four Nearby Lakes | 2 |
| Friday Ridge Rd. | 1 |
| Grays Falls Campground | 2 |
| Grays Falls Day Use Area | 1.5 |
| Grouse Mt. | 1 |
| Groves Prairie | 2 |
| Horse Linto Campground | 1.25 |
| Horse Mountain Botanical Area | 1 |
| Horse Mtn. to Spikebuck Meadow | 1 |
| Horse Mtn. to Grouse Mtn. | 1 |
| Hwy 299 (Fall Tour) | 0.5 |
| Kangaroo Lake | 4 |
| Lily Heaven (Bluff Creek Rd.) | 2 |
| Mad River Buttes (Board Camp Mtn.) | 2 |
| Mt. Lassen | 4 |
| Pine Ridge | 1 |
| Poker Flat & Kelly Lake | 3 |
| Scott Mtn. & Mt. Eddy | 3 |
| East Boulder Lake and Scott Mountain Botanical Area | 3 |
| Tangle Blue Lake and Scott Mountain Botanical Area | 3 |
| Spike Buck Mountain | 1 |
| South Fork Trinity River Trail | 2 |
| Sugar Lake | 3 |
| Titlow Hill | 1 |
| Waterdog Lake | 2 |
Places South of Arcata-Eureka alphabetically, with approximate hours travel
| Alder Point | 3 |
| Bear River Ridge | 1 |
| Benbow to Garberville Trail | 2 |
| Bull Creek – Albee Creek area | 2 |
| Canoe Creek in Humboldt Redwoods S. P. | 2 |
| Elk River Trail, Headwaters Forest | 0.5 |
| Grasshopper Peak, Humboldt Redwoods S. P. | 2 |
| Grizzly Creek Redwoods S. P. | 1 |
| Guthrie Creek | 2 |
| Headwaters Forest | 1 |
| Hidden Springs Beach Trail | 1.25 |
| Humboldt Bay NWR – Loleta | 1 |
| Humboldt Botanical Garden | 0.5 |
| Lassics Botanical and Geological Area | 3 |
| Mail Ridge (Dyerville Loop Rd.) | 2 |
| Mattole Rd. | 1 |
| Mattole River/Lost Coast Trail | 2 |
| Mendocino – Jughandle, etc. | 4 |
| Rohner Park, Fortuna | 0.5 |
| Russ Park, Ferndale | 1 |
| Ruth Lake and Environs | 2 |
| Shapeero property, Hydesville | 0.5 |
| Table Bluff County Park | 0.5 |