No matter how many times you enter a redwood forest at dusk, the effect is the same; your brain registers your first step into the shadows as if it were a leap into a bottomless pond. This sense of submerging deepens as you continue into the slowly darkening forest. In the last of the fading light, the trees darken, but the forest ferns take on an ethereal glow. Everything goes still.

You can experience this fairy-tale serenity in any of the redwood forests that line the North Coast, but at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park , just outside the small town of Hiouchi (9 miles east of Crescent City on Highway 199), you can also camp beside an emerald-clear river and watch the stars fill the sky. If you prefer a roof over your head, try the Hiouchi Motel .

Jedediah Smith abuts Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park , with Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park nearby to the south. These two parks bump up against the coast and are crisscrossed with glorious hiking trails. Plunge down Damnation Creek Trail (Del Norte Park) and, trees overhead, you’ll pass through swaths of lush green ferns and rhododendrons until you step out on a meadowed bluff, where vast forested slopes rise steeply into the sky behind you and the Pacific Ocean stretches taut to the horizon before you.

Helpful Tip: Don’t forget to bring a flashlight on your evening walk; few places are blacker than a redwood forest at night.