Redwood Creek / Freshwater Beach Day Use Area

Redwood Creek / Freshwater Beach Day Use Area is a developed picnic area at the north end of Freshwater Beach, about 1.5 miles south of Orick. If you're driving US-101 between Orick and Thomas H. Kuchel Visitor Center, this is the stop for a proper break: there are picnic tables, grills and shelters, plus parking for RVs. The parking area is only a short walk from the sand, and the visitor center is a few hundred yards away.

This is a good place to look out for whales from shore, but it's a poor swimming beach: the water is very cold and currents can be swift. Sneaker waves are a real hazard here, so never turn your back on the surf. Vehicles aren't allowed on the sand; leashed pets are allowed.

This site was once a Yurok village called OREQ-w. It's a small but important piece of the place's history to carry with you as you walk along the shore.

Freshwater Lagoon is across US-101, on the inland side of the coastal sandspit; this beach and day-use area are on the ocean side. Currents and sediment from rivers keep reshaping those sand barriers, so the lagoon and beach are distinct parts of a changing coastline.

The shelter and picnic tables sit back by the lot, so walk out onto the beach for the surf and open-water view. If driftwood is on the sand, include a piece low in the frame to give the wide shoreline some foreground and scale.