Parking
Start at the marked Wilson Creek Picnic Area trailhead off US 101; finish at the marked Klamath River Overlook trailhead on Requa Road. This is a one-way route, so arrange a ride or leave a vehicle at the far end.
Overview
About Coastal Trail: Klamath Section
Why go
- Broad ocean and river-mouth views near the southern end
- A short side trip reaches Hidden Beach and tidepools
Heads up
- Point-to-point logistics require a ride or vehicles at both ends
- Narrow trail with very steep switchbacks and a long wooded middle
Map & elevation
The route
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
6 active Redwood alerts
- CautionU.S. 101 construction traffic controlsExpect construction-related traffic stops and one-way controlled traffic on U.S. 101; allow extra time and drive cautiously. - NPS reports multiple stops between Orick and Crescent City; delays vary.Official details
- CautionU.S. 199 construction traffic controlsExpect 24/7 one-way controlled traffic on three U.S. 199 segments because of construction. - 6–6.2 miles north of Gasquet: through 6:00 p.m. December 15, 2026; delays up to 10 minutes. - 9.6–9.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Redwood Tour Guide
Your drive to Coastal Trail: Klamath Section, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Redwood National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Redwood audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Wilson Creek and the DeMartin Coastal Trail0:00 / 0:23
“Wilson Creek is coming up, with access to the DeMartin section of the Coastal Trail. Choose this for old-growth forest opening onto grassy hillsides and ocean views, with steep grades and switchbacks along the way.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Redwood Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Lagoon Creek and Hidden Beach
- Trees of Mystery
- Ocean Floor Beneath the Forest
- Damnation Creek Trail
- 85 audio storiesacross Redwood’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, California Condor, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 83 trails, 48 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Coastal Trail: Klamath Section
Know the route before you goThis is a point-to-point coastal hike from Wilson Creek Picnic Area to Klamath River Overlook…
This is a point-to-point coastal hike from Wilson Creek Picnic Area to Klamath River Overlook on Requa Road. The mapped through-route measures about 4.4 miles one way. NPS lists the section at 5.5 miles and describes a return spur to Hidden Beach; that detour may explain the higher figure, but the published mileage convention is not explicit. Allow roughly 3–4 hours, longer if you take the beach spur and explore at low tide. The sampled profile suggests about 1,000 feet of cumulative climbing.
Plan for a through-hikeThe marked trailheads are at separate ends, so arrange a ride or leave a vehicle at the…
The marked trailheads are at separate ends, so arrange a ride or leave a vehicle at the destination. NPS calls the trail moderate but notes narrow tread, very steep grades and switchbacks. Dogs are not allowed on park trails. This is a spruce-and-alder coast walk, not a redwood-grove hike.
Hidden Beach is the side tripAbout two miles south from Wilson Creek and False Klamath Cove, a short branch descends to…
About two miles south from Wilson Creek and False Klamath Cove, a short branch descends to Hidden Beach and its tidepools. Return to the Coastal Trail to continue south; check tide times before going down to the shore. The beach is a worthwhile change of pace, but it adds distance to the through-hike.
A wooded, rolling middleMost of the route stays among Sitka spruce and red alder.
Most of the route stays among Sitka spruce and red alder. The trail continually rises and dips, and a long middle stretch has only brief ocean glimpses. Brambles and ferns crowd parts of the old roadbed, while surf carries up from the rocky coast below.
The coast opens near the overlookNear the south end, the path climbs past large old-growth spruce and a stand of white-barked…
Near the south end, the path climbs past large old-growth spruce and a stand of white-barked alder to a fenced viewpoint. The final half-mile crosses an open, grassy hillside with rough tread and broad ocean views. From Klamath River Overlook, look toward the river mouth and offshore sea stacks; NPS names common murres, cormorants and pigeon guillemots among the seabirds seen there.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Redwood
256 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
2,389 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
62 sightingsCalifornia CondorMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
60 sightingsCalifornia Sea LionMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
216 sightingsHarbor SealMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
13 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Redwood. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
