Davison Trail

Davison Trail is a 3-mile one-way hike and bike route on an old logging road, from the South Access just north of Elk Meadow to Elk Prairie Campground. It’s mostly level gravel, with only small changes in elevation. Come for a forest walk and a close look at how logged redwood country grows back; the famous old-growth trees are mostly at the north end. Allow about 1.5 to 2 hours one way. Walk back the same way if you want a roughly 6-mile outing, or plan your own return from Elk Prairie.

From Elk Meadow, follow signs toward Elk Prairie Campground. The route runs through dense, young Douglas-fir forest on the broad former road. After about two miles, it turns briefly onto a dirt road, passes a gate, then returns to forest. The end is at Elk Prairie Campground, where the final few hundred feet reach old-growth redwoods.

This road once served a logging mill and log deck. Along it, old mill buildings and enormous redwood stumps sit among crowded second-growth trees. Much of this forest was logged in the 1960s; the Douglas-firs you walk through are part of its recovery. It’s a useful trail if you want to see the working history of the redwoods as well as the trees.

The park points to elk and other wildlife along this corridor, and to salmon, herons and migrating songbirds in its recovering wetlands and forest. Treat those as possibilities, not a promise. Near the end, the short old-growth section feels noticeably different from the young forest that makes up most of the walk.

Park at Elk Meadow Day Use Area, a few hundred feet south of the signed South Access. Elk Meadow has restrooms, drinking water and picnic tables. This is a point-to-point route, so decide how you’ll get back before setting out. Pets aren’t allowed on park trails.