Parking
Start at the Dolason Prairie Trailhead on Bald Hills Road, about 11 miles from the U.S. 101 turnoff. The large shaded dirt lot has a picnic table and vault toilet.
Overview
About Dolason Prairie Trail
Why go
- Broad Bald Hills views across the Redwood Creek valley.
- A rare prairie-to-redwoods walk with a historic ranch barn.
Heads up
- A steep climb back after the long descent.
Dolason Prairie Trail is a strenuous 9-mile out-and-back from Bald Hills Road to Emerald Creek. It drops about 2,100 feet over 4.5 miles through open prairie, a ranch barn, fir forest and a short redwood grove, then climbs back the same way. Allow about six hours. Go for the big change in landscapes and the valley views, not a long stretch of giant redwoods.
Parkwolf’s verdictIs this the hike for you?Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Redwood map
Full mapElevation440–2,507 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
6 active Redwood alerts
- ClosureBald Hills Road, Mill Creek and 44 Creek restrictionsMentions Bald Hills Road, referenced in this guideUse caution on damaged Bald Hills Road and plan around Mill Creek and 44 Creek access restrictions.Official details
- ClosureJames Irvine, Miners Ridge and Dolason Prairie trail restrictionsMentions this trailConstruction, downed trees and a bridge failure restrict three trails; plan alternate routes and obey closures.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Redwood Tour Guide
Your drive to Dolason Prairie Trail, 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
Dolason Prairie Picnic Area0:00 / 0:28
“Dolason Prairie Picnic Area is coming up, a simple roadside break beside a hilltop meadow overlooking Redwood Creek country.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Redwood Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- A Giant from a Tiny Cone
- The Woodpeckers' Acorn Store
- How Redwoods Catch Fog
- Why the Bald Hills Stay Open
- 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 Dolason Prairie Trail
Start in the Bald HillsBegin at the Dolason Prairie Trailhead on Bald Hills Road, about 11 miles from the U.S.
Begin at the Dolason Prairie Trailhead on Bald Hills Road, about 11 miles from the U.S. 101 turnoff. The large, shaded dirt lot has a picnic table and vault toilet. Dogs aren't allowed on park trails.
Look across the valleyThe first meadow opens across Redwood Creek to hillsides still patterned by 1960s and 1970s…
The first meadow opens across Redwood Creek to hillsides still patterned by 1960s and 1970s clearcuts. Dark patches of old growth stand out among younger forest. Redwood National Park expanded in 1978 to protect most of the watershed after that logging. Red-tailed hawks circle above the prairie, and black-tailed deer browse the grass.
The barn and the prairieDolason Barn is a 19th-century remnant of a sheep ranch that operated here for almost a century.
Dolason Barn is a 19th-century remnant of a sheep ranch that operated here for almost a century. The barn, open grassland and checkerboard hillsides put the area's history in one view. A trail sign credits Indigenous stewardship in shaping these prairies and explains how prescribed burning helps keep forest from closing them in.
Into the woodsThe path crosses a burned patch and briefly follows a dirt logging road before descending…
The path crosses a burned patch and briefly follows a dirt logging road before descending through fir groves and steep switchbacks. A lower meadow reveals a redwood grove. Its lushest flat has larger trunks, ferns and redwood sorrel, but the best redwood stretch lasts only about a quarter mile. After that, the woods get drier, with tanoak, huckleberry and rhododendron.
Emerald Creek and backAt Emerald Creek the trail enters a small, ferny canyon; turn around there and retrace your…
At Emerald Creek the trail enters a small, ferny canyon; turn around there and retrace your steps. The climb back is a real part of the hike: the lower half is steadier, while the upper switchbacks are tougher.
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.
