Parking
Use the marked South Fork trailhead off Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway at mile marker 129, opposite the Prairie Creek trailhead; parking is limited.
Overview
About South Fork Trail
Why go
- A compact climb through old-growth redwood forest.
Heads up
- Steep, rooty grades make it harder than a flat grove walk.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Redwood map
Full mapElevation273–792 ft
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 South Fork 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
Brown Creek Trail0:00 / 0:24
“The Brown Creek trailhead is coming up, a good choice for a creekside redwood walk without a steep ridge climb. The two-and-a-half-mile out-and-back takes about an hour to an hour and a half, with modest, uneven grades.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Redwood Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Corkscrew Tree
- Big Tree Wayside
- Find the Wren by Ear
- Cal Barrel Road and Foothill 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 South Fork Trail
A short ridge out-and-backSouth Fork Trail follows a marked ridge from Newton B.
South Fork Trail follows a marked ridge from Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway at mile marker 129 to the Rhododendron Trail junction, then returns over the same line. Treat the trail’s listed 0.9 mile as the one-way climb: the convention is not labeled, but the mapped corridor to the junction is about 0.84 mile. The full walk is about 1.8 miles, with roughly 520 feet of climbing; allow around 1.5 hours. It is a compact choice if you want an uphill walk through old-growth redwoods without committing to a long loop.
The climbThe path rises through dense redwood forest on rooty ground. The grade varies but gets steep.
The path rises through dense redwood forest on rooty ground. The grade varies but gets steep. It opens briefly near a ravine with younger redwoods, then eases somewhat on the ridge among huckleberry and salal. At the T-junction, turn around to stay on South Fork. The park also describes longer loops linking South Fork with Brown Creek, Rhododendron and Cathedral Trees; those add other trails and distance.
Access and rulesStart at the marked trailhead off Newton B.
Start at the marked trailhead off Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, opposite the Prairie Creek trailhead. Parking is limited. The return follows the same ridge, so expect a steep descent after the climb. Pets are not permitted on park trails; service animals are allowed.
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.
