Northern Calif./So. Orgeon photo ops

I will be going on a 5 day trip through northern california

and southern oregon, and these are the places I plan to visit

on this trip:

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Shasta ghost town (Redding)

Burney Falls state park

Lava beds national monument

Crater lake

redwood/praire creek national park

avenue of the giants

ferndale

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I would appreciate any photo tips or things I shouldn't miss

sort of advice in the above places, and also anything near

those worth seeing that I might have missed.

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Thanks,

Praveen

When are you going?

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Lava Beds NM abuts the southern border of the Tule/Klamath NWR complex. If this is a mid-summer trip, the refuge isn't all that interesting though it will be full of scattered waterfowl (post breeding).

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Redwood National Park lies along an interesting stretch of coast that gets more interesting, IMO, the further north you get. Jedediah Smith State Park, outside Crescent City, also has spectacular redwoods. The Oregon Coast, as you move north of Brookings, Oregon, is exceptionally pretty. This southern stretch of the Oregon Coast is the part you always see in coffee table books and calendars, with good reason.

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Five days is too short. Can't you quit your job and take a couple of months? :)

For redwoods, skip the Avenue of the Giants and concentrate on Prairie Creek State Park, Redwoods National Park, and Jedediah Smith State Park.

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South and west of Eureka, the town of Ferndale has many pictureque victorian-style homes but lacks natural scenery. Between Euerka and Orick, be sure to stop at the town of Trinidad and Patricks Point State Park.

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Between Orick and Prairie Creek State Park, take Davison Road west of US101 to the beach (4 miles). The road continues north along the beach to the mouth of Fern Canyon (another 4 miles). Between the road and the cliffs you will probably see herds of Elk. Fern canyon has walls convered with (of course) ferns; it has been featured in National Geographic. (Its been nearly 20 years since I took that route; it was unpaved and forded a creek, but I didn't need four-wheel drive).

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If you can fit it into your busy schedule (you have described a vast geographical area) you might also visit Mount Lassen Volcanic Park.

Thanks for the information and advice; fern canyon sounds interesting and I will go there too. I am going next month, the July 4th weekend. It will probably be a zoo out there but oh well. The idea of quitting my job and taking 2 months is very tempting but will have to wait somewhat :-(. Maybe I will do this after getting a 4x5 :-).

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I decided against Lassen since it is doable from Berkeley over an ordinary weekend. I am also skipping the Mendocino coast for this reason.

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BTW, is there really a falls in Klamath Falls? I can't find any reference to one in the AAA guidebooks.

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Praveen

We did this trip a few years ago. We also visited the Crater Lake

National Park. It is very beautiful there although it gets a bit

boring after watching the same beautiful lake for a while. I got

a number of nice landscape shots at Crater Lake.

I have been dislocated (sometimes regretably) from my home state state for eight years and miss the annual pilgrimages to the Oregon Coast. While my favorite part of the coast continues to be the central part, basically from Florence to Lincoln City, the area around Bandon is spectacular. Great oof-coast rock formations, wonderful opportunities for striking sunsets and still relatively little crowded. Besides, one of my favorite non photo places in that area is the cheese factory at Bandon. Crater Lake is a beautiful spot and you can find a lot of different ways to photograph Wizard Island, but it's still the same lake and same island. It's worth a one-day trip, but don't pass up the coast. I'm not feeling a complete stranger in north central Idaho... there are some beautiful places here as well, and only seven hours to Glacier. Still, my favorite place to shoot is the Oregon Coast. If I see you the week of July 7, I'll wave. I will be camping farther north near Tillamook. Best of luck on your expedition, and don't spare the film.

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mel

Praveen,

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I've been to Redwoods 3 times in the last year and a half and it's a fantastic place. One of my favorite things is the relatively fearless elk that congregate near the campgrounds. This time of year the males should be hanging out on the beach (some near Fern Canyon) and the females on Elk Prarie, in Prarie creek S.P. I think that the calves were born in the last month or two also. I didn't have much success taking pictures in Fern Canyon but I hope to get it right next time!

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Have a great trip,

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Matt