Gold Bluff Beach campground in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park closes for season

"Redwood National and State Parks Superintendent Jeff Bomke has announced that the Gold Bluffs Beach Campground in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park will be closed through May 1", reports the Times-Standard that serves Eureka and California's north coast.

The isolated and wind swept primitive campground, which is part of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, is lightly used during the winter, which also makes it an attractive back-to-nature camping option. Set along the beach, resident Roosevelt elk regularly graze on the grass growing from the low dunes. Davison Road to the Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon, however, will remain open to the public through the winter.

But with cutbacks in the state park system, staffing shortages made the park unable to provide an acceptable level of service to the remote campground without compromising the operations of other, more heavily used campgrounds.

The Elk Prairie Campground in the park and the Jedediah Smith Campground in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park will remain open through the winter. Both campgrounds operate on a first-come, first-served basis through the winter season. No reservations are required.

For up-to-date information on all roads, trails and campgrounds within Redwood National and State Parks, call 707-465-7335, or visit the parks' website, www.nps.gov/redw.

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