Tolowa Dunes State Park

Tolowa Dunes State Park is a coastal reserve covering about 4,000 acres of sand dunes, wetlands, and coastal plains surrounding Lake Earl and Lake Tolowa near Crescent City. The landscape connects dunes, lakes, and marshes into one continuous natural system.

The park was established in 1925 and protects an area where the Tolowa people documented earthquake activity along the Cascadia subduction zone through oral history. These accounts reveal how deeply rooted the human connection to this place runs.

This land was home to the Tolowa people, who lived here long before American settlement arrived in the 1850s. Their presence shaped the cultural identity that still marks this place today.

The park offers various hiking routes, including the East Pond Loop and the Sweetwater Creek Trail, which runs about 2.5 miles from the Sand Hill Road parking area. Visitors should plan ahead since the paths pass through different landscapes with changing conditions depending on the season.

The coastal plain shifts between freshwater wetlands with Sitka Spruce forests and salt marshes with shellfish beds, depending on whether the earth sinks or rises. These changes unfold over centuries and continually create new habitats.