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Hike Through Fern Canyon – Jurassic Park in the Redwoods

Imagine yourself walking through a prehistoric jungle of various ferns growing on a canyon. Fern Canyon is a Northern California hike that takes you through a fern-covered canyon. Located in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, the Fern Canyon hike is the greatest canyon hike you can take in the redwoods.

This place is so unusually beautiful that Steven Spielberg’s The Lost World: Jurassic Park shot a film scene here. Plus, two dinosaur documentaries – Dinosaurs Alive (IMAX) and Walking with Dinosaurs (BBC) – were also filmed here. Here’s all you need to know about the Fern Canyon hike including insider tips:

The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is an epic long-distance footpath that traverses some of America’s most spectacular wilderness areas. The PCT was designated as a National Scenic Trail in 1968 and stretches for 2650 miles (4265 km) in length.

Many backpackers and adventurers dream of hiking the Pacific Crest Trail in a single season, a feat known as a “thru-hike”.

Hiking the entire trail is not for the faint of heart, however. The PCT stretches from Mexico to Canada along the spine of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges. A typical thru-hike takes approximately 5 months and requires hiking 20+ miles (32+ km) every day.

Thru-hikers spend months in the wilderness and encounter all sorts of complex (and often dangerous) challenges. They must meet nature on its terms and push themselves to the absolute limit of their endurance.

Most hikers who start the PCT do not finish it, whether due to illness or injury, or other unforeseen circumstances.

But for those who hike this stunning trail, whether they finish it or not, the experience is a life-changing one.

Lake 22 is a popular, roughly 7-mile hiking trail about an hour northeast of Seattle that offers some stunning views, a gorgeous mountain lake, and more.

We were fortunate enough to hit this trail when we were visiting Washington and wanted to share a bit more about what to expect on this one.

To put it bluntly, it is an amazing day trip near Seattle- you just need to be prepared for all trail conditions imaginable!

Note: We’ve seen the trail name written as Lake 22, Lake Twentytwo and Lake Twenty Two. We use these interchangeably in this post and apologize for any confusion.

Washington is a gorgeous, gorgeous state (you’ll likely find no objections to that by anyone who has visited). During our time in the state, we found so many stunning spaces both in Seattle and out in nature that had us in awe almost everywhere we went.

But one trail stuck out as being the most stunning above all others, and that is The Summit Lake Trail near Carbonado- about two hours outside of Seattle and just a stone’s throw away from Mount Rainier.

While you may not be summiting the famous mountain in this one, it does command a pretty impressive view of the mountaintop all the same.

But, as a word of warning, you’re going to want to have an SUV to reach the trailhead- the drive in is really the worst part!

Hike Through Fern Canyon – Jurassic Park in the Redwoods

Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: A Long-Distance Hiking Adventure

Lake Twenty Two Makes for a Gorgeous Hike Near Seattle

The Summit Lake Hike is a Must See Outside of Seattle