Places to go

Redwood Park / Arcata Community Forest

Redwood Park and the Arcata Community Forest provide a living museum of some 600 acres of second-growth redwood including ten miles of walking trails. The historic logging trail takes visitors on a walk from the west side of the parking lot. Mad River Beach offers sunning and gazing at the crashing surf. The Lamphere-Christensen Dune Preserve contains some of the most impressive dune plant life on the California coast. Tours are available from the Friends of the Dunes Society. Another fine place to view wildlife is the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary at the south end of I Street. This is a sewage treatment plant which shows how a municipality can take care of its waste -- and birds as well -- through marsh restoration. It's an important stopping place for egrets, loons, great blue herons and marsh wrens. Woodchip trails lead to several blinds. Arcata is home to Humboldt State University, which has an historical museum full of natural history displays, at 13th and G streets.

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