Northern California holds two of the state’s nine national parks, and both protect landscapes shaped by extremes: Redwood preserves nearly half the world’s remaining old-growth coast redwood forest, including the tallest known living tree on Earth, while Lassen Volcanic contains all four recognized types of volcanoes within a single boundary, a legacy of the most recent volcanic eruption in the contiguous United States before Mount St. Helens.
Here’s the practical guide to both: where they sit, what they cost, the numbers that define them, and the very different conservation stories that led each one to federal protection.
Northern California’s National Parks Overview
| Park | Location | Established | Entrance Fee | Signature Feature |
| Redwood | Del Norte and Humboldt counties, near Oregon border | 1968 | Free (state park sections charge day-use fees) | Tallest trees on Earth |
| Lassen Volcanic | Southern Cascade Range, northeastern CA | August 9, 1916 | $30 per vehicle (7 days) | All four volcano types in one park |
Where Northern California’s National Parks Are Located
Redwood sits along California’s far northern coast, close to the Oregon border, spanning Del Norte and Humboldt counties, roughly six to seven hours north of San Francisco. Lassen Volcanic sits further inland, in the southern Cascade Range, about 48 miles from Redding via Highway 44. Both parks require real driving commitment from the Bay Area, and while they don’t sit close enough together for a single day trip, many Northern California road trips combine them with a broader loop through Redding, Mount Shasta, or the Oregon coast.
Redding Municipal Airport offers reasonable access to Lassen Volcanic, while Redwood’s remoteness means most visitors drive up from San Francisco or down from Oregon rather than flying directly in.
What Northern California’s National Parks Cost to Visit
Redwood National Park itself charges no entrance fee at all, a genuine rarity for a major national park. The three California State Parks woven into the same complex, Jedediah Smith Redwoods, Del Norte Coast Redwoods, and Prairie Creek Redwoods, do charge day-use fees at specific developed sites like Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon.
Lassen Volcanic charges $30 per vehicle during peak season (May 22 through October 31), dropping to $20 during the off-season. The $55 Lassen Annual Pass is also honored at three nearby sites, Crater Lake National Park, Lava Beds National Monument, and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, a useful detail for anyone road-tripping through Northern California and southern Oregon together. Anyone planning to visit multiple national parks typically prefers the $80 America the Beautiful Pass instead.
Facts That Distinguish Northern California’s Two Parks
Redwood protects roughly 45% of all remaining old-growth coast redwood forest on Earth, including Hyperion, the tallest known living tree, measuring over 381 feet with its exact location kept secret to prevent habitat damage from visitors seeking it out. The park’s forest canopy regularly exceeds 300 feet, and individual trees commonly live 500 to 700 years, with some surpassing 2,000 years old.
Lassen Volcanic contains all four types of volcanoes recognized by geologists within a single park: Lassen Peak, the largest plug dome volcano on Earth; Prospect Peak, a shield volcano; Cinder Cone; and Brokeoff Volcano, an eroded ancient stratovolcano. The park’s hydrothermal features remain genuinely active today, including boiling mud pots and steaming fumaroles at Bumpass Hell, and the 2021 Dixie Fire burned more than 69% of the park’s total area, making it the largest wildfire in the park’s recorded history.
The History Behind Northern California’s National Parks
Redwood’s protection traces back to the Save-the-Redwoods League, founded in 1918, which helped establish the first protective state parks in the 1920s before roughly 90% of the region’s old-growth forest had already been logged by the 1960s. President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation establishing Redwood National Park on October 2, 1968, and in 1994, the park formally combined with the three surrounding state parks into the cooperative management structure that exists today.
Lassen Volcanic’s origin is tied directly to a dramatic real-world eruption. President Theodore Roosevelt first protected Cinder Cone and Lassen Peak as separate national monuments in 1907, and when Lassen Peak reawakened in 1914 after roughly 27,000 years of dormancy, culminating in a major 1915 eruption, the resulting national attention helped secure full national park status. President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation combining the monuments into Lassen Volcanic National Park on August 9, 1916.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. Can I visit both Redwood and Lassen Volcanic on the same Northern California trip?
It’s possible but requires significant driving, since the two parks sit several hours apart on opposite sides of the region. Most travelers treat them as separate legs of a longer Northern California and southern Oregon itinerary rather than a single combined day.
Q2. Why is Redwood free while Lassen Volcanic charges an entrance fee?
Fee policy is set independently per park based on visitation history and funding structure; Redwood’s cooperative arrangement with California State Parks means fees are collected separately at specific state park sites rather than at a single national park gate.
Q3. Is it safe to hike near Lassen’s active hydrothermal features?
Yes, if you stay on designated boardwalks and trails. The ground crust around features like Bumpass Hell can be thin and unstable, so leaving marked paths poses genuine safety risks.
Q4. Can I hike to see Hyperion, the world’s tallest tree, at Redwood?
No. Its exact location is intentionally kept confidential to prevent damage to the surrounding old-growth understory from visitors trying to find it, and attempting to seek it out off-trail can result in significant fines.
