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Crescent City is a coastal city in Del Norte County in the northwestern corner of California.

Get in

By car

From San Francisco or Portland, US Highway 101 makes a scenic but sometimes slow drive along the coast to Crescent City. Between San Francisco and Crescent City, there are no good connector roads from the east, so if you want to take 101, you need to start from the San Francisco Bay Area far to the south.

From Grants Pass in Oregon, you can take US Highway 199 southwest to reach Crescent City. Grants Pass is also a stop along Interstate 5, which is the major north-south highway on the west coast. Interstate 5 is known as fast and easy to drive and has good connections to further east, but it's often a boring road.

By plane

By bus

The 2 Cultural Center curbside bus stop on Front Street near K Street acts as the main transfer point for buses serving Crescent City.

Get around

See

Point Saint George is a county park northwest of town. You may beach comb, whalewatch or birdwatch among other activities. Drive 15 miles inland to visit Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park. This state park is one of the very few redwood parks with trails that go into the deep interior. Must-see: Stout Grove. Must-hike: Boy Scout Tree Trail. This trail is a hidden gem, and arguably one of the most beautiful in the entire state. Drive a few miles south to Enderts Beach Road. This road will take you to the sound end of Crescent Beach, and beyond that a trail will take you to a small, rocky cove--Enderts Beach. Visit the Battery Point Light House, accessible at low-tide.

Do

Buy

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Stay safe

Crescent City is sometimes remembered as the only place in the 48 contiguous American states to have suffered loss of life from a tsunami in recorded history. Its location is particularly vulnerable to such waves. An extensive warning system has been installed to ensure the safety of residents and visitors alike and it works well. When an offshore quake in 2005 triggered the tsunami alert system as a precaution, the city was evacuated in 20 minutes. However, make sure to keep this concern in perspective; even in Crescent City, many more people die in auto accidents than by tsunamis.

Go next

Routes through Crescent City
Coos BayBrookings-Harbor  N  S  KlamathEureka
Grants PassCave Junction  N  S  END


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