Ferns cling to the sheer walls of this jungly grotto at Gold Bluffs Beach in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. A quick 0.7-mile loop through the canyon is fine if you’re bringing the kids. But if you have time for a 6.7-mile loop, continue onward through groves of giant redwoods and return along the beach. Dogs and bicycles are not allowed. Expect to pay a small parking fee.

Drive Highway 101 south . . .

Five wandering prospectors discovered gold here at the mouth of Fern Canyon in the spring of 1850.  Within months a boomtown tent city sprang up.  The bonanza faded when the miners realized the gold dust was so small it could only be separated from the beach sand with expensive processing.

To hike into Fern Canyon . . .

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes : Oregon Coast