Crescent City

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 only a few connector roads from the east (Hwy 20, Hwy 299) so if you want to drive along the coast, you can access Hwy 101 near San Francisco and follow it north.

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.

 In you are traveling on Interstate 5 and want to travel over to the coast, you can take Hwy 299 west where it intersects I-5 at Redding, Ca.

Hwy 299 west is a beautiful, highly scenic, curvy/winding route through the rugged mountains of Northern California. This route takes from Redding, through Weaverville and Willow Creek, along the Trinity and Klamath Rivers enroute to its juntion with Hwy 101 at Arcata, CA.

Depending on your speed and stops along the way, Hwy 299 will take you approximately two and a half to three hours driving time to reach the coast.

(If you take I-5 north to the Hwy 199 cutoff at Grants Pass, Oregon, and head over to the coast, you are looking at a Five plus hour trip.)

As a word of caution, Hwy 299 is not advisable during winter months due to Ice, snow and ppssibly slides that can cause long delays and/or road closures.

If you are not prone to motion sickness and enjoy scenic, country roads (mostly two lanes) you might want to give Hwy 299 a try.

By plane

• 1 Del Norte County Regional Airport (CEC  ^IATA). Is a small airport in Crescent City on the northwest side of town serving as a general aviation airport. Daily commercial flights with Contour Airlines from Oakland. Next nearest commercial airports are the Arcata-Eureka Airport (ACV) in McKinleyville at 70 mi (110 km) south on US 101, and the Rogue Valley Airport (MFR) in Medford, Oregon, 109 mi (175 km) NE of Crescent City via US 199.  

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.

• Redwood Coast Transit, ☏ +1 707 464-6400. Provides service in Del Norte County and limited service in Humboldt County. Route 20 comes all the way from Arcata in the south and terminates in Smith River, north via Crescent City. Route 20 is timed to connect with Curry Public Transit's Coastal Express (serves the southern Oregon Coast, all the way up to Coos Bay/North Bend) in Smith River. Connections to Greyhound, Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach, and the Redwood Transit System (Humboldt County public transit) services in Arcata. $1 local Crescent City routes, $1.50 within the rest of Del Norte County, $30 to travel between Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. (updated Jul 2015)
• Klamath Shuttle, ☏ +1 541 883-2609, toll-free: +1-888-900-2609. Inter-city bus service serving southwestern Oregon. The bus runs from Brookings and Smith River in the south to Cave Junction, Grants Pass, Medford, Ashland, and Klamath Falls in the northeast. Fares $8-45 based on distance. (updated Jul 2015)

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.

• 1 Battery Point Light House. Visit the Battery Point Light House, one of the oldest lighthouses on the California coast. Accessible at low-tide. (updated Dec 2016)
• 2 Tolowa Dunes State Park, ☏ +1 707 464-6101. (updated May 2020)
• 3 Ocean World, 304 Highway 101 S, ☏ +1-704-464-4900. 9AM–6PM. Aquarium with multiple exhibits and a sea lion show. Adult $13.95 Age 3 to 11 $9.95 Under 3 Free. (updated May 2023)

Eat

• Good Harvest Cafe, 575 US Highway 101 South, ☏ +1 707 465-6028. 

Sleep

• Best Western Northwoods Inn, 655 US Highway 101 S, ☏ +1 707 464-9771, fax: +1 707 464-9461. 
• Curly Redwood Lodge (US 101 South Edge). 

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 Bay ← Brookings-Harbor ←	N  S	→ Klamath → Eureka
Grants Pass ← Cave Junction ←	N  S	→ END