State Parks and National Parks

Camping, white-water rafting, kayaking, cross-country skiing, hiking and fishing are some of the recreational activities available at the Six Rivers National Forest in northwestern California.

The six rivers for which the forest is named, the Smith, Klamath, Eel, Trinity, Van Duzen and Mad, provide exciting recreation activities and healthy populations of chinook and coho salmon and steelhead, rainbow and cutthroat trout.

There are trails for hiking, picnic areas, campgrounds and a rental cabin.

The forest's 350,000-acre Smith River National Recreation Area contains the last major undammed and undiverted river in California and many examples of 1930s-era Civilian Conservation Corps architecture.

Enjoy white-water paddling on the Smith River, Big Foot and Trinity scenic byways or backpack in the rugged high country of the Siskiyou, Trinity or Marble Mountain Wildernesses.

The North Fork Wilderness in the Eel River watershed attracts backpackers, anglers and solitude seekers.

Bear Basin Butte Lookout provides a panoramic view from the ocean to the Siskiyou Wilderness and is available by reservation. Most other campgrounds are not on the reservation system and are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Photo credits in order: Photo by Jean Hawthorne, courtesy of the Six Rivers National Forest. Courtesy of the Six Rivers National Forest. Courtesy of the Six Rivers National Forest.