Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park · caps RVs at 31 ft
Henry Cowell's 113 campsites are wedged between 277-ft coast redwoods at a 31-ft cap — no hookups, no on-site dump, but the canopy keeps it 15°F cooler than Santa Cruz year-round.
31ft
None (dry)
No
Year-round
Old-growth coast redwoods 277 feet tall ring the campground loops on a fluvial terrace above the San Lorenzo River — and the trees themselves dictate site geometry. The 113-site campground caps rigs at 31 feet across most pull-ins; a handful of back-ins fit 34 with careful maneuvering. The redwood canopy blocks satellite signal across roughly 80% of sites (the Verizon LTE band penetrates better than Starlink's Ku-band line-of-sight) and the same canopy keeps daytime temperatures 10-15°F below Santa Cruz immediately downhill. No hookups. No dump station inside the park — the closest is at Mount Madonna County Park, 22 miles east. Year-round operation; winter storms occasionally close access via Graham Hill Road when redwoods topple across the pavement.
Managing agency
California Department of Parks & Recreation
Primary sources
How to book this park
Reservations + RV staging
Official reservation portalLooking for the rig? Browse California RV rentals on PickRV →
Other state parks in California
Humboldt Redwoods
Humboldt Redwoods holds the world's largest contiguous old-growth redwood stand — Burlington's year-round 33-ft loop is the basecamp, and the 31-mile Avenue of the Giants is the reason you came.
Mount Tamalpais
Mt. Tamalpais posts a 24-ft road advisory and offers only walk-in tent sites — stage at China Camp or Samuel P. Taylor for RV camping, then day-trip the East Peak summit.
Anza-Borrego Desert
California's biggest state park lets you dispersed-camp any dirt road inside 600,000 acres — Borrego Palm Canyon holds the only full-hookup loop, and the operational season runs October through April.
Pfeiffer Big Sur
Pfeiffer Big Sur's redwood campsites cap at 32 ft, run year-round, and book six months ahead — but Highway 1 landslide closures north of the park are the actual planning constraint.
California rules · last verified 2026-05-10
- Rental tax
- 9.75%
- Min driver age
- 21+ std · 25+ Class A
- Gravel roads
- Permit required
- Generator quiet
- 22:00-06:00
More from the 50-park state-park catalog