castle island

Better known as Castle Rock National Wildlife Refuge, the island is a 14 acre (5.67ha) rock that rises 335 feet (102m) quickly above sea level and located 0.5 mile (0.8k) off the coast on the north side of Crescent City. Castle Rock is the second largest seabird nesting colony south of Alaska and an important resting spot for large numbers of marine mammals. Closed to the public to protect the wildlife, the best views are from the coast near a parking lot along North Pebble Beach Dr just south of its intersection with Washington Blvd, not far from the airport. In addition to the parking, there are interpretive signs and access to the beach below. On the last evening of our visit to Crescent City, the fog finally receded enough for us to see the island off the coast and we were treated to a spectacular sunset. While the residual mist and low light prevented us from clearly seeing the wildlife, we could clearly hear the birds, sea lions and elephant seals in the distance, a nice finale to our visit.

This is a beautiful island off the north end of town. It is a marine protected area, so if you are boating, stay 300 feet away.

We drove the scenic route out of Crescent City north toward Tolowa Dunes State Park and were rewarded with some beautiful formations/beach shots. One of those was of Castle Island a local wildlife sanctuary. It is just off the coast a few hundred yards near the airport and 2 miles before reaching the state park. We chose to hike down through the grass to the beach and out to a closer point to shoot pictures. We found some nice driftwood pieces and were treated to a view of the sea lions and elephant seals that call the island home. Definitely worth your time.