[1] The meadow along the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, with its population of Roosevelt elk, is considered a centerpiece of the park, located near the information center and campground.

Yurok villages, numbering no less than fifty in total, were located from Little River, California, in the south to the Wilson Creek Basin which runs into False Klamath Cove in the north (on the southern edge of Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park).

In 1872 a Captain Taylor of New York visited the Gold Bluffs to obtain the mine and exploit the rich sands supposedly deposited offshore.

The opening, Fay Aldrich said, was on the Prairie Creek side of Joe Stockel's place near the apple tree on Highway 101.

The park was created in 1923 with an initial donation of 160 acres (65 ha) by then owner Zipporah Russ to the Save the Redwoods League.

[3] During the great depression, a Civilian Conservation Corps camp was stationed in the park, clearing out campsites and creating fences on the borders of the prairie.

Trails in the park include: Hiker Jim Hamm was attacked by a mountain lion while hiking the Brown Creek Loop in 2007.