Navarro River Redwoods State Park is a state park in Mendocino County, California, consisting of of second-growth redwood forest in a narrow stretch long on both banks of the Navarro River, from the town of Navarro to the river's confluence with the Pacific Ocean. Activities and facilities The park may be reached via State Route 128, which winds through the park along the north bank of the river and has many turnouts, allowing travelers to stop for day use activities such as picnics and short walks through the forest. Fishing, swimming, kayaking, and canoeing are also possible. Two developed campgrounds are part of the park. The Navarro Beach Campground is on the beach to the south of the river mouth; it has ten campsites, picnic tables, fire grills, and pit toilets, but no shade or drinking water. The Paul M. Dimmick Campground is inland, in a second-growth redwood grove near the river; it has 25 campsites, picnic tables, fire grills, pit toilets, and drinking water, but it may be flooded in the winter. Fauna and flora The river supports coho salmon, steelhead trout, and river otters; great blue herons, kingfishers, loons, and osprey nest along its banks. Raccoons and black-tailed deer live in the forest, and gray whales and harbor seals may sometimes be seen from the beach on the Pacific Ocean at the mouth of the river. Because the region now covered by the park was heavily logged in the 19th century, only second-growth redwood trees remain. However, two groves of old-growth redwoods may be seen in nearby Hendy Woods State Park, upriver a few miles southeast on Route 128. History The park land near the Navarro beach includes several historic buildings. Captain Fletcher's Inn was built by Charles Fletcher, a Scottish sailor who came to the area in 1851 and was the first European settler on the Navarro estuary. In 1860, Fletcher sold most of his land to Henry Tichenor and Robert G. Byxbee, who built a lumber mill on it in 1861. Fletcher then built his inn in 1865 to house sailors in the lumber trade while they waited for their ships to load. In time, a town of 1,000 people sprang up around the mill, called Navarro. A train on the north bank of the river brought logs to the mouth of the river, where they were brought across to the mill on the south bank.