Oh hey there, bucket list. I didn’t think I’d be checking anything off of you during Covid, but here we go.
Story first, then we’ll dive into a guide with some tips for visiting Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
The Story
When I was 21 and living in California, I passed on an opportunity to visit the redwoods because I didn’t think it was worth it to go see a bunch of trees. But when my friends came back and showed me pictures and talked about how amazing it was, I knew I had to go. I moved back East a month later, and now, after all these years, I finally got to see what the big deal is.
And sorry for the pun, but these trees are a BIG DEAL.
We very quickly realized that you just can’t fit a whole tree in a frame, so don’t even try.
One thing I hadn’t anticipated is how truly massive the trunks are for these trees. I expected really tall trees, but the trees are tall and wide.
Wandering around in here, you forget what a “normal” tree is like. So I’ll give you some context. An average oak tree grows to 50-100 ft (15-30m), an average maple 33-148 ft (10-45m). The average redwood is 200-240 feet. But the tallest ones are over 300 feet.
But the crazier comparison is the width. An average oak is 4.5 feet in diameter, an average maple is 2 feet in diameter. The average redwood is 10-15 feet in diameter. So they’re not just a little bigger than normal trees. They’re two to three times taller and wider.
Imagine going on vacation to an island and the locals were 12-15 feet tall and 5 feet wide. That same sense of wonder and fascination is how you feel when you’re in the redwoods.
This was even more amazing for Kai, our 2-year-old. He LOVED climbing on the fallen trees…
and exploring the nooks and crannies of tree trunks…
I mean, look at that face!
We took him in the hiking backpack for the 5-mile Boy Scout Tree Trail, but he impressed us and walked a good deal of it because he kept wanting to climb on things and check stuff out. It made for a slow hike, but it’s beautiful so no complaints here.
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park tips
Redwoods only grow naturally from central California up to Oregon, and in a small strip less than 50 miles from the coast. (The sequoias are different trees, and those grow inland down by Fresno). Jed Smith park is the northernmost redwoods park in California, just about 15 miles from the Oregon border. So if you’re in the PNW, this is the place to go to see redwoods for sure.
The park is just shy of 10,000 acres and only has one dirt road cutting through it, along with 20 miles of trails to explore it. So the vast majority of the park hasn’t been explored, which is crazy, because they’re still finding ginormous trees. For example, the Grove of Titans, which is a small grove that contains several of the top 10 largest trees on earth, was only discovered in 1998. And the Juggernaut tree – the largest redwood and 8th largest tree in the world, at 309 ft tall and 27 ft wide – was just discovered in 2014!
Note: Before you get any ideas of wandering off trails and discovering the next largest tree in the world, please stay on the trails and leave no trace. When the Grove of Titans was discovered by arborists, they kept the location a secret for fear of people trampling the vegetation around it. When an Oregon tourist posted the geolocation in 2011, a surge of visitors followed and by 2016 over 8,000 sq ft (743 sq m) of vegetation had been destroyed in the area, and 35,000 sq ft (3,300 sq m) had been negatively impacted. The Grove of Titans is currently (until May 2021) fenced off while they build an elevated boardwalk to protect the area.
Where should I stay?
Check the camping site if you want to stay in the park. If you’d rather not camp, we found a great Airbnb in Crescent City, CA, which is only about a 15-minute drive from the park entrance. (Btw, we’re not sponsored by Airbnb or anything, we just really like using the service. Where we stayed, we had the entire house to ourselves and it was cheaper than a hotel. Hard to beat that, especially during Covid. If you want to use Airbnb, here’s a discount.)
Are there amenities?
The main trailheads, like Stout Memorial Grove and Boy Scout Trail have vault bathrooms, but that’s about it. No water, no food. Pack in what you need (or leave it in your car), and pack it out.
Are there any fees?
There are no fees to visit any of the trails. The only part of the park that costs money is the campground day use area, which is currently $8, but that’s on the other side of the river from all the trails, so you don’t have worry about that.
Where should you go?
Howland Hill Road is the main dirt/gravel road that meanders through the park. It’s about 5 miles long but takes about an hour to drive. It is very thin in places, with tight fits between massive trees (see below). RVs and campers will not fit and cannot turn around, so don’t even try it.
Access Howland Hill Road by turning onto the bridge about 3 minutes up the road from the Visitor Center. You’ll go through a small group of houses and then literally everything changes and you know you’re in the park.
There are several amazing hikes, but assuming you’re on a day trip like we were, we suggest two in particular: Stout Memorial Grove and Boy Scout Tree Trail. From the entrance, you’ll hit Stout Grove first. Turn up the road into the parking lot and if it’s full, go back out to Howland and keep driving to Boy Scout Tree Trail. That will be less busy. By the time you’re done hiking out to Boy Scout Tree and make it back to Stout, it should be less busy.*
*When we visited in August 2020, Howland Hill Road was blocked after Boy Scout Trail for construction. If the road is completely open when you’re there and you’re staying in Crescent City, you can enter Howland Hill Road from the west, off Elk Valley Road in Crescent City. And in this case, do Boy Scout Tree Trail first, and then continue up to Stout.
Stout Memorial Grove
This is a super family friendly half-mile loop through an amazing grove of redwoods. There’s a decently big parking lot just off Howland Hill road and then you walk down a long hill to the loop. The trail is wide and flat and pretty open, so you have a great view of just how high these trees are. There are also a lot of fallen trees and nooks and crannies to explore if you’ve got kids.
If you don’t have much time to explore, Stout Memorial Grove is a great option because it’s close to the entrance, it’s a very short hike, but you still get the full redwood experience. It’s great to just meander through here.
Boy Scout Tree Trail
This trail is an actual hike, unlike Stout which is more of a walk in the park. The trailhead is pretty far down Howland Hill Road and there’s no real parking lot, just some spaces off the side of the road. It’s 2.65 miles to the tree, so 5.3 miles roundtrip. Yes, you’re hiking 5 miles to see a tree, but the rest of the hike is so pretty, too, so it’s worth it.
Like I said earlier, Kai loved hiking on this. He couldn’t do the whole thing on his own, but he did a fair amount.
Basically what I’m saying is that the trail isn’t necessarily difficult. You climb about 300 feet and then drop 400 feet over the 2.6 miles, and then do that in reverse on the way back.
There are lots of fallen trees along the way making tunnels and bridges and balance beams to walk on.
One part of the trail is especially gorgeous. The ferns create such a beautiful green valley and the redwoods tower over the area and if you can get there on a sunny day, it’s just magnificent.
The Boy Scout Tree itself is named because it looks like the scout salute (which, by the way, is technically a cub scout salute – boy scouts salute using three fingers, but I digress). Here’s a picture of the Boy Scout Tree from up the hill, with normal-sized trees in the foreground for scale.
Two towering redwoods split out of the same trunk which is a massive 23 feet (7 meters) across.
Because the trail goes up and then down again, the hike back feels just as long as it did coming out, but again, it’s really cool to be walking among such massive trees.
Should you go?
Yes. Overall, we highly recommend visiting Jedediah Smith State Park or any of the other redwood or sequoia parks. The big trees are definitely worth visiting in person.
Especially if you’re a very little person.
