Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park

Established in 1929, this predominately old growth coast redwoods park is bisected by the last major free flowing river in California, the Smith River. Almost all of the park land is water shed for the Smith River and Mill Creek, a major tributary – parks.ca.gov

When I stopped at a Ranger station to ask for a good, but small, hike to take some photos the Ranger did not hesitate to direct me to Stout Grove. Accessed by driving down a dirt road that slaloms past 2 miles of large redwoods before reaching the trailhead, the Grove was already worth it and I hadn’t stepped foot out of the truck.

Once I did get out of the truck a half-mile of trail, powdered with redwood pine needles and dead fern leaves, gave me a grand tour of majestic redwoods in a surf of tall ferns. Redwood trees are certainly the most majestic of all pine, standing tall with sturdy footing and thick protective skin. Some showed scars of fires once past while others lay horizontal taking their time to die.

Another 7 miles of dirt road dropped me right at the outskirts of town, where it was a short hop back to the van and this blog post.