The drive to the park from Crater Lake was to be only 4-5 hours but with my luck and directions it was much longer than the posted times. First off I had a stop for some groceries but that was only an hour. The bad part was the fires and them closing the road which I was driving on due to the fires and trying to get them put out. That caused me to backtrack about 40 miles and then go out of route for another hundred or so miles. That does not sound bad but both routes were on 2 lane roads and 55 was a stretch for the speed that Dundee and I felt comfortable. We ended up crashing at a California State Park off of California state road 36. Everything was dark when I got to the campground and this AM it looked nice but I was on a mission to get to Redwoods. State road 36 took me to highway 101 and North bound I went until I was at the visitor center! The park ranger at the visitor center was very nice and super helpful and provided me with multiple hikes to do while in the park and also provided much in the way of documentation about the park and the hikes. The fog was really a fog this AM and the area does not have the smoke smell or has the smoke layer of overcast. Let’s start by saying Redwood National Park is also a California State Park as the two entities combined forces to better protect the giant Redwoods. The park has the main area but then also has the Del Norte, Jedediah Smith, and Prairie Creek. I am staying in the Jedediah area of the park. There are campgrounds in other areas of the park but I choose this one and it seems to be very nice. Bears are around but also mountain lions are within the park. Mountain lions scare me more than bears do for some reason.
Redwood trees are big! They are fire resistant due to tannins in their bark and these tannins also give the trees their red color. Resistant to fire does not mean fire proof as some of the trees have burned but they are not as likely to catch fire. The trees also get 50% of their water from the fog in the area which is abundant. The roots of the trees are shallow and don’t go more than 6 feet deep usually. The redwood also grows from seed and from stumps or root sprouts. The sprouts seem to come when the tree has had some sort of trama like falling, fire, or even logging. These new sprouts grow rapidly due to the extensive root structure already contained within the tree. Seeds also start rather quickly with the loose dirt but as you can image take a long time to grow like the new sprouts.
Jedediah Smith – Jedediah was a young man who went into the fur trapping business at age 22 and by 26 he had purchased the business from his boss. Jedediah did get into some trouble with the Indians, they attacked his team, but the Mojave Indians were previously friendly to him and his team. Smith got arrested in San Jose Mission and sent to Monterey until ordered out of the area by the Mexican government. The business did not last long in his name as he sold it just 4 years after purchasing. Jedediah has a goal to be “the first to view a country on which the eyes of a white man had never gazed and to follow the course of rivers that run through a new land.” Jedediah was also instrumental in documenting what the area looked like and also was published in many newspapers of the day.
Jedediah Smith Campground – The campground is run by the National Park and State Park systems with reservations through the state of California. The campground has 106 sites that include 4 cabins. The loop structure of the campground is messy with the loops and numbers not going together well. What I mean is that the first turn you take you take for sites 94 – 106, or 1 – 44 and if you want the other sites then to straight and then the next run is for 81 – 91 and the last turn a “T” to the right is 47 – 58 and the left is 59, 60, 76 – 80. Guess 61 – 75 were not needed at the campground. There is access to the Smith river from the campground. The campground has three sets of bathrooms and two shower complexes. The camp host locations are next to each of the shower complexes but only one host is on duty when I am here at the campground. My site is very nice and quite even being by a bathroom. There are redwood trees on my site and it is hard to see any of the other campers but you sure can hear them. It is a bear area so any item with a smell should be in a locked vehicle or a bear box but that does not seem to be enforced based on my walk around the campground earlier today. May sites with cooking stoves, containers with food, bug spray and other scented items left on picnic tables and with the campsite. There is also a no crumb policy meaning don’t leave crumbs for the birds or other animals to get as they should not eat people food. Also DON’T tie anything to the trees as they are protected by the National and State park systems. Interestingly enough is that you can have a fire in the fire pit just not on the ground. Guess the drought here in California has not impacted the Redwood trees, even if they are resistant to fires.
Prairie Creek Trail – The trailhead for this trail is just to the right of the Elk Prairie Visitor Center. The trail is fairly flat and it winds through a part of the redwood forest. The path is dirt and is smooth but not really accessible. The overall trail is 4.3 miles and is rates as easy, which I would agree on the easy part. I did not take the entire trail as I wanted to go to the “big tree” and then go on the Cathedral Trees Trail. The trail did not have a bunch of people on the trail and in the 1.4 miles I walked I came across 5 people. The “big tree” trail is 0.1 miles from the road, Newton B. Drury Parkway, and there is parking at that trailhead if you can only do the 0.1 miles. The “big tree” trail I did see many people walking to/from the tree. The “Big Tree” is a really big tree with the stats of 286 feet tall, 23.7 feet in diameter, 74.5 feet in circumference and is estimated to be 1,500 years old. That is a big old tree if I have to say so myself.
Cathedral Trees Trail – The trailhead can be at the “big tree” or you can start at the Elk Prairie visitor center. I choose the “big tree” and started my journey. The trail is not like the Prairie Creek trail in that there are many roots on the trail and also some elevation gain/loss during this 1.4 mile hike. Nothing to hard on the elevation but the roots were a bit of a pain to walk on/over/around during the hike. You are able to seem many redwood trees during the hike and also see the lush green of the ferns in the area. You do walk along and across a creek which provides a nice sound for you to listen to while hiking. Not many people on the trail, I saw 2, which is something that I surely like.
Simpson Reed Grove Trail / Peterson Memorial Trail – I am putting these two together as you start on Simpson and from there you can take Peterson hence a twofer. The trailhead is on Walker Road just off of route 199. When you turn onto Walker Road find a place to park as the trailhead is not far from the intersection and parking is tight. The Simpson Reed Grove Trail is the first trail you come to and is a loop trail. The trail is dirt and gravel but is a hard service. There is not much of any elevation gain/loss on the trail. As you are walking through the forest of redwoods and fern ground cover there is a little creek that will surprise you with the sound of flowing water. The Peterson Memorial Trail starts and ends as you cross the creek. You can choose not to go on the Peterson loop trail if you wish and stay on Simpson. Peterson’s trail is the same as Simpson with elevation gain/loss and walking service. Both of the loops are short, less than 1 mile each, and it is a great way to start or end your day of hiking.
Leiffer Trail / Leiffer Loop / Ellsworth Loop Tail – This is a threefer with all of them having connecting on together. Start with the Leiffer Trail is a through hike and its surface is dirt and rock compacted. The trail is flat for the most part with insignificant elevation gain/loss during your journey. Being a through trail it has two trailheads from which to choose. I was walking from the start of Walker Road and choose the second trailhead, I could not find the first. Also when walking to the trailhead from the Simpson Reed Grove trail stay to the left at the “Y” in the road. Off of the trail you can take the loop, but taking the loop does take you back to the trail but not at the same intersection where you started. The Leiffer loop trail does have elevation gain/loss and about 100 feet. During your journey on the Leiffer loop you will cross a dry creek bed and if you so choose can take the Ellsworth Loop Trail. This trail also goes up and being a loop trail will bring you back to where you started so back down. The trail is dirt and has roots and even some downed trees over the trail. All three of these trails will take you through the redwood forests with ferns on the ground. The site of these enormous trees is dramatic to think they are older than the US as a country. The Ellsworth loop is about 0.2 miles and the Leiffer loop is 0.7 miles. The Leiffer trail is about 1 mile so doing all of them gives you a nice hike especially if you walked from the Simpson parking area. Note: the Leiffer trail is named for Don Leiffer who died in 1970 at 45 years of age. There is a seat on the trail with a plaque that has his birth and death dates but more important it has some words about Don. They go “Lover of Nature, People, and LIfe. He burned his candle at both ends… and it made a wondrous light”. It sucks Don left the world so early in life but like my dad both died at 45 and both had a great light that people loved.
