Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
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Boy Scout Tree & Stout Grove Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park |
June 22, 2017
Before heading over to the park, which is adjacent to the
Crescent City limits, I take a short tour of this little town
that is unremarkable except for one spectacular feature —
a cliff-side drive overlooking the coastline.
One of many views from Pebble Beach Drive
The Battery Point Lighthouse
Read more about the lighthouse here: http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=58
Just east of US-101 I find Howland Hills Road, which is a back way into Jedediah Smith State Park and a shortcut to the best trails. Trailers and RVs are highly discouraged on this route.
What a beautiful entrance
Back in the 1960s the state wanted to put a four-lane
highway through here; but somehow President Lyndon Johnson put a
stop to that plan, and it's a good thing that he did.
On Howland Hills Road
It is but a few miles to the first trailhead:
Not much headroom
I was hoping to see and photograph some of the wonderful pink rhododendrons that proliferate here; but I may have come too late. In various places, petals litter the trail, which is suggestive of a mass capitulation to warmer weather just within the last couple of days.
The rhododendrons are gone
Coastal Monkeyflower
Pacific Starflower
Gorgeous
A signpost points to a rough little trail that climbs steeply up an embankment:
The Boy Scout Tree is huge
The tree's name possibly is derived from its shape — a double stem
rising from a common base, resembling the two-fingered Boy Scout salute.
Two for the price of one
Oregon Woodsorrel
Western Buttercup
Wonderful colors in the Shelf Lichen
The Spikemoss looks like the kitchen mop
The trail continues on to a little waterfall, so I'll do that as well.
Ferns everywhere
Fern Falls
Starting back
Woodland Buttercup
Banana slug
This is why I go hiking
What I already have seen today will be hard to beat; however,
just down the way is another grove which some tout as the best
redwood-viewing in the world. One brochure suggests
that the lighting becomes magical at approximately 4 p.m.,
so I have arranged to be here at that time.
In 1929, Mrs. Clara Stout donated this 44-acre grove to the
Save the Redwoods League to save it from being logged
and to memorialize her husband, lumber baron Frank D. Stout.
Smith River
Selfheal
California Poppy
Ambling among the giants
Even the chaos is beautiful
Back at the main trail junction, there are choices:
I'll try this one and see what happens
The relatively rough route parallels the river bank for a time, heading ever farther from the trailhead. Hoping that it will loop back, but suspecting otherwise, I press on until finally the trail intersects the roadway.
Now I am more than half a mile from the car
There is nothing for it now but to march down Howland Hill Road, watching for the signpost that will signal my salvation:
Perhaps now I can find my way
§: I agree that the best redwood-viewing might well be
right here in this park. I liked the overall look and feel
of the Boy Scout Tree Trail better than the vaunted Stout Grove.
It will be interesting to see what else I can find in the next two days.
| Scenery |  |
| Difficulty |  |
| Solitude |  |
At the eastern terminus of Howland Hill Road is an unlikely configuration in the Smith River:
Who ever heard of a sideways drop in a river?
Yes, most unusual
A mini-armada approaches from upstream:
Every boat is a different size and shape
Will they try their luck on the little rapids?
Yes, they will
