Garden Club of America Grove

Redwoods near Canoe Creek in Garden Club of America Grove

3 miles round trip, 400 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate, some route-finding and bushwhacking necessary
Access: Paved road to trailhead, no fee required

The Garden Club of America Grove is a sprawling section of skyscraping coast redwoods on the west bank of the Eel River in California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The grove is infrequently visited in this otherwise fairly popular park, partially due to its location across the Eel River from the Avenue of the Giants and partially due to the fact that much of the grove is fairly lackluster compared to the more impressive alluvial flat forests along Bull Creek and the east shore of the Eel River. While much of the trail-accessible portions of Garden Club of America Grove are less spectacular than surrounding areas in the Humboldt Redwoods, there is one noteworthy grove of soaring redwoods on the alluvial flat where Canoe Creek flows into the Eel River that is today only reachable via some bushwhacking along a decomissioned trail. Most visitors will find other groves to be easier to access with few of the challenges of visiting the Garden Club of America Grove, but hikers who have spent time in the park already and want to see a secluded and seldom-visited old growth grove may want to consider this hike. 

The Garden Club of America Grove is only accessible during summer months, when a footbridge is erected over the Eel River. In winter, there is no bridge crossing of the river and the water level and current of the river are typically too strong to allow for safe fording. Check before going to make sure that the bridge across the Eel River is up.

To get to the trailhead from Highway 101, take Exit 656 for Myers Flat and then follow the Avenue of the Giants north for just over two miles to the turnoff on the left (west side of the road) for the Garden Club of America Grove parking area. The signage is clear when turning onto the spur road but the signs don't clearly face the Avenue of the Giants, so it is necessary to pay attention on the approach. The turnoff led to a cul-de-sac with ill-defined parking and some picnic tables; I parked here.

The hike to the Garden Club of America Grove started on the west side of the parking area, at the edge of the forest close to the river; a sign at the trailhead points towards the "GCA Grove." The trail started by dropping slightly downhill from the alluvial flat of the forest down to a gravel bar alongside the South Fork Eel River. Following cairns, I headed left (south) upon reaching the gravel bar and reached a seasonal footbridge over the Eel River about a hundred meters from the trailhead. Water levels in the Eel River become much higher in the rainy winter and spring seasons; at those times, the footbridge is removed and the river is impassable, making this hike inaccessible.

Footbridge over the Eel River

I crossed over the bridge, admiring the 300-foot tall towering trees rising above each bank of the Eel River. Once across the bridge, a clear trail led uphill from the gravel bar on the west bank of the river, gaining about a hundred feet of elevation in a brief but steep uphill climb that ended in a junction with the River Trail, which is the main trail running along the South Fork Eel River's west bank.

No signage for the Garden Club of America Grove adorned the signage at the junction with the River Trail, which indicated that Canoe Creek was to the north and the Childrens Forest lay to the south. That's because this entire side of the river is the Garden Club of America Grove: covering such a large area, the disparate parts of the grove thus have uneven scenery quality. While the hike's main destination was the grove at Canoe Creek to the north, I started out the hike by dipping south (heading left at the junction) to visit a pretty grove of medium-sized redwoods just beyond the junction.

Fire-scarred redwoods along the River Trail

The redwoods in this part of the GCA Grove made up the second nicest cluster of redwoods on this hike after the Canoe Creek Grove. Groundcover was sparser than the more famous alluvial flat groves, making this grove a bit browner and barer. Fire scars from the 2003 Canoe Fire on the trunks of the redwoods also contributed to this grove feeling somewhat less lush than the typical Humboldt Redwoods forest. I followed the River Trail for about 200 meters south from the access trail junction, crossing two small wooden bridges as I hiked through the nicest stretch of redwoods here; I turned back when the forest thinned and returned to the junction. 

Redwoods in the first grove near the Eel River crossing

Returning to the junction with the access trail, I then began following the River Trail north towards the redwoods of Canoe Creek Flat. The trail ascended gently through a fairly open forest in this stretch until it rounded a corner into the Canoe Creek watershed and began heading west; the trail contoured on hilly slopes, staying above the forest that filled the alluvial flat below.

Prior to the 2003 Canoe Fire, the River Trail traveled through an impressive old growth alluvial flat grove at the mouth of Canoe Creek, which formed the primary attraction of the Garden Club of America Grove. In the aftermath of the fire, the trail was rerouted to cross Canoe Creek further upstream, detouring around the best stretch of forest. Today, the trail trace down to the Canoe Creek grove has become completely swallowed by vegetation when approached from the south, but the northern approach, while overgrown, can still be followed by hikers with good trail-finding and navigation skills and descends into the heart of the grove.

At a half mile north from the River Trail/GCA Grove access trail junction, the trail dropped steeply into the Canoe Creek alluvial flat, where there was a pretty old-growth stretch of forest; while nice, this was not quite as impressive as the off-trail portion I would visit later.

Redwoods in the alluvial flat near the crossing over Canoe Creek

After crossing the alluvial flat, the River Trail descended to a bridge-assisted crossing over Canoe Creek. The bridge looked similar in construction to the seasonal bridges over the Eel River, so it's likely that this bridge is removed in winter as well.

Seasonal footbridge over Canoe Creek

After crossing Canoe Creek, I followed the River Trail back uphill through about 120 feet of elevation gain as the trail skirted the slopes above Canoe Creek Flat. A mile after leaving the River Trail/GCA Grove access trail junction, I came to another junction: the Grasshopper Trail headed uphill to the left while the River Trail continued straight. Here, an unmarked path to the right led downhill towards Canoe Creek: this was the abandoned trail through Canoe Creek Flat's grove.

I followed the abandoned trail downhill. Despite little use for nearly two decades, the path is still faintly visible and while it is a bit brushy and overgrown with quite a bit of deadfall to climb over, experienced hikers will be able to follow it. The old path led all the way down to the alluvial flat below, where it faded out at the foot of a great old-growth grove.

Canoe Creek redwoods

The redwoods in this alluvial flat were the most spectacular to be found in the Garden Club of America Grove. Here, thick-girthed redwood trunks soared skyward. Redwood sorrel and ferns covered the ground. The understory of the grove was actually not particularly open- many young trees and bushes, including a few redwoods that had only sprouted after the fire, crowded the forest floor. Nonetheless, this small and contained grove was still impressive and beautiful.

Fire scars from the Canoe Fire

The Garden Club of America, a national organization comprised of member garden clubs from around the country, played an integral role in the preservation of the Humboldt Redwoods region. During the Great Depression, the organization raised about a hundred thousand dollars from its members to help the Save the Redwoods League purchase old growth forests in the Eel River watershed to contribute to Humboldt Redwoods State Park. As an expression of gratitude, Save the Redwoods League named a 5000-acre section of old growth forest on the west bank of the Eel River after the club. Grove dedications continue to be a primary strategy through which the Save the Redwoods League is today able to garner large individual contributions.

Soaring redwoods above Canoe Creek alluvial flat

In September 2003, a lightning strike on the west bank of the South Fork Eel River in the Garden of America Grove set off the Canoe Fire, which consumed 10,000 acres of forest in Humboldt Redwoods State Park from the riverbank up to the summit of Grasshopper Peak, the highest point in the park. The fire scorched areas of old growth redwood forest but was particularly brutal on upland forests that were more heavily dotted with Douglas firs. The alluvial flat and riverside redwood forests survived with largely superficial damage, although some trees in the Canoe Creek flat had freshly blackened goosepens reaching fifty feet up that resulted from their heartwood being consumed by fire. 

Canoe Creek redwoods

As redwood forests typically occur in areas too moist to support intense fires, the Canoe Fire was the most major fire to affect an old growth redwood forest in modern California history until the far more intensely destructive CZU Lightning Complex conflagration that torched the redwoods of Big Basin State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains during the summer of 2020. While redwoods do not face the same degree of risk from fire that threatens their giant sequoia cousins in the Sierra Nevada, the Canoe Fire and the CZU Lightning Complex Fire have opened a window into the destruction that fire can have on old growth redwood forests when a century of fire suppression policies are coupled with a warmer and drier climate.

Massive goosepen left by the Canoe Fire

After enjoying the silence of this grove- I did not see any other hikers on this September weekend afternoon after crossing the Eel River- I retraced my steps along the abandoned path uphill to return to the River Trail, which I followed back to the bridge over the Eel. This was a lovely and quiet grove; however, it's not my top recommendation for visitors with limited time in the park. Although more crowded, the Founders Grove and Rockefeller Forest area, as well as the Grieg-French-Bell and Drury-Chaney Groves, are still the top spots to go for an old-growth experience in the Humboldt Redwoods; save the Garden Club of America Grove and its quiet beauty for a second visit.

Rockefeller Loop

Soaring redwood trunks in Rockefeller Forest

0.6 miles loop, 10 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Narrow paved road to trailhead, no entrance fee required

At the heart of California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Rockefeller Forests' coast redwoods- which include some of the tallest trees in the world- grow from the rich soil of an alluvial flat along Bull Creek. The forest is the largest remaining stretch of old growth redwoods that remain on our planet: this easy hike loops through the extremely scenic lower portion of the grove. The understory of this grove is generally open with beautiful blankets of redwood sorrel and occasional ferns; the trees themselves are of massive girth and soaring height, some of the largest redwoods to be found anywhere. This beautiful and easy hike, an absolute highlight of Northern California's Redwood Empire, is just a short distance off of Highway 101, making this a great option for all visitors. 

I hiked the Rockefeller Loop during a January trip to Humboldt Redwoods and Redwood National Park. Humboldt Redwoods is a long way from any major metropolitan area, at over a four hour drive from San Francisco; the closest larger town is Eureka, about 45 minutes to the north. Regardless of which direction you come from, you'll almost certainly be taking Highway 101 to get here. Take Exit 663 for Honeydew/Rockefeller Forest regardless of the direction that you're coming from. If coming northbound, the exit ramp leads to an intersection with the Avenue of the Giants; turn left on the Avenue of the Giants and then follow it north across a bridge over the Eel River and then turn left onto Mattole Road. If exiting southbound from Highway 101, the exit ramp leads directly to Mattole Road, so it's easier to simply turn right onto Mattole Road. Follow Mattole Road for 1.5 miles to a wide right bend in the road; here, turn left onto a narrow road that drops steeply downhill to the trailhead for the Rockefeller Loop. The turnoff markings are not clearly visible from the road and is easy to miss, although once you make the turn there will be signage telling you that you're in the right place. 

The trailhead parking is already in the heart of this tremendous redwood forest. From the parking area, a flat and wide trail led through the redwood sorrel and fern groundcover into the grove, quickly reaching a split in the trail where the two directions of the loop broke off. I hiked the loop clockwise by following the left hand fork at this junction. The loop was a half mile through the shadows of the massive redwoods of the Rockefeller Forest, turning back around after it neared the banks of Bull Creek. There are few obvious landmarks to point out on this hike, as it is generally more of a mood than a collection of specific things to see.

Coast redwoods of Rockefeller Forest

In summer, it is possible to cross Bull Creek via a seasonal bridge and then hike along either the west bank of the Eel River or the south bank of Bull Creek, both less-visited areas with great trees; in winter, however, creek crossing is not possible (or at least extremely inadvisable) without the bridge and those areas of the park are not easily accessible.

Redwood sorrel and great-girthed redwoods

Soaring redwoods

Redwood groves tend to be prettiest when beams of sunlight shine down through the canopy; at the Rockefeller Forest, that means visiting closer to midday. Due to the grove's setting at the foot of steeply rising mountain slopes to the west, the sun is often blocked out of the grove by late afternoon, making the forest darker and gloomier.

Rockefeller Loop

This forest- and this trail- are so named because of John D. Rockefeller Jr.'s financial contribution to secure their protection. In the 1920s, the newly formed Save the Redwoods League was battling to preserve the old growth redwood forests of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties from encroaching logging. In need of financial help to acquire and protect the forest along Bull Creek, they appealed to Rockefeller Jr., the scion of the Standard Oil fortune who had a passion for conservation philanthropy. Rockefeller traveled to Humboldt County and stood in this forest at the confluence of Bull Creek and the Eel River and was sufficiently moved that he donated a million dollars to the cause, the largest of the many contributions that helped save these trees. 

Trail through the redwood sorrel of Rockefeller Forest

With Rockefeller's largesse, Save the Redwoods League acquired the land covering this old growth forest and donated it to the State of California for Humboldt Redwoods State Park. Rockefeller sought no recognition at the time, but later a decision was made to name this largest and perhaps most spectacular of all coast redwood forests after him. His contribution had a significant effect here: 95% of old growth redwood forests present upon the arrival of European Americans in California have since been logged. This one forest makes up nearly ten percent of all remaining acreage of old growth redwood forests today. As a human, John D. Rockefeller has a complicated legacy- his use of force to counter the American labor movement was surely a crime- yet here it is possible to appreciate the actions that he took to save these trees.

Rockefeller Forest

Somewhere in the heart of this loop rises the Paradox Tree, the tallest tree in the Lower Bull Creek Flats region of Rockfeller Forest and the fifth tallest tree in the world at nearly 372 feet; Paradox is so named for being quite thin despite its height. The tree was not marked and there's no way from ground level to distinguish the relative heights of trees that are all fifty feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Rockefeller Forest

Towards the end of the loop, the trail passed through a cut in the trunk of an enormous fallen redwood. This tree was at least 12 feet in diameter. Walking through a cut in the fallen tree gave me a better appreciation of the tree's size; it was humbling to look at the thousands of tree rings that had accrued to this giant over the centuries.

Cross-section of a fallen giant

The Rockefeller Loop was not too busy on the day of my visit, but that's most likely because I came on a weekday in January. It is somewhat less well known that the Founders Grove and Big Tree areas in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, both of which are just a short drive from this trailhead; I have seen those other trailheads in a busier state on a summer weekend, although in general this park doesn't get as crowded as popular national parks in the Sierra Nevada or popular weekend hiking destinations around the Bay Area. If you're visiting the Humboldt Redwoods area, this short hike is one that you simply have to do.

Drury-Chaney Grove

Drury-Chaney Grove

2.4 miles loop, 50 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, no fee required

Located at the far northern end of the Avenue of the Giants, Drury-Chaney Grove lacks the largest trees of California's Humboldt Redwoods State Park but makes up for it with some extremely scenic forest scenery. Here, in the alluvial flats of the Eel River, towering redwoods rise over dense carpets of redwood sorrel, one of the most picturesque scenes that one can find among California's many old-growth forests. The short and easy hike through Drury-Chaney Grove is peaceful and remarkably beautiful and has redwood sorrel groundcover that is only matched by the nearby Grieg-Bell-French Grove.

I hiked the Drury-Chaney Grove in September, towards the end of the long summer dry season for the redwoods. Many redwood groves are prettier in spring, when higher moisture helps support more lush groundcover; in groves like Montgomery Woods or Big Hendy, the groundcover is often dead and brown by autumn. However, Drury-Chaney and much of the nearby Humboldt Redwoods stay a lush green throughout the entire year and are thus a great destination in any season.

Drury-Chaney Grove is the northernmost of the redwood groves in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The forest- and Humboldt Redwoods State Park in general- are quite far from any major metropolitan area, with San Francisco over four hours away; however, the town of Eureka is only a little over a half hour north of the grove on Highway 101. Visitors coming from Eureka will want to exit Highway 101 at Exit 671, which is signed for Redcrest when coming from the north and Pepperwood when coming from the south. After exiting, turn to the northeast (follow signs for Pepperwood) and immediately come to a junction with the Avenue of the Giants; turn left at the Avenue of Giants and head north for a half mile, passing the Grieg-Bell-French Grove. The Drury-Chaney Grove trailhead is on the left (west) side of the road, marked with a signboard; there is room for parking on both sides of the road, with enough space for about ten cars. No restroom is available.

From the road, the true character of the grove is not yet obvious. The trail leads through some smaller deciduous trees before entering the actual redwood grove, where the forest suddenly opened up, with a 300-foot tall canopy supported by great redwood pillars rising out of a dense carpet of redwood sorrel. The understory was not too dense, allowing for long sightlines deep into the grove. This was an extraordinarily scenic grove and its beauty was already fully apparent just a fifty meter walk from the car.

Redwood sorrel carpet in Drury-Chaney Grove

After this spectacular entrance, I followed the trail deeper into the grove. The trail was nearly completely flat, with only a few occasional undulations and one brief and mild uphill stretch. Many side paths cut into the redwood sorrel carpet. As I entered deeper into the grove, the sorrel understory transitioned to a mix of sorrel and ferns, which was somewhat more commonplace and less picturesque than the pure redwood sorrel groundcover but was still very pretty.

Soaring redwoods rising above redwood sorrel and ferns

Ferns came to dominate the understory as the trail crossed by a dirt road and a power line at just over a half mile from the trailhead. Shortly after passing the dirt road, at 0.7 miles from the trailhead, I arrived at the start of the loop through the deepest part of the grove. There was no compelling reason to hike the loop in one direction vs the other; I chose to hike it clockwise and started off by heading down the left fork.  

Trail through the fern-coated Drury-Chaney Grove

The loop was lovely though not necessarily distinct from the trail that I followed to reach it; the character of the grove remained largely the same. A few wooden bridges carried the trail across a streambed that would likely have an active, flowing stream in winter and spring, which certainly would have made the grove even more idyllic; however, by September, the streambed was completely dry. 

Redwood sorrel in Drury-Chaney Grove

Drury-Chaney Grove

Soaring redwoods of Drury-Chaney Grove

Today, Drury-Chaney Grove is the first major old-growth redwood grove on the Eel River; however, when the first European Americans arrived in this corner of California, these towering forests stretched down to the coastal plain by Fortuna. Nineteenth century arrivals regarded the forests as a rich source of lumber rather than as sacred arboreal cathedrals; much of these forests were gone by the time the Save the Redwoods League was founded in 1918 to push for the protection of the remaining old growth forests of Humboldt and Del Norte Counties. Newton B. Drury was the first president of the organization and led the group's successful drives to push for the establishment of Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Drury later became a director of the National Park Service during FDR's long tenure. Despite Drury's best efforts, only 5% of the old growth redwood forests that stood in California at the start of the nineteenth century remain today, the rest victims to the sawmill.

Drury-Chaney Grove

Ralph Chaney, the other man who lends his name to this grove, was a Berkeley paleontologist who made the discovery that even greater redwood forests have been lost on a geological time scale. Today, three redwood species remain: the coast redwood (found in this grove), the giant sequoia (found in the Sierra Nevada), and the dawn redwood (found in Hubei Province, China). Chaney's study of fossilized trees around the world led him to the discovery that various species of redwoods have existed since the Mesozoic Era, making these tree species contemporary with dinosaurs, and that redwoods once had a widespread distribution, found throughout North America and Eurasia. In fact, climatic changes in Europe during the Ice Ages of the Quaternary Period may have been responsible for the trees' extinction in Europe. We live in what is perhaps the dying days of the redwoods: a once mighty family of plants that dominated the world's forests are now restricted to a few patches along the California Coast and the Sierra Nevada, their remnants still threatened with logging and decimated every year by fire in a newly changing climate.

Chaney, after making these incredible but sobering discoveries, also served as a later president of the Save the Redwoods League, which is the more likely reason that the grove today bears his name.

Drury-Chaney Grove

Some of the best redwood sorrel understory came at the end of the loop when traveling in the clockwise direction; there was a brief stretch of forest here that was exceptionally scenic. After closing the loop, I wandered slowly back along the trail that I came up to return to the trailhead. I saw a good number of other hikers on this trail: the opening two hundred yards is especially busy as the grove is so easily accessible from the Avenue of the Giants and comes so early along that drive. However, most visitors turn back before getting to the loop, so the far end of the trail was very quiet.

Carpet of redwood sorrel

Redwood sorrel in Drury-Chaney Grove

Cheatham Grove

Redwoods rising above the fern understory of Cheatham Grove

0.7 miles loop, 10 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Paved road to trailhead, no fee required

Three hundred-foot tall coast redwoods tower above a lush understory of redwood sorrel and ferns in Cheatham Grove, one of the most beautiful groves of these skyscraping trees in Northern California. Outside of the main tourist circuit of Redwood National Park and Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Cheatham Grove, which lies within Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park in an alluvial flat on a bend of the Van Duzen River, is far quieter than better known groves while being every bit as beautiful. In fact, Cheatham Grove's forest scenery was so otherworldly that George Lucas filmed scenes of the forest moon of Endor from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi here. The hike through this grove is entirely flat and can be done in a leisurely hour and the trailhead is just a short drive down Highway 36 from the main arterial of Highway 101 along the Northern California coast. 

Cheatham Grove is closer to the Humboldt Redwoods region than Redwood National and State Parks; it is south of Eureka and east of Fortuna. Most visitors will from Highway 101; to reach the grove, exit Highway 101 onto Highway 36 just south of Fortuna (or north of Rio Dell) and follow Highway 36 east for just under 13 miles through Hydesville and Carlotta. Immediately after the first bridge over the Van Duzen River, turn left into a small and easily missable parking lot on the left side of the road with a sign for Owen Cheatham Grove. There are no bathroom facilities at the trailhead, which has a tiny parking area sandwiched between the redwood forest and the river with enough room for only about six or so cars. I visited Cheatham Grove in a September trip to the Humboldt Redwoods region, choosing to focus on redwoods at a time of year when wildfire smoke made most of the alpine hiking in California unpleasant.

The trail into Cheatham Grove leaves the parking lot by the river and drops just slightly downhill into this magnficent grove. The magic of the grove is apparent from the start of the hike: the vertical trunks of stately redwoods appeared like the columns of a great cathedral. The soft mulch tread of the trail cut through a sea of ferns and redwood sorrel covering the ground. The understory of the forest was open enough that faraway trees were visible, but still had enough growth to add more pleasant greenery at eye level.

A few meters into the forest, the trail split at the start of the loop through the grove. I chose to travel counterclockwise through the grove, taking the right fork to start; there's no particular rationale to travel one way or the other.

Trail through redwood sorrel in Cheatham Grove

The right fork cut through the heart of the grove. There were a few truly massive trees here, although overall I found the trees here smaller than the ones in the more famous parks to the north and south; the attraction of this grove is really in the overall beauty of the grove. Owen Cheatham certainly thought so: Cheatham was the founder of the lumber and paper company Georgia-Pacific, which expanded beyond its traditional East Coast holdings to encompass redwood forests in the California by the 1940s. Although Cheatham's company was otherwise engaged in the obliteration of old growth forests, Cheatham was impressed by the beauty of his namesake grove and donated this plot of land to the State of California. It's interesting how many of California's redwood parks are named after the men who spared small patches of forest after being primarily engaged in their destruction: Hendy Woods and Samuel P. Taylor State Park, for instance, have similar histories behind their names.

Verdant Cheatham Grove

The trail looped through the grove, which occupied a wide bend in the Van Duzen River. A few spur trails split off to the sides of the main trail at times and it was sometimes unclear what was the main trail and what was a spur; however, as the grove is quite contained, all spur trails were fairly short and I simply backtracked and took the other fork at the last junction whenever I reached a dead end.

Cheatham Grove

About halfway through the loop, I passed a spot where a thin fallen trunk arched across the forest at just above head height. This spot was immortalized in film history in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, in which a stormtrooper is knocked off his speedbike by this trunk while chasing Luke and Leia. This splendid forest was George Lucas's forest moon of Endor, home of fuzzy Ewoks.

Cheatham Grove

Cheatham Grove is part of the remnant 5% of old growth redwood forests that have survived two centuries after European-American colonization of California. Old growth redwood forests once stretched across the coastal plains near Eureka and Fortuna, but 95% of the old growth redwoods that would have been found here in 1850 have been felled by timber companies. 

Redwoods of Cheatham Grove

Cheatham Grove

Soaring redwoods in Cheatham Grove

One of the most unexpected sights in the grove was a massive, branching maple tree that grew sideways in the middle of the redwoods, with a sprawling footprint and canopy to match. The maple was reached via a short detour path off to the right of the main trail; after checking out the maple, I returned to the main loop and continued counterclockwise and soon found myself at the start of the loop and the end of the hike.

Giant maple in Cheatham Grove

I saw just two other hikers during my morning stroll through Cheatham Grove- granted, I was here shortly after sunrise on a Sunday morning, so most people probably weren't out of bed yet. All in all, I found this grove to be extremely scenic and enjoyed its Star Wars connection; swing by if you have extra time between visiting Humboldt Redwoods and Redwood National Park!

Tall Trees Grove

Soaring redwoods of Tall Trees Grove

3.6 miles loop, 720 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy-moderate
Access: Potholed, muddy gravel road to trailhead, no fee, Tall Trees Day Use Permit required

The discovery of a 369-foot tall coast redwood known as the Libbey Tree- the tallest known tree in the world at the time - in the Tall Trees Grove of the far north of the California Coast in 1963 by a National Geographic expedition prompted the establishment of Redwood National Park just a few years later. While the Libbey Tree has since been eclipsed by the discovery of other trees, the Tall Trees Grove still lives up to its name and is home to a number of extraordinarily tall trees that break 350 feet in height. The height of the trees here is the main attraction of this grove, which is otherwise less scenic than the more atmospheric and lush redwood forests at Jedediah State Redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods, and Humboldt Redwoods State Parks. Unfortunately, from the ground level, any redwood that breaks 200 feet looks extremely impressive and visitors will not get any more visceral sense of the height of the trees here than they would at many of the other parks along the Redwood Coast. Nonetheless, this is a sought-after destination due to the unique statistics of the grove's trees; to limit visitor impact to the grove, the National Park Service issues permits for just 50 groups to visit the grove daily.

Is it worth visiting? As I've just outlined, Tall Trees Grove is not the most scenic redwood grove; on a short visit to Redwood National Park you should concentrate your energy elsewhere, although it's worth seeing the grove if you have more time. Make sure you reserve your day use permit at least 48 hours in advance before you go: the road to the trailhead is controlled by a locked gate. Also, note that you'll have to descend from the trailhead to reach the grove: make sure you're in at least okay shape for the return ascent.

I hiked to the Tall Trees Grove during a January visit to Redwood National Park. The grove is far from any city; in fact, it's one of the more remote day hikes in the park, as it's most of an hour's drive from Orick. North of Orick, I turned off US 101 onto Bald Hills Road, which was a paved but narrow and highly potholed road that ascended past the Lady Bird Johnson Grove trailhead. I followed the Bald Hills Road for 7 miles, passing a large amount of logging traffic and the Redwood Creek Overlook. Shortly after passing the Redwood Creek Overlook, I came to a signed turnoff on the right for the Tall Trees Grove: turning right here, I entered the code to unlock the gate and then followed a decent gravel road downhill for the next seven miles to the parking lot for the Tall Trees Grove. There was limited parking at the trailhead.

I left the trailhead and began a steady descent on the Tall Trees Trail, immediately passing a turnoff on the left for the Emerald Ridge Trail, which provided alternate access to Redwood Creek. The forest near the trailhead was not particularly interesting or impressive: although there were a few redwoods mixed in, some of which might have been old-growth, the forest here was largely mixed and seemed to have been at least partially logged in the past.

The 1.4 miles from the trailhead down to the alluvial flats of Redwood Creek were really not much to write home about. Trailside vegetation alternated between a drier setting with berry bushes and a more lush setting with ferns. A few old growth redwoods grew near the trail but the forest seemed at least partially second growth and there were plenty of other species mixed in with the redwoods. A more notable stretch of trail passed beneath two massive but fallen old growth giants.

Fallen giant along the descent to the Tall Trees Grove

At slightly over a mile from the trailhead, the descent began to level out a bit as the trail crossed a forested bench with a dense understory. The trail straightened out as it crossed this bench, then made a final, short drop to reach the start of the Tall Trees Loop Trail at 1.4 miles.

Trail down into the Tall Trees Grove

The truly impressive redwoods did not start until the trail made its final descent down into the Tall Trees Grove. Upon reaching the alluvial flats of Redwood Creek, I was transported to a forest of soaring wood pillars, many taller than the Statue of Liberty. The loop trail through the alluvial flat started here: I took the right fork to hike the loop counterclockwise.

Redwoods of the Tall Trees Grove

Taking the loop through Tall Trees Grove counterclockwise, I encountered some of the most impressive trees first. Tall Trees Grove was quite small, covering an alluvial flat that is only about a third of a mile long with only about a hundred meters of space for the trees to grow between the hillslope and the creek. However, the trees that grew in this small area included some incredible giants. 

Tall Trees Grove

The tallest tree in Tall Trees Grove today is the Nugget Tree, an unmarked tree that is nearly 374 feet tall that briefly held the title of the tallest tree in the world in the 1990s. Nugget Tree, like other champion redwoods, is not identified for its own protection; as the Nugget Tree does not appear superlative from ground level, I was not able to identify it while I hiked through the grove.

Grove along Redwood Creek

The most visibly impressive tree in the grove was perhaps Redwood Creek Giant, a massive but unmarked tree to the right of the trail that is recognizable by its unrivaled girth in this grove. Redwood Creek Giant is the third largest tree in Redwood National Park and it is no slouch in the height department, either, at a skyscraping 360 feet. As a few feet of difference of the 360+ feet giants in this grove are generally not discernable from ground level, Redwood Creek Giant's incredible mass ends up making it one of the most notable trees in the grove.

Redwood Creek Giant

The understory of the grove was packed with ferns, but was also unusually busy with scattered smaller trees. This made the forest floor less open, detracting somewhat from the atmosphere of the grove. The forest here was not as lush as the fern-coated gulches of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park just a few miles away and the tall nearby ridges blocked the grove from receiving the copious sun that shines into Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park's Stout Grove. As a result, even though this grove was generally quite beautiful, the less inspiring understory and the relatively limited area of the grove made it a less compelling redwood forest than some of the groves found in other, nearby parks.

Tall Trees Grove

At 1.7 miles, the trail came to a junction: here, the Redwood Creek Trail split to the right, while the Tall Trees Grove Loop turned to the left and started its counterclockwise return. In summer, when flow is low in Redwood Creek, hikers can ford Redwood Creek and follow it downstream to a trailhead near Orick; in winter, after rains arrive, the creek is impassable. Thus, I stayed on the Tall Trees Grove Loop by taking a left at the junction. Shortly after passing the junction, I came to a social path down and to the right across the gravel bar of Redwood Creek to the banks of Redwood Creek itself. I took a short detour here to explore the banks of the creek. 

Redwood Creek flowed placidly through its valley here; looking back, I could see soaring redwoods on this bank of the river. Looking across, I was surprised by how much smaller the trees looked. In fact, much of the land across Redwood Creek was logged in the lead up to Redwood National Park's establishment- a reminder of how close we were to losing these redwoods altogether.

Redwood Creek

The return leg of the Tall Trees Loop had far fewer coast redwoods than the first half of the loop; the trail stayed close to the creek, where the vegetation was dominated by far smaller deciduous trees, many of which were overgrown with moss and ferns in this extremely moist environment. While the scenery here was still pretty here, it was nowhere near as spectacular as the great-girthed redwoods that hikers travel out here for. 

Lush environs along Redwood Creek

At about 2.1 miles, the trail reentered the redwood grove. Here, another social path led down to a second gravel bar along Redwood Creek. Walking out to the edge of the creek at his gravel bar, I looked back and had a great view of the redwoods of Tall Trees Grove soaring above the alluvial flats. Among the trees visible from here was the Libbey Tree, perhaps the best known redwood of Tall Trees Grove.

Tall Trees Grove from the banks of Redwood Creek

Returning to the trail, I soon arrived at a plaque at the base of the Libbey Tree, one of the few named trees in the grove that is publicly identified and that was once thought to be the tallest tree in the world, a tree that played an integral role in the creation of Redwood National Park. The Libbey Tree was 369 feet tall at the time of its first measurement in the 1960s but has been measured to be just 363 feet tall more recently, potentially due to loss of a segment of its crown.

Base of the Libbey Tree

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the Libbey Tree was how utterly unremarkable it was compared to the other forest giants around it. Its base was not particularly wide and both trunks of the tree were slender for an old-growth coast redwood; the girth of the tree was slight compared to the nearby Redwood Creek Giant. Yet this tree was thought for over two decades to be the world's tallest, although it is now known that the Nugget Tree within this very same Tall Trees Grove is even taller. Still, the Libbey Tree is an extraordinary arboreal height specimen and is only 16 feet shorter than the current known champion, Hyperion; it remains the tallest tree with a publicly identified location in the world. Hyperion, the world's current height champion at 379 feet tall, also lies within the boundaries of Redwood National Park and is across Redwood Creek from the Tall Trees Grove area. Hyperion's precise location is not disclosed to protect this rare and superlative tree; as large portions of the slopes across Redwood Creek were logged prior to the establishment of the park, it is incredible that Hyperion was able to escape the chainsaw and the lumber mill. It made me wonder whether taller redwoods had once existed only to fall victim to the axe and the saw and whether what once would've been the tallest tree on Earth was now a cabinet or long-discarded paper.

As I later found out, my thoughts were not idle ones: taller trees have almost certainly existed in the past along the West Coast of the United States, until European American arrivals in the nineteenth century decimated these great expanses of timber. 95% of old growth coast redwoods have been logged in the past two centuries, but many tall champion redwoods like the ones in Tall Trees Grove escaped logging because of their remoteness. The forests of Douglas Fir in Washington State and British Columbia were not so lucky. In 1924, the tallest known measurement for a tree was made by a former US Forest Service chief near Mineral, Washington; he found a Douglas Fir that measured 393 feet tall, 14 feet taller than Hyperion today. The Nooksack Giant, a massive tree that grew in the shadow of Mount Baker near the Washington-British Columbia border, was purportedly 465 feet tall at the time it was logged. While the veracity of that claim is unclear, photographic evidence and reported numbers on marketable lumber from the tree are not inconsistent with the superlative claims. At any rate, taller trees have almost certainly existed on the West Coast of North America within the past two centuries.

Libbey Tree

The Libbey Tree is, ironically, named for Howard Libbey, the founder of the Arcata Redwood Company (ARCo). ARCo was one of the major logging operators in the Redwood Creek valley prior to the establishment of the park and fought the formation of the park, so it's hard to think that Libbey's name is an appropriate name for what was once the tallest known tree in the world.

Shortly after I left the Libbey Tree, I closed the loop around this soaring redwood grove on the alluvial flat. Connecting back to the main Tall Trees Trail, I followed the path uphill back to the trailhead. On my drive back to the Bald Hills Road, I had to reopen the gate for Tall Trees Road, making sure to relock it before I continued on with my day.

Tall Trees Grove can be somewhat hard to visit during summer or on a weekend, when the fifty daily permits to the grove are snatched up in advance; at the same time, the limited number of permits means that the grove is never too crowded. The grove is beautiful and noteworthy for its especially tall trees, but despite its beauty it ultimately doesn't deliver the same ethereal scenery as the cathedral-like forests of Bull Creek Flats in Humboldt Redwoods, the fern-choked watersheds of the James Irvine Trail in Prairie Creek Redwoods, or the sun-dappled majesty of Stout Grove in Jedidiah Smith Redwoods. Hikers who love redwood forests will undoubtedly be enraptured by this grove, but skip this grove if you have limited time in your Redwood country visit.