Thursday, September 1st.
After a 3 hour drive from Crater Lake, we arrived at Redwood National Park. This park is over 131,000 acres and includes 3 state parks, so there was no way we could have seen everything in our short time there. Instead, we decided to pick out a few hikes that would allow us to see those giant redwoods in all their glory, and be on our way.
We obviously knew we were going to camp somewhere in Redwood National Park but didn’t have a reservation. The original plan was to backcountry camp but there had been so many fires that almost no parks were allowing it. We stopped at one of the visitor centers at the edge of the park where received both a map and a campground suggestion, Mill Creek. Mill Creek, located at the north end of Redwood National Park (in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park), was probably one of my favorite sites of the trip. It cost us $25, which we had not originally budgeted for, but we were just happy to have a place to sleep and to be able to set up camp in daylight! We were secluded, yet close enough to other campers (and the bath house) that we felt totally safe and comfortable. We studied our map and NPS books over grilled veggie shish kabobs, dirty rice, and a s’more or two. The next morning we made breakfast, broke camp, and hopped in the car.
We drove north to Stout Grove, which is in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (apparently another great place to camp) to hike through a forest of redwood trees. It wasn’t super easy to get to, but it was totally worth it. The link above explains how to get there and why you might want to check it out for yourself! Once we walked the Grove loop, we found a little path along the Smith River and hung out for awhile. We made our way back to the car and eventually back to a paved road.
Our next stop wasn’t on the park map we were given. We learned about it from National Geographic’s Secrets of the National Parks. This book was probably the best piece of equipment we had with us. It includes maps and photos of each park and highlights a few of the park’s best features. It tells you how to get to these features/viewpoints/hikes, and when the best time of day or year to do so is.
Hidden Beach is about 30 miles south of Stout Grove and it’s named for good reason. Once we found the trailhead there were two hikes to choose from. I think we chose the longer hike, knowing that we’d be back in the car soon enough. We walked along the coast, through some trees and then made it to the beach. We hopped along the rocks, found some crab shells, and even heard seals calling to each other from far away. There was driftwood everywhere and a few creepy little teepees that looked fairly lived in. I hope we didn’t bother the residents!
If you want to experience the complete opposite of the Redwood Forest, Hidden Beach is the perfect place for you. For whatever reason, I didn’t expect to see the ocean on our trip, so this was a welcomed surprise for me! We made some sandwiches, hopped back in the car, and headed south to San Francisco. Follow along!
~Adventure is out there!
Julia
