The Eel River
For the sheer size of its trees, no redwood park can beat Humboldt Redwoods. The world’s densest and most impressive stands of big trees are found here, along the Eel River and Bull Creek. Many of the most iconic images of the redwood forest come from Humboldt Redwoods — roads meandering through tall narrow canyons formed from huge trees, dark cathedral-like groves, plush carpets of redwood sorrel.
Surprisingly, these monster redwoods grow well inland, in an environment that’s much drier than the other Humboldt County redwood parks. A 3,000-foot-tall ridge to the west shields the park from ocean breezes, making for hot and dry summer days, but a tendril of ocean fog creeps south along the Eel River valley most summer nights to sustain the redwoods.
Most of Humboldt Redwoods' old-growth trails are short loops. The Avenue of the Giants in particular is mostly made up of small groves that are right next to the road, although the groves are still pretty spectacular. The only long old-growth hike is the Bull Creek Flats loop.
Despite the limited old-growth hiking, Humboldt Redwoods today is a absolute must-see for anyone interested in redwoods.
A spectacular drive through the world’s largest contiguous old-growth redwood forest.
The iconic redwood drive through a series of lowland redwood groves alongside the Eel River.
A superb hike around Upper Bull Creek Flat. Near Albee Creek Campground.
A large alluvial-flat grove with huge trees, a remarkably expansive appearance, and relatively little traffic noise. One of Humboldt Redwoods’ most spectacular groves.
The quintessential dark, dense, cathedral-like redwood grove. One of the most scenic in Humboldt Redwoods.
An extraordinary grove with a remarkably plush carpet of redwood sorrel. One of the highlights of Humboldt Redwoods.
A large, peaceful, and exceptionally scenic alluvial-flat redwood grove that gets very few visitors. Summer only.
A grand tour of the Bull Creek lowlands, featuring the sublime groves of Upper and Lower Bull Creek Flats. Humboldt Redwoods’ best long-distance hike. Summer only.
A little-used trail with some very nice redwoods next to the Avenue of the Giants.
The beginning of this trail has extraordinarily lush sorrel groundcover; further in, the sorrel isn’t as plush but there are some large redwoods.
The largest and most impressive grove and the most popular attraction in Humboldt Redwoods. Unfortunately filled with the constant roar of traffic from a 4-lane freeway that skirts the grove.
The southernmost of the really impressive alluvial-flat lowland groves on the Avenue of the Giants.
A tiny, easy-to-explore patch of big-tree lowlands with some mammoth redwoods. One of the more popular stops on the Avenue of The Giants. No official trails.
A large, peaceful, and exceptionally scenic alluvial-flat redwood grove that gets very few visitors. Summer only.
A little-used trail through a series of forgotton but superb alluvial-flat groves. Summer only.
A superb grove of large redwoods on the Avenue of the Giants that’s somewhat overshadowed by its even more spectacular neighbors.
A small patch of old growth just across from the visitors’ center.
Humboldt Redwoods’ southernmost redwood grove. Has a few big redwoods near the beginning of the loop, but most of the other trees are small and embedded in a dense understory.
A scenic redwood grove with some pretty big trees on the Avenue of the Giants.
A remote, little-visited road with a surprisingly nice old-growth Douglas fir and redwood grove.
Starting on an old alignment of the Avenue of the Giants, this loop leads through a small lowland redwood grove to a gravelly beach on the Eel River.
A long backcountry loop with about four miles of old-growth redwoods, including a remote and very attractive ridgetop grove.
Starts in the impressive Jensen Grove, but quickly climbs into rather mundane upland redwoods before descending back to the Avenue of the Giants.
Runs through mundane old-growth uplands on the west side of the Eel River. Summer only.
An unusually big parking area makes this grove look really important, but it’s actually pretty dull, with no big trees or noteworthy sights.
Climbs the somewhat dull Grasshopper Multi Use Trail to the top of Grasshopper Mountain, then returns by way of the Johnson Camp Trail and an exceptionally scenic grove of old-growth upland redwoods.
The longest and most challenging route to the top of Grasshopper Mountain. Four trail camps make it a good backpacking route, but there’s only one brief stretch of big redwoods.
An epic out-and-back hike up the east side of Grasshopper Mountain, starting from the Visitors’ Center. Summer only.
Starts in Bull Creek Flats but almost immediately leaves the huge redwoods behind, climbing through a bright upland canyon with small redwoods. Ends at the gravesite of a young 19th-century settler.
These minimally-developed camps require a short walk to your site and don’t have showers or flush toilets, but provide a much more peaceful, natural experience. It’s like a backpacking camp but you don't need a backpack.
A small, quiet campground way out on Mattole Road just past the end of the old-growth redwoods. It’s mostly in the deep shade of small second-growth redwoods, but a few sites are at the edge of a sunny meadow.
A large, sprawling campground that’s very spread out and has lots of privacy, but you have to drive to visit any redwood groves.
Clean, well-maintained, and in a convenient location, but gets a lot of traffic noise and is in a heavily-logged grove with lots of huge stumps.
In a small but very attractive old-growth redwood grove, this is the most scenic of Humboldt Redwoods’s trail camps.
A quiet, remote trail camp well off the main trail to Grasshopper Peak.
An ever quieter and more remote trail camp in the least-visited part of Humboldt Redwoods.
Conveniently located just below Grasshopper Peak, under a spruce tree at the edge of a meadow.
The most popular trail camp in Humboldt Redwoods. Used to have some cabins, but they’re now collapsed.
There’s no cell phone coverage in the main body and north end of the park, even in the towns; only the south end (Miranda and Phillipsville) has cell phone coverage. So to use any web-based maps in the park, you have to download the maps for offline use.
As far as I know, there are only three printed trail maps of the park:
© 2006, 2011, 2018, 2022 David Baselt