Best Short Hikes in Redwood National and State Parks

This little book really helped us plan our days in Redwood State and National Parks. We were able to find a variety of hikes that fit with our time schedule, interests, and abilities.

Written by longtime area residents, this handy guide reads south to north, has small but good trail maps, includes interesting historical details, and contains a healthy number of good-quality (alas, B & W) photos. An appendix lists Park and Campground information but the book does not cover lodging and dining facilities. The book concludes with a helpful index. The front of the book features several pages of tables grouping hikes according to whether they feature Rivers, Creeks and Ponds, or Lots of Wildflowers, Old Growth Redwoods, Beaches and/or Coast, and even hikes for Terrific Fall Color. Also included are miles and difficulty. Trail and hike descriptions list the essentials: length, difficulty, elevation; and for the photographers among us, indispensable details such as areas rich in spring wildflowers, as well as areas with concentrations of deciduous trees that lend themselves to good fall color, also riparian scenes, and of course old-growth stands of the most stunning Giants themselves. I'm in the planning stages of a trip to Redwood Country and after just reading this book cover-to-cover, it may be the only guide I need.

This book highlighted the best short hikes that anyone can do. What's so great about the book is you can select a bunch of short hikes that you can do in one day. You'll feel like you have gained a great overview of each of the parks by going on these short hikes because they're all quite different. Plus the book is small and light enough that you can take with you on the hike. It's great to read the passsage as you embark on the start of your hike to refresh your memory of what you'll encounter along the way. We even saw a black cub on one of these hikes. Not too scare anyone off, but we thought it was pretty cool since we're city folks. Happy hiking!

One would be hard pressed to find better authors for a hiking guide to the Northern California Redwood Forests. Jerry and Gisela Rohde have already published two excellent travel guides to the area and their works are a delight to read. Perhaps the single best feature of this book is that the authors actually limited themselves to describing only short and easy walks in the region. (This is in sharp contrast to some of the other Mountaineers Press "Short Hikes" guides which have been known to include 22 mile hikes!) Of the sixty-four hikes included in this book, twelve are less than a mile, and only seven exceed 5 miles. Literally anyone can find a walk suited to them among those listed in this book. This book has several other nice aspects as well. Mileages for trails are accurate to within 1/20 (.05) miles. The Rohde's also provide graphic representations of the amount of elevation you can expect to gain or lose over the course of a hike. Finally, each hike includes a sketch map of the trail and most include stunning black and white photographs that are almost worth the price of the book alone. If I have any complaint at all about this book, it is that I would have begun coverage of the North Coast Redwoods at Richardson Grove State Park rather than Humbolt Redwoods. Richardson Grove appears right after you cross the Humbolt County line while traveling north on Hwy 101. It is at this point you truly know you are in Redwood Country. The many beautiful trails there merit a visit if you are coming into Humbolt county from the south. That said, the authors are to be commended for including Humbolt Redwoods State Park since it is outside the boundaries of the National Park and often overlooked. I personally think the F.K. Lane Grove walk (Hike 1 in this book) is the single best stroll among redwoods in the state. Humbolt Redwoods State Park is also the location of the tallest redwood trees, National Park claims to the contrary notwithstanding. Prarie Creek Redwoods State Park also receives much needed attention in this volume. I hope to spend several days there the next time I go north. This book is simply a "must buy." Any trip to the Northern California Coast without it is incomplete. Also be sure to pick up the authors' other two books. They contain delightful local histories of the region and are a joy to read.