Walk Your World: Tall Trees Grove

Redwoods reach skyward at Tall Trees Grove. Del Norte Triplicate/Richard Wiens

Let’s just resolve to say we’re among the tallest trees in the world.” That said, Laura and I tried to quit worrying about which of the wooden skyscrapers in our midst was the Libbey tree, at one time hailed as the planet’s tallest living thing. We were pretty sure we’d found it — a double-trunked riser near a “tall tree” sign, but like in any old-growth redwood grove, it was impossible to tell from the ground which one stretched higher than the rest.

Listen, Tall Trees Grove is not the first place you’d want to visit upon arrival in redwood country. It’s relatively small and hard to get to. The Humboldt folks will tell you that’s part of its charm: the inaccessibility resulting in solitude. But the fact is, up in Del Norte you can walk miles on well-maintained, easy-to-reach redwood trails without encountering another living organism bigger than a banana slug.

Still, there’s something compelling about a place that requires a bit of a journey and a secret combination just to enter, plus a reputation for featuring a slighter higher class of redwoods.

We set off from Crescent City equipped with rain gear — this was just before the freakishly sunny weather of the past couple of weeks, and the clouds looked loaded. In fact, on the 38-mile drive down U.S. Highway 101, we developed a Plan B. In case of heavy rain, we’d simply hike Lady Bird Johnson Grove. But our windshield was still dry as we passed that trailhead and continued southeasterly along a 7-mile stretch of Bald Hills Road.

We stopped at the Redwood Creek Overlook — the panorama of redwoods below was definitely worth the gaze. Another four-tenths of a mile brought us to a padlocked gate at the Tall Trees Access Road. You can get the current combination at any of the park visitors centers.

From there, the unpaved 6-mile route to the trailhead was actually smoother than parts of Bald Hills Road. The parking lot contained several cars — that’s Humboldt solitude for you — and we set out ahead of a still-gathering group of hikers.

We stayed level for about 10 minutes, passing through a door-shaped opening cut in a fallen giant. Everything seemed oversized, including the ferns and the mushrooms. One fungi specimen resembled a 4-foot-wide food tray.

Then we began what would ultimately be a 690-foot descent, significant when considering that we’d soon have to revisit it from an uphill perspective.

There were gnarly redwood exhibits on the way down, including one hollowed-out trunk about the size of a studio apartment. Despite the remote location, it was a well-maintained path — access was cut through all the fallen trees, and there were even several benches.

Brilliant patches of yellow leaves came into view as we reached the beginning of Tall Trees Loop after a 50-minute, 1 ½-mile downward stroll. As we leveled out, we caught our first glimpse of Redwood Creek to the left — the distant waterway and its maple tree buffer would follow along for most of the 1-mile loop.

Five minutes into the loop trail we reached the aforementioned “Tall Tree” sign and did some neck-craning. When we quit worrying about being certain we’d found the tree, we were more appreciative of the various redwood apparitions — twisting trunks, twin-towers and cathedral clusters.

The loop was completed in just over a half-hour — all too soon we regained Tall Trees Trail. The ascent was steep enough to inspire several rest stops, but short enough to not be arduous.

We spent more time driving than walking on the round-trip from Crescent City to Tall Trees Grove. When it was over, we felt like we’d completed something of a pilgrimage — a journey eventually required of all coastal redwood devotees.

TRAIL NOTES

• THE HIKE: A four-mile round trip to Tall Trees Grove, featuring a mile-long loop in the middle.

• HIGHLIGHTS: The view from Redwood Creek Overlook near the end of the drive down is definitely worth a stop. And when you reach the loop, you know you’re standing at the base of some of the world’s tallest trees. These are redwoods of historic proportions.

• SWEAT LEVEL: The 1 ½-mile stretch to and from the loop involves an altitude adjustment of 690 feet. That’s all uphill on the way back, making the overall trek moderately strenuous.

• GETTING THERE: First get the combination for that locked gate from a park visitors center. From Crescent City, drive 38 miles south on U.S. Highway 101, then take a left onto Bald Hills Road for 7 miles to the Tall Trees Access Road. Once through the gate, it’s another 6 miles to the trailhead.