Grove of Titans

Grove of Titans is a grove of enormous, ancient coast redwoods in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The draw is moving among several giants on an elevated metal-mesh walkway, with a lush fern layer below. Keep it on your list if you want an up-close redwood walk rather than a roadside view of the forest.

The trailhead is on Howland Hill Road. From Highway 199, NPS directs visitors toward the road near Hiouchi; from Crescent City, the full 10-mile drive can take 45 to 90 minutes. The road is narrow and mostly unpaved, and RVs and vehicles towing trailers are prohibited. Parking at the grove is very limited in summer, so arrive early if you need a space. Short repair closures can follow winter storms; check the road before setting out.

The trail has steps and is not ADA accessible. Dogs are not allowed on park trails, so this isn't a stop for bringing a pet along the walk.

The elevated walkway is part of the experience: it brings you close to the trunks while keeping visitors off the fragile forest floor. The grove sits on an open, fern-covered flat near a tributary of Mill Creek, so the giant trees stand out against a surprisingly green, low understory. A short spur reaches a platform with a creek view.

The route passes several named redwoods, including Chesty Puller, an unusual pair of fused trunks, and Lost Monarch, described as the grove's largest single-trunk tree. The Screaming Titans and El Viejo del Norte are further along the route. At the open marsh, look back toward Chesty Puller; the change in view makes its scale easier to take in.

Tolowa Dee-ni’ people have known these trees for thousands of years. The grove entered wider public attention when researchers named it in the late 1990s, then drew more visitors after Richard Preston's 2007 book The Wild Trees described a much harder, off-trail approach. The modern trail and walkway were built to keep people from trampling the understory; their interpretation was developed with the Tolowa Dee-ni’ Nation, which describes the trees as ancestral relatives.