Parking
Use the marked Hatton Trailhead on the south side of Highway 199. Parking is limited; RVs and trailers are not advised.
Overview
About Hatton Loop Trail
Why go
- A lush old-growth grove on a very short loop
Heads up
- Brief steep hillside; Highway 199 traffic stays audible
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Redwood map
Full mapElevation120–163 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Safety
6 active Redwood alerts
- CautionU.S. 101 construction traffic controlsExpect construction-related traffic stops and one-way controlled traffic on U.S. 101; allow extra time and drive cautiously. - NPS reports multiple stops between Orick and Crescent City; delays vary.Official details
- CautionU.S. 199 construction traffic controlsExpect 24/7 one-way controlled traffic on three U.S. 199 segments because of construction. - 6–6.2 miles north of Gasquet: through 6:00 p.m. December 15, 2026; delays up to 10 minutes. - 9.6–9.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Redwood Tour Guide
Your drive to Hatton Loop Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Redwood National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Redwood audio tourRecorded for this trailhead
Walker Road and Simpson-Reed Grove0:00 / 0:24
“You're approaching Walker Road, the access for Simpson-Reed Grove. The level, wheelchair-accessible loop is about eight-tenths of a mile; allow thirty to sixty minutes among redwoods, mossy hemlocks and ferns.”
Plays as you drive up to this trailhead in the Parkwolf Redwood Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- The Redwood Found Alive
- Leiffer Loop's Redwoods and Old Road
- Hiouchi Trail
- Jedediah Smith River Day Use Area
- 85 audio storiesacross Redwood’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, California Condor, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 83 trails, 48 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Hatton Loop Trail
A short loop with a quick climbHatton Loop Trail is a 0.
Hatton Loop Trail is a 0.3-mile loop from the marked Hatton Trailhead on Highway 199, including the short shared approach to the loop and back. It climbs a steep hillside, then drops into a small pocket of old-growth coast redwoods and lush groundcover. Allow about 20 minutes, with time to pause among the trees. Highway traffic stays audible, so this is a quick forest leg-stretch rather than a quiet escape.
The marsh and redwood hollowThe opening is damp and crowded with understory: moss covers many of the non-redwood trees,…
The opening is damp and crowded with understory: moss covers many of the non-redwood trees, lichens hang from branches, and a small marsh sits beside the trail. Beyond the short climb, the route descends to the lowland redwood cluster, with ferns and groundcover around the trunks. For a photo, keep the path and ferny ground in frame to give the trees scale. Hatton Trail continues uphill beyond the loop; the longer walk toward Lohse Grove or onward toward Hiouchi is a different, much longer outing.
Access and footingStart at the marked Hatton Trailhead on the south side of Highway 199.
Start at the marked Hatton Trailhead on the south side of Highway 199. Parking is limited, and RVs and trailers are not advised. The loop has a brief hillside pitch that is steep enough to notice; it is not a level stroll. Dogs are not allowed on trails here except service animals.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Redwood
256 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
2,389 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
62 sightingsCalifornia CondorMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
60 sightingsCalifornia Sea LionMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
216 sightingsHarbor SealMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
13 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Redwood. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
