Hobbs-Wall Trail

Hobbs-Wall Trail is a 3.75-mile loop above Mill Creek Campground in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. It circles a logged hillside through redwoods and second growth, using a short Nature Loop stretch and two small Saddler Loop links to close the circuit. Allow about two hours. The uneven grades and repeated ravine dips make it a moderate hike, not a flat campground stroll.

The marked access is off Mill Creek Campground Road, about two miles east of U.S. 101. From Crescent City, turn east onto the campground road about seven miles south of town. The campground entrance operates seasonally; when its gate is shut, park information directs hikers to park along U.S. 101. Dogs are not allowed on trails except service animals.

The path drops through a lush ravine, passes redwood stumps and ferns beneath mixed fir, then levels into smaller hollows with brief looks toward Mill Creek watershed hills. It climbs again through a redwood and fir grove before descending alongside the highway. Toward the campground entrance, forest size and mix shift from larger old-growth redwoods to second growth. Small creeks may run in the ravines during the wetter part of the year.

Near Highway 101, redwood trunks fill a shallow depression beneath the road. Their cut ends make the trail’s oddest sight: a wall of wood where the highway embankment was built. A narrow ridge nearby holds roughly 20 large old-growth redwoods. For a photo, frame the cut ends with a few living trunks so the contrast in scale is clear.

Hobbs-Wall takes its name from Hobbs, Wall & Co., one of Del Norte’s major timber firms in the late 1860s. The company later built a mill in Mill Creek’s upper watershed and a railroad to Crescent City. The forest here carries both sides of that history: large trees that escaped the saw and a hillside that grew back after logging.

The 3.75-mile loop is the Hobbs-Wall route with its short trail connections. A separate seven-mile campground circuit combines several other paths, including Alder Basin and Trestle Loop; choose that only if you want a longer network hike.