Parking
Use the Walker Road trailhead, about 0.1 mile beyond the sharp turn from Highway 199. Parking is not available for RVs or vehicles with trailers.
Overview
About Peterson Memorial Trail
Why go
- A compact loop through old-growth redwoods, ferns and hemlocks
- A timber footbridge makes this short detour distinctive
Heads up
- The Peterson branch is less extensive than the Simpson-Reed main loop
- Reach it by walking a short approach on Simpson-Reed
Map & elevation
The route
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 Peterson Memorial 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
- Leiffer Loop's Redwoods and Old Road
- The Redwood Found Alive
- 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 Peterson Memorial Trail
The short Peterson loopPeterson Memorial Trail is a small loop branching from Simpson-Reed Grove Trail beneath…
Peterson Memorial Trail is a small loop branching from Simpson-Reed Grove Trail beneath old-growth redwoods. From its junction, follow the 0.29-mile Peterson path and return on about 0.07 mile of the connecting Simpson-Reed path; the mapped circuit totals 0.36 mile and takes about 15 minutes at an easy pace. Visitor mileage rounds it to a half mile, while a separate 0.93-mile accessible-loop figure describes the connected Simpson-Reed and Peterson trails. This branch is a compact add-on rather than a full tour of the larger grove.
Forest and footingThe route passes towering redwoods, a timber footbridge, ferns, mossy hemlocks, maples and…
The route passes towering redwoods, a timber footbridge, ferns, mossy hemlocks, maples and redwood sorrel. Its compacted-aggregate surface is mostly level. The combined Simpson-Reed and Peterson experience is described as generally flat with intermittent short 5–8% slopes; that access information covers the connected trail experience, not a separate grade map for this loop.
Finding the junctionPark at the Walker Road trailhead and follow Simpson-Reed to the first fork, then keep right…
Park at the Walker Road trailhead and follow Simpson-Reed to the first fork, then keep right again onto Peterson Memorial. At the far junction, return to Simpson-Reed and follow the loop counterclockwise back toward the start. The 0.36-mile Peterson-only measurement starts at the junction and excludes that approach and return from the trailhead. The turn from Highway 199 onto Walker Road is sharp and easy to miss; the trailhead is about 0.1 mile farther up the road.
Rules and navigationPets are not allowed on park trails. Stay on the developed path to protect the forest floor.
Pets are not allowed on park trails. Stay on the developed path to protect the forest floor. Cell coverage is very limited here, and online maps are not dependable, so use a park map for the visit.
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.
