Tall Trees Trail

A free online reservation is required year-round to pass the locked gate to Tall Trees Trailhead. Follow the current reservation instructions and keep the emailed gate code handy. The access road is narrow, winding and gravel, and park guidance warns that digital directions and data coverage can be unreliable. Allow about an hour to drive from the nearest visitor center. The small lot has two vault toilets, a shelter and information panels, but no drinking water or food service. RVs over 21 feet and vehicles towing trailers cannot park there. Pets are not allowed on this trail.

The trail drops steadily through forest toward Redwood Creek's floodplain. That 800-foot descent in about 1.5 miles feels like a bargain on the way down; remember that you will have to regain it on foot. At the bottom, follow the short loop through the grove. The standard route does not require a creek crossing. A junction at the grove's north end leads onto the separate Redwood Creek Trail, so stay on the grove loop if you mean to do this hike and return to the permit trailhead.

The loop winds among widely spaced giant redwoods, then briefly leaves them for big-leaf maples by the creek before returning beneath the redwoods. Moss and ferns cling to the maples, and an opening in the canopy lets more light into this sheltered valley. This is the place to slow down after the descent. For a photo that shows the trees' scale, include several trunks from their bases up into the canopy instead of filling the frame with one trunk.

A 1963 survey measured the Libbey Tree at 368 feet, then the tallest tree known. The discovery and the attention it drew helped lead to the creation of Redwood National Park. Its crown later died back, and it no longer holds the record. The small marker is easy to miss, and the tree itself is hard to pick out from the ground among its neighbors. Hyperion is also in this region but strictly off-limits; this trail does not go to it.

The grove grows on the creek's moist, fertile floodplain, protected from strong winter winds. Big-leaf maples and redwoods thrive in those conditions. This landscape was heavily affected by logging, road building and erosion beginning in the 1950s; a major 1964 storm left as much as 20 feet of sediment near the watershed's headwaters. The tall trees are part of a valley that is still recovering, not an untouched forest.

The walk back is the same long, steep trail, climbing about 800 feet to the lot after the grove loop. Carry enough water and food for the whole outing; there is no potable water at the trailhead, and the remote access means a short stop can become a long day. Sturdy footwear and rain gear are sensible for a dirt trail in a wet coastal forest. If a sustained uphill finish is not your kind of hike, choose a grove walk with easier access instead.