A Little Known Park, John B. Dewitt Redwoods

Hiking in California

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A Little Known Park, John B. Dewitt Redwoods

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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 1.1 miles / 1.8 km
Duration: 1 hour or less

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Overview: A little park composed of two separate and distinct sections of land adjacent to the Eel River and the town of Redway, CA. John B. Dewitt Redwoods SNR has three main areas of activity, despite its appearance which suggests it serves as a buffer between the highway, YMCA Camp, a low security prison, and private parcels.

Because the park was newly acquired, there isn’t any information on the park’s official web page. Even the rangers working out of Humboldt Redwoods, who also operate this property, didn’t have much information to share. Nonetheless, it is a beautiful park that is well worth a visit.

Portions of the property are clearly old growth and there are no official trails. This particular section is along the Eel River and has access to the water in one or two spots. It also represents an easy place to visit, stretch your legs, have a picnic, and maybe even do a little fishing while traveling HWY 101.

Tips: Location:
Myers Flat, CA 95554
Latitude: 40.12490
Longitude: -123.83388

Location:
Myers Flat, CA 95554
Latitude: 40.12490
Longitude: -123.83388

Just north of the town of Redway, off Redwood Road 400-600 feet southerly of Wood ranch Road.
Telephone
North Coast Redwoods District
707-445-6547

Climate:
Typical Redwood Country. Be prepared for cool and damp weather under the trees, and the possibility of mosquitoes.

There are no services, restrooms, or trash cans.

There is no camping.

Points of Interest

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Entrance

The entrance is easy to miss but that's not a problem. It's a few hundred feet south of Wood Ranch Road, just outside of Redway.

The small dirt lot is tucked in the woods just off the road and only has space for a few cars. There is a gate to pass through to access the trail.

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Trail Head

Start the walk at the gated entrance. The path looks to be a very old service road. There are "volunteer” trails scattered all over this grove. Some meander nicely and lead to some very nice spots over the river and within tree circles.

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Invasive Plants

Ivy has invaded the forest floor in a patch extending from the Redwood Drive above down to the main path in the grove.

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Washout

Washout in the trail. Farther up the road a tree is down.

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Single Track trail down to the Eel River.

The service road tapers down to a single track trail through the trees and brush. There's also a couple of very nice redwood trees back here on the way down to the river.

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Mid Stream Eel River

Eel River, midstream. There looks to be a fairly stable gravel bar allowing direct access to the river here. Mid-day it could also be a sunny and dry spot to hang out.

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Bar Point

Without going "feet wet", this is the downstream extent of the gravel bar. The Eel hugs the steep easterly (park side) shoreline downstream from here.