Content
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Difficulty: Easy
Length: 1.9 miles /
3.1 km
Duration: 1-3 hours
Family Friendly
Overview:
There's a grove and trail that's all but forgotten at Humboldt Redwoods called "The Children's Forest". As the story goes, a number of years ago in 2003, the park had a fire. It made a mess of the trail leading into this one grove near the southern end of the park.
Tucked between William's Grove Day Use Area and Meyer's Flat on the west side of the Eel River is a seemingly cut-off portion of Humboldt Redwoods. Across the river from William's Grove there still remain a couple of trails, now flagged, through the burnt portions of the forest. Those trails, if followed south, will quickly take one to an unburnt and seldom-visited portion of the Humboldt Redwoods, namely The Children's Forest.
Once in the forest the viewer can enjoy some wonderful and essentially unperturbed Old Growth Redwood. The trail back there is rapidly growing over and there's nobody else around...which makes this a pretty special place.
The fire was the 2003 Canoe Creek fire. The area is only open between May and September, when the Eel's low enough to bridge.
Tips:
Location:
Mailing Address
P.O. Box 100
Weott CA 95571
Latitude / Longitude: 40.3225 / -123.9928
Directions:
Park headquarters and the Visitor Center are located on the Avenue of the Giants, State Route 254, between the towns of Weott and Myers Flat. This is 45 miles south of Eureka and 20 miles north of Garberville off of Highway 101. Weott is 228 miles north of San Francisco on Highway 101. The 32 mile long Avenue of the Giants runs roughly parallel to Highway 101 from Phillipsville in the south to Pepperwood in the north.
Telephone:
Park Headquarters:
707-946-2409
Visitor Center:
707-946-2263
Albee Creek Campground (seasonal):
707-946-2472
Burlington Campground (seasonal):
707-946-1811
Hidden Springs Campground (seasonal):
707-943-3177
Hours of Operation:
Park open year-round. Visitor Center open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. 9:00am - 5:00pm, April through October 10:00am - 4:00pm, November through March
Seasons/Climate/Recommended Clothing
Summer: Highs in the 70’s to 90’s, lows in the 50’s.
Winter: Highs in the 50’s to 60’s, lows in the 20’s to 30’s.
Visitors should come prepared for any type of weather. The park receives between 60 and 80 inches of rain per year, the vast majority of which falls between October and May. Rain in the summer season is unusual, but does occur. In the summer there is often morning fog which usually burns off by noon at the very latest. Summer temperatures can vary widely – there can be as much as a thirty degree temperature difference between the extreme north end of the park, closer to the ocean, and the southern end of the park, just 30 miles away. Winter snow is unusual but does occur at the higher elevations in the park, usually above 2000 feet. Layered clothing is recommended at any time of year.
