Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Simpson Reed Grove Trail, Redwood National and State Parks

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Simpson Reed Grove Trailhead, near Hwy 199
One of the parks we visited in our Klamath Region Circle of Parks trip is Redwood National and State Parks in Northern California. From Crater Lake National Park in Oregon, we drove South to Oregon Caves National Monument ( I'll feature Oregon Caves later ) and then continued Southwest to Redwoods National and State Parks.
Coming from the North, the first Visitor Center we saw was the Hiouchi Information Center. We usually stop at every park's visitor center first to ask for more information, and also to write our names in the guest's log. Park rangers told us before that whenever we write our names in the guest list's log, we are helping the park in a way that we have been counted in the visitors list, and the funding of the park is also dependent on its number of visitors. Plus of course, it is always safe to tell people where you are, as you do not know what could happen in the trail. 
Starting from Hiuochi Visitor Center, our first destination was the Simpson Reed Grove Trail, of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The trailhead is about  1.5 miles west of the Hiouchi visitor center. The Simpson Reed Grove trail is one of the most popular trails in the park because of its accessibility. 
Simpson Reed Grove Trail,  Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
The trail is on an easy and flat 1 mile loop. We were there about 2:00 pm, yet the lighting inside the trail is very low because of the dense redwood forest. Aside from redwoods, lush green ferns are beautifully lining the trail as if beautifully landscaped by nature. Despite the trail being close to the highway, but inside is very quiet and peaceful, as if these tall trees and lush vegetation were filtering the outside noise. Simpson Reed Grove trail is one of the old growth redwoods in Redwood National and State Parks that we visited. Aside from redwoods, there are other vegetation that can be found in this forest. There were hemlock trees covered with lichens
Lichens Hanging on a Tree
and some wildflowers.
Redwood National and State Parks is a world heritage site and an international biosphere reserve protecting the ancient coast redwood ecosystem which contains some of our planet's tallest trees and oldest living things. A forest right next to the ocean, the biological diversity in this region is remarkable. Ocean life such as gray whales, sea stars, giant anemones, are at home with the world's tallest trees. 
I will have more about redwoods and the other ancient growth coastal redwoods we visited in the park. Meanwhile, I will leave you with some more of our pictures (with us in the picture to show the comparison how dwarfed we were by the tall trees).
The redwoods can reach up to 379 ft high, almost 6 stories higher than the Statue of Liberty. However, redwoods are not the only tall trees that can grow in this forest, the douglas- fir trees are at home with the redwoods as well. Despite being so tall and have shallow roots, redwoods seldom fall over, they are resistant to fire, insects, disease and fungi allowing them to live more than 20 human lifetimes. 
More about Redwoods National and State Parks to come...
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23 comments:

  1. Wow, I love the information on redwoods, and the tallest trees picture of them in this post is just amazing..

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  2. What an amazing place to visit with the tall redwoods, lush ferns and lichen covered hemlocks. The wildflowers looks so exotic too. That's a good point you make about signing the parks guest logs.

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  3. Oh! As I scrolled down the redwoods just seemed to grow out of the bottom of the computer. Cool. I like the while flower a lot. It looks like an iris.

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  4. The wildflowers are lovely and the trees are towering high!!!

    I love your outdoor adventures, seeing all your photos makes me feel I have visited the place. I'm not much of a hiker since I'm always confined at home and work. This way I see through places =) thanks for sharing all these great photos!

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  5. i've never seen such gigantic trees, beth! ang gaganda!

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  6. girlfriend! the first two pictures suddenly reminds me of a poem i haven't finish in the longest time...about a road. they will fit perfectly for what i had in mind.

    oh! what a tree! i can't hardly see people passing by...

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  7. I am great to be with you on the trekking. Dense woods, low lighting, lush green ferns, tall trees, seems like I am back with Cerok Tokun now. So good.
    And yet how dwarfed we are..

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  8. Wow!.. The redwoods trees looks like those in the scene of medieval movies with magical touch. It is good to see the majestic view of our nature. Thanks for sharing Betchai :)

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  9. I have never seen redwoods up close and they are so beautiful! Thanks for the awesome pics as always.

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  10. oh my giants! are those trees related to the dinosaurs?

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  11. Beth, never seen such trees! thanks for bringing us close to nature, love all your photos Beth

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  12. Beth! it is a place i'd love to get lost in, with someone i love....may we never find the way out ha ha ha ha....

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  13. That close up photo of a wildflower is so lovely! Also, you guys look so tiny in those redwoods!

    Hope you have a wonderful Thursday Betchai!!


    Debbie :)

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  14. I simply love the mystery of forests. The first photo with the way the light peeks through the forest trees is a perfect example of the mystery that lies within the trees. You've captured that excitement and mystery perfectly with these photos Betchai. They are glorious.

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  15. Wow..the redwood trees are nature's giants!

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  16. Oh the trees, oh how I love thee. A forest right by the ocean, what a site to see. Glad to see you back on Entrecard, betcha

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  17. ooooo Thank you for giving me a photographic glimpse of something I will probably never seen up close and personal. Your pictures are marvelous and I DO feel like I am there with you - very encouraging to me as I lay here in burning hot Texas. Thank you!!

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  18. It is a lovely trail. Thanks for the very informative post too!

    Never seen redwood trees with my naked eyes.

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  19. I think that is my second favorite place on earth, although I haven't been there in years. Your pictures are a perfect way for me to revisit such an amazing park.

    I very much enjoyed our visit too. Hugs and love.

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  20. Your photos do such a great job of informing people about how beautiful California is.

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  21. Beautiful pics, betchai. Those huge redwoods remind me of the ones we saw in Mariposa (sequoias, I think). So amazing!

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  22. i think that the park rangers and staff are the rudest people i have ever met. i think that they need to realize they are serving the people there. i will never go there again.

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THANK YOU SO MUCH!!