The Smith River waterway is the northernmost of California’s major rivers. Its mouth is about 5 miles south of the Oregon border and 10 miles north of Crescent City. It is the largest free-flowing river in the state, producing the largest steelhead and Chinook salmon. The untamed nature of this river, without a single dam along its entire length, makes it especially prized a … [Read more...]
#18 – Bear Basin Butte Lookout & Smith River National Recreation Area
If you really want to get away from it all and immerse yourself in the beauty of nature, spend the night in a fire lookout at Bear Basin Butte Lookout in the heart of the Smith River National Recreation Area. Perched atop a narrow ridge at 5,300 feet, the lookout features breathtaking 360-degree views of the Siskiyou Mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. If … [Read more...]
#19 – Stout Grove, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
In an region where scenic attractions are difficult to describe without an excess of superlatives, Stout Grove pulls out all the stops. Located on a flood plain between the Smith River and Mill Creek, the periodic flooding prevents the growth of an understory of tanoak, madrone, red alder and other small trees that obscures the view in other stands of redwood. As a result, you … [Read more...]