CHETCO RIVER REDWOODS LOOP

HIKE STATS:

Distance: 1.2 mile loop

Elevation Gain: 400 feet

Trailhead Elevation: 71 feet

Trail High Point: 370 feet

Season: all year

Best: all year

Pass: none needed

GPS Track: June 2022

On the traditional lands of: the Chit-dee-ni (Chetco) and Tolowa Dee-ni’ peoples

DIRECTIONS:

• From Brookings, turn onto North Bank Chetco River Road, following signs for Alfred Loeb State Park.

• Drive 7.6 miles to Alfred Loeb State Park.

• Continue a little over a half-mile to a small parking area on the left side of the road signed for the Redwood Nature Trail. This is the trailhead.

• Trailhead: Redwood Nature Trailhead (Google Maps)

Note: This is not to be confused with the Oregon Redwoods Trail, which is located further south, close to the California border. If you are searching for this hike on the internet, search for the Redwood Nature Trail.

Hike: Redwood trees are the tallest on the planet, and they only grow along a narrow strip of coastline from northern California to the extreme southwest corner of Oregon. The northernmost grove in the world is located in Alfred Loeb State Park, northeast of Brookings. Here, just 8 miles north of the California border, lies a magnificent grove of Sequoia sempervirens, the nicest to be found in the state of Oregon. While the trees here cannot compare to those found further south in California, this is as absolutely the nicest such grove in our state. Make this a mandatory stop if you’re down in the Brookings area.

The trail begins at a small parking lot just off the North Bank Chetco River Road. Follow the wide trail and immediately come to a junction, just below an impressive redwood and next to a bridge across the creek that runs through the redwood grove. Turn left here to begin the loop. The trail follows the road briefly before switchbacking uphill into an impressive redwood grove. Though not as impressive as the redwoods found south of the border, there are some massive trees in here, and you’ll enjoy taking the time to crane your neck up to the heavens in awe of these giants. These are, after all, Oregon redwoods. You’ll wind along a creek, pass under many tall trees, then switchback downhill to cross the creek again. When you cross the bridge, you’ll reach the junction at the end of the loop. Turn left to return to the trailhead.

Other hiking options:

There are sadly very few good hiking options along the Chetco River. A trail beginning in Alfred Loeb State Park follows the river for 0.7 mile to the trailhead described above for the Redwood Nature Trail. You can extend your hike by starting at this lower trailhead but even then, this is still less than 3 miles round-trip.

Hikers looking for more hiking along the Chetco or in the mountains east of here should consider hiking to Windy Valley (Hike 19) or waiting for the trails on the western side of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness to be cleared. One such trail, the Tincup Trail, follows the Chetco River into its narrow canyon, eventually reaching remote Tincup Gorge. The trail is scheduled for maintenance sometime in the next year or two but was sadly not passable when I visited in the summer of 2022.

For more information on the trails in the Brookings area and Chetco valley, follow the Siskiyou Mountain Club here: https://siskiyoumountainclub.org