Monday, May 20, 2024 - Visit Redwood National and State Park

We started with Lady Bird Johnson Grove trail and found it is a very developed trail. We enjoyed the plaque dedicated to Lady Bird Johnson - who in her role as First Lady - actively promoted the protection and creation of natural habitats. The trail and the overpass to the trail were well maintained. It was one of the best trails we had experienced in these 3 days.

After we finished the trail, we drove to Bald Hills Road Scenic Drive.  It had a lot of wild flowers and scenery was breathtaking.  

However, we only drove half of the way and turned back to Tall Tree Access Road for Tall Tree Trail. The park limited to 50 parties for each day, and permits are issued up to 24-hours ahead of time.  Since it is a permit only access road, they have a pad lock at the entrance and we have to use an access code provided via email the day before to open the lock.  It was the first of this kind of experience for us.  This access road is an unpaved 7-miles dirt road and we really put on a lot of dust and dirt on our rental car.  The hike is 1.3-mile walk with a considerable elevation change. It starts with downhill and the returning hike is mostly uphill.  For all that effort there’s only about a quarter-mile of big-tree scenery, and the grove is so narrow that its edge is always visible.  We did about half of the trail and then we turned around to allow ourselves having enough time to drive to Roseburg, Oregon for overnight.

We were glad that we kept the permit and tried the Tall Tree Trail.  We had discussion regarding the risk factors of hiking this trail and they can be listed as the following:

1. We have to trust the Apple Map will direct us correctly and we have to depending on the offline map work properly
2. We have to trust the weather holding up to allow us to do the hike
3. We have to trust the National Park Permit System works properly 
4. We have to trust our rental car can hold up to the uneven unpaved dirt road without malfunctioning
5. We have to trust the pad lock company made the lock function properly, so we can unlock to get in and get out the access road
6. We have to trust ourselves with the strength to hike on this difficult trail
7. We have also be very careful to drive on the access road without issues

With all thee risk factors, we were so happy that we made it without any hiccup.