High Rock River Trail

Humboldt Redwoods State Park

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While the High Rock River Trail is an official trail shown on the map provided with the Humboldt Redwoods State Park brochure, it certainly doesn't seem that way when starting out on it. I turned down a narrow and unsigned road which happens to be the High Rock River Bar Access and parked in the wide spot just before the open gate. I was a little past an opening into the forest beside a cut log where there is an unsigned trail. I started down it with a sureness set very precariously. The slightest hint could have sent it tumbling into an abyss of dread.

The first and only indication of what the road is for is at the gate, well down it. You are not to drive in the river, just on the gravel. It's not a problem this time of year.

A path under the trees.

Pondering the massive burl in the side of a redwood and the way the bark has split around it.

Fortunately, the signs were good. In fact, I started passing huge grove dedication signs. This was some sort of official trail traveling in the right space, so likely the one I was aiming at.

The grove signs do pop up a lot of places, but generally along trails.

It is certainly a river trail with a few glimpses of water beyond the trees.

There are very few blooms of redwood sorrel already.

The trail splits without indication of where each side goes. I chose right and got on with some climbing. It split a couple more times for access to the road near the work camp, one with a turnout. FOr those, it was obvious where the extra trail went. It almost split, but someone doing maintenance had simply started down a game trail instead of taking the switchback. Up I climbed until I found my self quite high up overlooking a precipitous drop to the river below.

Looking upriver to the next gravel bars along the Eel River from High Rock.

The map indicates the majority of the trail is south of High Rock. I only saw steep use trails continuing on. Perhaps one of them is not quite so unofficial as it looked to me. I turned back to see what the other fork would have gotten me.

A bit of fungus on the forest floor.

The downward path at the split brought me to the southern end of the gravel bar. The river and rock blocked all further travel in that direction.

At the bottom of High Rock.

So I turned to return along the gravel bar. There were 3 or 4 vehicles of fishermen that had taken advantage of the access to park where they wished and wade out into the waters. There was even a small boat out on the water. The bar extends quite a ways north of the access road, but I didn't go that far.

Much of the sand and rocks are as the water left them when it was recently many feet higher than now.

The tracks where the Great Redwood Trail will pass are clearly visible on the far side of the river.

North (downstream) along the Eel River.

*photo album*




©2022 Valerie Norton
Written 12 Feb 2022