Howland Hill Road: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Redwood National and State Parks, National Park Service
McCardle K, Uemura E, PAR Environmental. 2018. Howland Hill Road: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Redwood National and State Parks, National Park Service. 725490. Redwood National and State Parks. CLI Database
Howland Hill Road is a 5.9-mile-long unpaved, scenic road through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park within Redwood National Park in Del Norte County east of Crescent City, California. The road today follows the historic alignment of the Crescent City to Grants Pass Road. Built as a more reliable alternative to the Crescent City Plank Road, it connected the inland mining operations to the harbor of Crescent City. Howland Hill Road was initially surveyed in 1881 and based, in least in part, on older trails leading through the forest between Crescent City and the interior of the state and north to Oregon. The western one-third of the road within Redwood National Park originally passed south of Howland Hill Road and then north along Mill Creek until it met the current road alignment near the present Mill Creek crossing. The road realigned, most likely in the 1920s, after logging operations abandoned a rail line built part way to Mill Creek. The road provides convenient access to old-growth redwoods and allows visitors to come close to the giant trees. This exposure spurred preservation of the redwoods along the road beginning in 1929 when Frank Stout, President of Del Norte Lumber Company, working with Save the Redwoods League, donated Stout Grove to the State of California. The last donation of land came in 1949 with the 500-acre National Tribute Grove. The road today is a popular destination for park visitors with numerous pullouts and trailheads leading to noted sites, including Stout Grove and the Boy Scout Tree Trail.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- McCardle, Kevin; Uemura, Emilie; PAR Environmental
- Date of Issue
- 2018-01-29
- Publisher
- Redwood National and State Parks
- Units
- REDW
- Keywords
- Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Howland Hill Road, Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Redwood National and State Parks