Headwaters Forest Reserve
BLM Headwaters Forest Reserve (Elk River Trail), near Eureka · near Eureka · North Coast
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- out-and-back
- Distance
- 10.5 miles
- Elevation gain
- 900 ft
- Time needed
- day
- Best season
- Year-round (lower trail floods in winter); best late spring–fall
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- No
- How the permit works
- BLM reserve; no permit, free, day-use only. First ~1 mile paved/accessible. Dogs and bikes only on the first 3 miles, not into the old growth.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 0 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Old-growth redwoods saved by the 1999 Headwaters acquisition · Flat, partly-paved riverside first 3 miles · Marbled murrelet habitat · Old-growth loop at the top
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Hiking detail
- Intl tip
- A gentle redwood day hike near Eureka - the first 3 miles are flat and partly paved (dogs/bikes OK there), the final 2 climb into old growth (no dogs/bikes). Free, no permit. The grove was saved by the famous 1999 Headwaters deal.
The guide
Headwaters Forest Reserve protects one of the great conservation victories of the redwood era - a grove of ancient coast redwoo…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Headwaters Forest Reserve — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 40.692, -124.1409