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Ten Fun Things To Do in the Smith River Area
1. Have you ever wanted to be just like the beat poets Jack Kerouac and Gary Snyder and spend some time high above a forest spotting fires? Here’s your chance. The U.S. Forest Service rents out its Bear Butte Basin Fire Lookout (5303 feet in altitude) by the day and the week, first-come, first-served. Reservations are taken on January 1st for that year. Click here to go to the Forest Service website. 2. Got an itch to see a carnivorous plant? There’s a California native called Darlingtonia Californicus and in the summertime you can see it in full flower. One good place to go is the Smith River NRA’s Darlingtonia Trail: it begins right off Highway 199 at milepost 17.9, between Panther Flat Campground and Grassy Flat Campground. Look for the Botanical Trail signs on the highway and take the short paved road to the parking area. Click here to go to the Forest Service website. We’ve also seen them growing on spring-fed road cuts along the South Fork Road, easy to see but not as esthetically pleasing. 3. Ride your mountain bike on an historic stagecoach road and visit a fabulous redwood grove. Leaving Crescent City on Howland Hill Road, a gravel road into Jedediah Smith State Park. After ten scenic miles you come to the superlative Stout Redwood Grove. Click here for a 180 degree photo of Stout Grove. A short hike down to the Smith River through the grove takes you to a summer bridge over the river and the Jed Smith State Park Campground on State Highway 199. 4. We’ll give you something to honk about! In the late winter Del Norte County’s population grows by about 35,000 -- Aleutian Canada Geese that is. You can see them at their winter stopover in the wetlands west and north of Crescent City. You can see them at the Tolowa Dunes State Park or if you want to get into it totally, visit the annual Aleutian Goose Festival held each March.
5. Catch a lunker. The Smith River is quite possibly the best place for salmon, trout and steelhead fishing in the whole State of California. We can reveal that much without revealing any secret spots. We urge you to wet a line in the Smith and try your luck. Click here to visit a website that will give you the lowdown and even the runoff for our favorite fishing hole. 6. Rapids Ahead. If you know what you are doing, the Smith is a floater’s playpen. There is whitewater available for all tastes, from beginner to those whose bumper stickers read “No Fear.” Click here to visit a website that will help you pick the right run for your raft or kayak. 7. How would you like to hop in a helicopter and be whisked to an historic lighthouse six miles off the California coast? The historic St. George Reef Lighthouse is the only offshore lighthouse in the world that is open to the public. By reservation, the non-profit St George Reef Light House Association can take you there for a fee. It’s not cheap, but what true adventure is? Click here to visit their site. If you can’t make it to the lighthouse at least visit the Del Norte County Museum at 6th and H Street (577 H Street) and see their exhibit about the lighthouse. The Del Norte County Museum is open 6 days a week from 10am to 4pm, May 1st to October 1st. 8. See an Ophiolite up close and personal. Her full name is Josephine Ophiolite and she said to be “best exposed” along the Smith River. Seriously, if you are interested in geology or have read John McPhee’s marvelous book Assembling California (1993, Farrar, Straus and Giroux) you are aware of such things as peridotites, radiolarian chart, and the Steinmann Trinity. Here’s your chance to see, close at hand, the whole ophiolitic column. Get the details at a College of the Redwoods geology tour or at the University of Oregon and then go see it yourself. 9. Swim with the fishes. The clear waters and deep pools of the Smith River offer visitors a chance to put on a mask and snorkel to swim with the native salmon and trout. Even in mid-summer the water is cool so you’ll appreciate a wetsuit with a hood and it’s always smart to dive with a buddy. Learn to identify the numerous coastal cutthroat trout but keep your eyes peeled for the massive missiles known as summer steelhead or spring chinook. Often they’ll be hiding deep in the pool under a ledge or between boulders; you’ll have to dive down to see them. Don’t forget to look up in the fast water at the very head of the pool, behind the “bubble curtain,” where many fish will hide in the summer months. On the South Fork of the Smith, a good place to look for fish is near the mouth of Craig’s Creek. An easy path from the road will take you to the pool. A nice family beach is just downstream at Scale Shack Turn (Mile marker 2.1 on the South Fork Road). And remember the South Fork Smith is closed to fishing downstream of Craig’s Creek. You might want to pick up a copy of Robert Steelquist’s Field Guide to the Pacific Salmon (1992, Sasquatch Books) direct from the Adopt-A-Stream Foundation. Click here for great books from the Adopt-A-Stream site.
10. Visit an area with unabashed diversity in conifers -- 14 species of conifers within one square mile! The World Wildlife Fund says that the diversity of the conifers in the forest in the area of the Smith River is the highest in North America north of Mexico. Within the Bear Basin Butte Botanical Area (8,764 acres) you can see this full range on a short day trip. Or if you are so inclined you could make it a longer trip and stay at the fire lookout for overnight or longer (see #1 above). Before you head out pick up a copy of Conifers of California by Ronald M. Lanner (1999 Cachuma Press) and study up so you can identify all 14. Click here for information from the California Native Plant Society about Bear Basin Butte Botanical Area.
Smith River National Recreation Area Click the left-side links on this page to view other Resources pages. Smith River Alliance © 2004-2007 Smith River Alliance |
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