Boy Scout Tree Trail – an incredible journey amidst titanic trees

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Location: Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, California
Length: 5,3 miles
Difficulty: Moderate
Elevation gain: 750 feet
GPS coordinates: N 41 46.098 W124 06.624

A beautiful Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park (or Jed Smith, as it is called among the hikers), is the northern section of the Redwood National and State Parks, containing 7% of the primeval redwood forests, which are left in the whole world. And the ultimate way to get a deep feel of this amazing place is to hike the Boy Scout Tree Trail.

Nowadays this 5,3 miles (round-trip) trail is perhaps the most sought-after and heavily-visited area in the park, as it takes the visitors deep inside the magnificent redwood forest. If you are fortunate to hike this trail during a sunny day, you will be really amazed by the incredible scenery when rare sun beams make their way through the dense crowns of giant trees, giving the forest particularly bright shades. But some people like to stroll among the beautiful trees during the foggy weather as it makes this pretty impressive forest even more mystic. Words and pictures do not adequately describe the otherworldly magic of the redwood forest, you need to hike it yourself if you ever have this opportunity

As the beginning of Boy Scout Tree Trail travels through the lowland forest of incredibly big redwoods, you will feel like Gulliver in the miraculous land of giants. Redwood forest is a place where there is no sense of scale in redwood forest, you start feeling like a tiny ant or a little plant with these huge trees around you.

Then the trail crosses a wooden mossy bridge and starts its gentle climb over the hillside, opening more and more fascinating views to delight the amazed eyes of the hikers. Upper part of this hill will provide you with a chance to admire a typical upland forest, where the redwoods are not as dense as at the trail’s beginning, and are somewhat smaller. After crossing a small bridge over Jordan Creek, the scenery will change for woodland with mixed tree-species, the spruce trees among which are dominant, though you will still see massive redwoods here.

In a little less then 2,5 miles from where you’ve started you will see that the trail splits. Taking the right turn at this spot, will lead you to a real gem of this trail – a Boy Scout Tree, after which actually the trail was named.
Proceed following the major trail and soon you will run at your final destination – the end of the trail garnished by Fern Falls. But this is indeed the case when the journey is much more worthy than the destination, as after all the breathtaking and overwhelming scenery along the Boy Scout Tree Trail, after seeing all the beauty and massiveness of all these incredible trees, this little cascade seems kind of unimpressive. Though it’s a perfect location to have some rest before heading back to the trailhead.

Photo: Roman Khomlyak
Photo Editing: Juliana Voitsikhovska
Information: Svetlana Baranova
Pictures taken: 02/11/17