Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park: Development - Crescent City CA

City:: Crescent City, CA
Site Type:: Parks and Recreation, Paths and Trails, Park Roads and Bridges, Shops and Auxiliary Buildings, Park Creation and Expansion
New Deal Agencies:: Work Relief Programs, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC)
Quality of Information:: Very Good
Marked:: No
Site Survival:: Extant

Description

The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) did the initial development of Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in the 1930s. The area where the CCC did its work is along state highway 199, just west of the village of Hiouchi and a few miles east of Crescent City, California. This remains the only significantly developed part of this large park, with its many groves of enormous, first-growth redwoods, such as Stout Grove.

Engbeck (2002) notes that, “CCC Company 1903, of Camp Prairie Creek, built a new entrance road and a park custodian’s residence. They built a campground near the Smith River with a footbridge over the river, connecting the campground with the ancient redwoods of the Stout Grove. … A water distribution system was developed to serve the whole park, and 18 miles of trails were built through the dense old forest for park visitors.”

Because Jedediah Smith park is so far north in California, which keeps down visitations, it has still not been developed much beyond the original CCC work. A visitors’ center has been added to the campground area and main park visitor’s center built on highway 199 near Hiouchi.

Source notes

Engbeck, Joseph H., Jr. 2002. By the People, For the People: The Work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in California State Parks, 1933-1941. Sacramento: California State Parks. pp. 21-22.

Site originally submitted by Richard Walker on March 23, 2023.