In August, Stout Grove is a short walk from Jedediah Smith Campground. You cross the Smith River on a seasonal footbridge and you're standing under 300-foot redwoods. In November that same grove means driving onto Howland Hill Road, because the bridge is gone until next season.
As of the National Park Service's current conditions page, last updated October 22, 2026, two seasonal footbridges near Hiouchi are listed as removed. One linked Stout Grove to Jedediah Smith Campground. The other linked Stout Grove to the Hiouchi Trail. With them gone, the river divides the park in two for the winter. One side has a cluster of shorter trails you can reach straight off US-199. The other has the famous groves, and they now sit at the end of a gravel-road drive. Once you know which side a trail is on, the winter is easier to plan.
The US-199 side
These are the trails that stay connected to Hiouchi without any seasonal crossing. The NPS guide to trails north of the Klamath River has each one, and all of them start from Walker Road or the highway itself, within a few minutes of the Hiouchi Bridge.
| Trail | Trailhead | Length | Character |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simpson-Reed | Walker Road, about 0.1 mile north of US-199, east side | 1-mile loop | Easy, level, rated barrier free |
| Leiffer-Ellsworth Loop | Walker Road, 0.4 mile from US-199 | 2.6-mile loop | Some grades, not steep |
| Hatton Trail | South side of US-199, across from Simpson-Reed | 0.3 mile | Short connector loop |
| Hatton-Hiouchi | Forks off the Hatton Trail or Hiouchi Trail | 1.2 miles | Climbs a ridge, then drops to the river |
| Hiouchi Trail | US-199, just before the west end of the Hiouchi Bridge | 2 miles | Moderate, along the Smith River |
Simpson-Reed is the one to pick when the weather is iffy or you only have half an hour. The park describes 1,000-year-old redwoods over a stream corridor, where fallen trees form "staircases and pools" for fish and insects. It's also on the NPS list of trails currently open.
Leiffer-Ellsworth has some history in it. The loop follows a section of the 19th-century Crescent City Plank Road before it drops into a canyon of hazel and vine maple.
The Hiouchi Trail changes the most in winter. In summer, a lot of people walk onto it over the seasonal footbridge from the campground. With that bridge out, you start at the marked trailhead by the west end of the Hiouchi Bridge, or you come in on the Hatton Trail and take the Hatton-Hiouchi fork. NPS calls the Hiouchi Trail "a favorite among visitors and rangers alike." It runs along the turquoise water of the Smith, through California bay, tanoak, Douglas-fir and Pacific madrone.
Together these give you five trails you can link up with no more than a short stretch of Walker Road. The park lists limited parking at each of these trailheads and advises against RVs and trailers.
The Howland Hill Road side
Everything across the river now means a drive. California State Parks says Howland Hill Road links Crescent City and Hiouchi, and puts the Stout Grove trailhead at mile 6.7 when you're driving east. The October 22 NPS update lists Howland Hill Road as open. NPS also advises against RVs and trailers on it.
Once you're on the road, the trailheads come in a row.
- Stout Memorial Grove. This 0.5-mile loop starts from a paved access road at the east end of Howland Hill Road. Clara Stout donated the 44-acre grove to the Save-the-Redwoods League in 1929. It has very little understory because periodic Smith River floods hold it back, which leaves the big trunks in full view. A short spur goes down to the river.
- Mill Creek Trail. With the footbridge out, the east trailhead by the campground is cut off. Use the west trailhead, about halfway up Howland Hill Road. The trail runs 2.6 miles one way. NPS says that from October through December the vine maples and big-leaf maples along Mill Creek "display crimson and golden colors," so early November falls right in that window.
- Grove of Titans. A 1.5-mile loop from the eastern half of Howland Hill Road, on an elevated metal boardwalk built in 2022 to protect the forest floor. Parking is very limited.
- River Trail. One mile, starting across from the Little Bald Hills Trail access road.
- Boy Scout Tree Trail. Normally 2.8 miles one way to Fern Falls. Since August 4, NPS has listed it as partially open: a fallen tree blocks the trail 1.75 miles from the trailhead. The park says climbing over it is possible but challenging. NPS also warns of frequent vehicle break-ins at this trailhead.
So a winter trip to Stout Grove is more of an outing, and it pays to combine stops. One drive along Howland Hill can take in Stout Grove, Grove of Titans and the west end of Mill Creek. With the bridges in, those would be separate walks from the campground side.
Where the dog can come along
The river split shapes dog walks too, and Walker Road keeps the 199 side ahead here.
Both park agencies keep dogs off trails. California State Parks says dogs are not allowed on trails, except service animals. The NPS pets page says the same, but names Walker Road in Jedediah Smith Redwoods as a rangers' pick for walking a leashed dog through old-growth redwoods. Walker Road is the same gravel road that leads to the Simpson-Reed and Leiffer-Ellsworth trailheads.
The NPS list of leashed-pet spots near Hiouchi includes:
- Walker Road, one of only two gravel roads the page names
- Stout Grove parking lot, the lot only, not the loop
- Jedediah Smith Campground
Leashes can be no longer than 6 feet.
If you want your dog on a real trail, head east. The same NPS page says the Smith River National Recreation Area allows leashed pets on all its campgrounds and trails. According to the Six Rivers National Forest, Panther Flat Campground is listed as open and is in its walk-in season from September 15 through December 31, 2026. Grassy Flat Campground is listed under a seasonal closure on a page updated October 19, 2026.
One more thing applies to every dog walk near the river right now. NPS warns that dead salmon on park riverbanks "can be highly toxic to dogs." On the Hiouchi Trail or the Stout Grove spur, which both run right along the Smith, that's a good reason to keep the leash short.
The visitor center's winter schedule
The Hiouchi Visitor Center at 1600 US Highway 199 switched to winter hours on November 2. They run through March 8. The detailed NPS schedule reads:
- Sunday and Monday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Tuesday and Wednesday: closed
- Thursday through Saturday: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A summary line on the same NPS page gives Wednesday and Thursday as the closed days, so check the visitor centers page before you go on a Tuesday or Thursday. The 2026 holiday closures listed there are Veterans Day on November 11, Thanksgiving on November 26 and Christmas Day on December 25. The NPS calendar shows the separate Jedediah Smith Visitor Center as closed for the fall and winter season.
The Hiouchi center has exhibits on Tolowa culture and art and on redwood ecology, plus park information and a bookstore. It's also where to sign up a dog for the park's BARK! Ranger program, which the pets page says is handled at the visitor centers.
Planning around storms
Winter conditions change fast. The park's trail guide says conditions "can change daily" and suggests checking with a visitor center on the day you go. The conditions page also says any trail it doesn't list is open. That's useful for planning, but it's only as current as the latest update. The Boy Scout Tree blockage shows how long a single downed tree can stay put. It has been on the list since early August.
For a Hiouchi household, that points to an easy winter routine. Use the Walker Road and Hatton trails as everyday walks, close to home and reachable however the river is running. Save the Howland Hill groves for days when you've checked the conditions page and have time for the drive. The 199-side trails stay in reach until the summer footbridges go back in.
At Investment Realty Homes, our team spends its free time on these trails and along the river. If you're weighing a move to Hiouchi or anywhere along the US-199 corridor and want to know how a place feels in November, we're happy to talk it through, trailheads included.