AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Stout Memorial Grove Trail is a half-mile loop through one of the most celebrated pockets of old-growth coast redwoods in California's Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Towering 300-foot trees, a fern-carpeted forest floor, and the emerald Smith River combine to create an experience that consistently draws raves from visitors — this is a must-do stop on any Redwood Coast itinerary.↗↗
A Cathedral of Ancient Giants
Walking the Stout Grove loop feels like stepping inside a living cathedral. Massive coast redwoods rise on every side, their trunks impossibly wide and their lower boles stretching skyward in clean columns before bursting into a canopy that filters the light into soft green-gold beams. Mossy bigleaf maples and lush sword ferns carpet the forest floor, while the Smith River — one of the last major wild and scenic rivers in California — curves just beyond the trees. Periodic flooding along this river bend has enriched the soil over millennia, producing redwoods with exceptionally broad bases and towering height.↗↗
The grove owes its survival to Clara W. Stout, who in 1929 donated this 44-acre tract to the Save the Redwoods League in memory of her husband, lumberman Frank D. Stout. It became the first dedicated grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park — a fitting place to understand both the timber history and the conservation movement that defined this coastline.
