Jedediah Smith Campground

One of the best things about camping deep among the Redwoods is having quite a bit of privacy even though your neighbors aren't that far away. There was so much lush growth between us and the spots next to us that we never saw our neighbors. (Note: not all the spots were like this, but we had a great one.)

This is dry camping and we relied on our solar panels for power (we don't own a generator). Our panels could barely keep up due to the tall trees and so much shade, so be careful!

There are many great hiking trails right outside of this park or connected to this park, but many are only open from Memorial Weekend to Labor Day.

Bonus: the bathrooms had flush toilets and were very well-kept.

Let me just say that I love being in the California redwoods. Jedediah Smith State Park is total immersion. The campground is set among some absolutely huge trees. I estimate 20 or 25 feet in diameter. Think dinosaurs. Yet these aren't the really big trees, those are in aptly named Stout Grove. The park is situated along the Smith River, a wild and free flowing river. The overall area is declared a World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve. For this reason I give the park 5 stars. There's hiking, fishing, swimming, kayaking, rafting, biking, all in abundance. We've camped here for years. On thing that always strikes me is how quiet the park gets. I think it has to do with the heavy trees and ground cover. You will soon find out that everybody sleeps in till 10 am, the place is just that restful.

Access into the campground is okay when towing a trailer. You have to be careful in places not to scrape the side off, but any decent driver can do this without any sweat. Nearly every site is in full deep shade. If you are dependent upon solar panels like I am, expect your batteries to slowly decline so manage your power draw. The best campsites front the river. You can actually get some sunshine in these sites, though limited. What's better is they front the river with its great views. This is an older state park that was not designed with today's modern larger RV's in mind. Reserved your site carefully. On that note, summer reservations are mandatory and go fast. I had site 52, it worked fine for my 28 foot RV as it was mostly parallel to the access road. I recall the other river frontage campsites were a bit smaller and the pads were at 90 degrees to the access road so maneuvering the trailer into those could be problematic given the trees.

The state recently rebuilt all the bathroom and shower facilities so these are quite nice. There is a camp host with firewood for sale, a museum, and a small park service store on site. There is a single dump station near the entrance. Crescent City is a short drive away with all the usual supplies found in town.

This is a wonderful campground, though it has zero hookups. Don't count on making much solar power here either, unless you get lucky enough to camp in one of the few small sites along the river and hit a sunny day. As others have noted, the roads in the campground are narrow due to the trees. Many of the sites here are short and can be tricky if you have a longer trailer. We had excellent luck, however, in site #50 with our 28' Airstream. The trick for this site is to go around the little end loop by going clockwise vs. counter-clockwise, which allows a very clean and easy backing experience into the site. Just avoid hitting the tree that has obviously been hit by many RV owners in the past. That particular tree wears its many scars like badges of honor.

If you have your "America The Beautiful" pass for National Parks, you can camp here for $17 per night instead of the usual $35 per night. That is because this is a hybrid of State and National Parks.

Also of note: because this is a hybrid park, dogs are not allowed on any trails in this park. Just like any other National Park. You can only walk your dogs in "improved" areas such as the campground and along roadways. No trails. None. Not even one. Don't even think about it.

The bathroom / shower facility is stunningly nice. It's clean. It's tiled. It's warm. It has to be new. Just amazingly nice. So, that helps make up for the lack of any hookups whatever.

Our un-boosted VZW signal was poor. Most likely, this is because we camped in the lower section of the campground down by the river. Once I put up the Yagi and aimed it a little, I was able to get a signal RSSI was -90 DBM, and a SINR of 3 to 5. Not a fantastic signal, but it was serviceable for casual use. Our omni-directional antenna with the Wilson 4Gx Booster was occasionally able to deliver a couple of bars of LTE, but it never lasted long enough to do much. If a good LTE signal truly matters to you, camp in the upper section of this campground and cross your fingers.

When you camp here, don't miss the chance to visit Stout Grove, not too far from here. Amazing grove of ancient sequoia trees, well worth the visit. In summer they put up a footbridge so you can walk over, but this time of year (April) the river flow is too high so you have to drive around and use a couple of vehicular bridges. Note well: do *not* attempt to take your RV, trailer, or whatever, on the road to Stout Grove. It's dirt / gravel at the end, and very poorly maintained. The road is fine for a 4x4 pickup or whatever, as long as you take your time, but no RV should ever meet this road.

We walked in on a Sunday evening and they found us a open spot for the night. We are able to walk over the river, on a foot bridge, to Stout Grove. Camping in/with the redwoods is the best!

We arrived on 10/13/18 and were turned away for being 29'. They said they changed the max length as of 10/1, presumably due to the tight squeezes throughout the park. Ironically, they made me drive through the whole campground to get out (since it's all a on-way street) and I had no problems maneuvering. It's a shame b/c it was a beautiful park!

We were happy to pull into this campground to see how spacious the sites were...and relatively private. So many NP campgrounds seem a little tight to me. We were backed up onto the Smith River, and enjoyed the quiet setting. The best part for us though was that we were a short bike ride from some awesome roads that took us through old growth forest, and along a scenic river canyon. Biking through the redwoods is a memorable experience!
The campground was easy to access, clean and comfortable. We would stay here again.

Other reviewers have covered most of it - many sites are very large and extremely private, some are smaller and/or more open/adjacent, particularly near the river, and it’s very shady so not much charge with your solar panels.

That all being said, early March is a fantastic time to be here, especially mid-week; it is uncrowded and extremely pleasant in any site. Camp host is great. There is a 25’ size limit, but that is kind of a good thing, in that you don’t see so much of the TV-watching, microwaving, generator-running crowd. The campground is so large that you have lots of space to walk the dog, and they can run free by the river (the rangers are chill when it’s not crowded). There are a couple of roads to walk the dog, but not many, and that is the only drawback. The forest and river are just beautiful. Essentially no Verizon/cell service, but an occasional text. Also - a free dump station in this campground. Overall, I loved it! I will definitely be back here.

Make sure your trailer can fit. We had a first come first serve spot and or 23 foot trailer fit fine. They are very strict about 21 feet or less only. Only found out after the fact.

Small trailers do best here, although that doesn’t mean your site will be small. We had just enough space to fit our 15’ off-road trailer in the driveway. The space around our driveway was large and private, however. The bath house closest to our site was shut down, but there were clean outhouses close by. The main bath/shower house wasn’t too far of a walk for a pay shower (.25 for two minutes), but wouldn’t rely on it for the bathroom. Showers were clean and private. The bathrooms at the shower house were also private/individual.

Beautiful rock beach along Smith river is a short walk from the campsites. Some of the clearest water I’ve ever seen! Also loved the trail through the Redwood grove right up from the beach.

We were so lucky to get the last spot upon our arrival - I was a little shocked at the price (we're in a tent with no hookup) BUT once we got into the camp, it was well worth the cost.

Our site was nestled in amongst the huge and beautiful redwoods - we had total privacy from our neighbours.

The toilets were immaculate and the surrounding area absolutely stunning!

In the morning, we went down to the river to explore - I would definitely recommend!