The flat after the Thrap Mill site has a few big redwoods
Benbow State Recreation Area has a single trail loop, mainly to give campers a place to go hiking. The well-built trail passes through old-growth redwood uplands and eventually reaches a partially-logged flat where a redwood mill once stood. It’s mostly clear of overgrowth and free of obstructions.
When the campground is open, the trail is surprisingly busy compared to the much more spectacular trails just a few minutes to the north. When the campground is closed, though, the trail is completely deserted.
Click map to show all roads and trails
Part of the Humboldt Redwoods State Park trail map from Redwood Hikes Press (fourth edition, 2022)
Here’s the trailhead location in Google Maps.
Visitors who aren’t staying at the campground can’t park anywhere near the trailhead; the closest parking is in the day-use area across the river, which costs $6. From there, it’s necessary to ford the river and walk a half-mile to the trailhead. There’s also a pullout on Benbow Drive a few yards east of the campground entrance; it’s a slightly longer and less scenic walk to the trailhead, but it’s free and doesn’t require fording the river.
From the day use area, head down toward the river and turn left. Cross under the freeway to reach a shallow spot (only about 3 inches deep at the end of summer, but there’s a lot of algae and the rocks are slippery), ford the river, and continue along the gravelly beach on the other side to a path leading up the slope on the right. Take the path into the campground and turn right at the paved road. Cross under the freeway again to reach the trailhead.
A typical stretch of the Thrap Mill Trail
The trail starts with a gentle climb up a pleasantly-wooded hillside, curving around the campground. There’s a lot of traffic noise from Highway 101, but it gradually fades away. At the intersection with the Pioneer Trail, stay to the left. The trail continues to climb the hillside through increasingly redwood-filled woodland. It then descends through an attractive grove of mid-sized upland redwoods. Just before the next intersection, there’s a 4-foot-diameter redwood across the trail that’s difficult to get around.
Turn left at the intersection. The trail descends through a typically dry woodland of small trees dotted with a few decent-sized redwoods, and then abruptly enters a dark, logged forest. Below is an alluvial flat that’s been mostly logged.
The Pioneer Trail passes a few mid-sized redwoods
The trail bottoms out and then reaches the mill site, where there’s an interpretive sign and some old mill equipment. The trail makes a left turn and runs along a low bluff above the river, folloing the route of an old dirt road. It’s completely washed away in two places, but it’s possible to cut through the redwood flat and pick up the trail again. About three-quarters of the flat has been clearcut, but near the end it abruptly changes to old-growth.
A half-dozen or so good-sized redwoods, the largest of the hike, appear right at the edge of the forest and above the river. The trail then climbs gently and ends near the site of the dam. All that’s left of the dam are the cement footings. The recommended hike ends at this point, but it’s possible to continue walking along the river’s gravel banks.
The flat at the bottom of the trail
© 2010, 2017, 2019 David Baselt
