After driving north along Highway 199 thru the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park in Northern California you leave the park and enter the Smith River National Recreation Area.
This entire drive in and of itself is epic.E-P-I-C. A road warriors dream, unless it's snowing or icy.
It’s a very scenic drive with lots of “twists, turns, curves, drop offs, cliffs, rushing water, etc.”
This drive was different than the Oregon coast drive in that instead of being on a cliff you are driving along the river. So you are at the bottom of the mountain.
When you are driving the mountains spear up in front of you and beside you. It’s like you are driving through the mountains. They are so obvious and present in front of you. They are large, looming and so very green and tall.
I love that feeling of driving in a scenic area like this. The only negative is that it’s hard to pay attention to driving when there is so much to see. AND you HAVE TO pay attention to the road unless you want to hit someone or drive off a cliff.
Luckily there are turn-outs often enough. I made several pit stops because I couldn't really enjoy the scenery navigating the curves so I stopped.
Every pit stop I made was so incredibly beautiful.
It was like I was driving through a canyon of trees. A path cut just for the road-trip driver.
To some this might seem like just a bunch of trees but to me it was a dream. Heavenly.
While you drive this lovely stretch of road there are several spots to stop and see the Smith River in all it's glorious color.
I recommend this drive for the mighty road-warrior. I would do it again in a heartbeat unless it was icy or snowing then I wouldn't brave it. Too dangerous.
Next time I think I'll actually stop and do some hiking along this beautiful stretch of forest.
I hope you enjoyed this edition of my Pacific Northwest Road Trip Journal. If you'd like to see more of my adventures click here:
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