12.1.11
From the issue Uniquely Ukiah
Tall, Red, and Handsome
So, you like remote? California's most isolated redwood state park is 14 miles northwest of Ukiah and accessed via a tiny, two-lane, curving road—an adventure itself! Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve has just a few miles of trail within its 2,700 acres, but the payoff is plentiful. Enjoy a quiet walk among some of the tallest trees in the world (the reserve once held the title as home to the tallest tree until a bigger beauty was discovered in Redwood National Park). Hidden along the headwaters of Big River in the Coast Range, Montgomery Woods Trail quietly winds for 2 miles through bright green ferns and five memorial groves of magnificent 300-foot-tall coast redwoods. Get up close to these giants and see if you can spot the tallest one, topping 350 feet (about twice the height of the Statue of Liberty). A fallen redwood that's been converted to a bridge across a creek marks the trail's mid-point. Bear left to begin the return journey on a slightly more primitive path. That's the full Montgomery.
Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve is 14 miles from Hwy. 101 on Orr Springs Rd. Here's a map to the reserve. No dogs.
Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve is 14 miles from Hwy. 101 on Orr Springs Rd. Here's a map to the reserve. No dogs.
