The Smith River still runs clear past Jedediah Smith Campground. On the far bank, the 300-foot trees of Stout Grove sit where they always have. As of the National Park Service's conditions update on October 22, both seasonal footbridges that join them to the Hiouchi side are out. One ran from the grove to the campground. The other ran to the Hiouchi Trail.
So the grove you can almost see from the campground's river trail is now a drive away, on a narrow gravel road. Whether you can fish the river in front of town now depends on flow, measured in cubic feet per second at a gauge inside the state park. The state checks three times a week whether the flow is high enough to open it. From now until the footbridges go back in, a Hiouchi weekend runs on those two systems.
The Short Way Across Is Gone Until Summer
In summer, the walk to Stout Grove starts at the campground's day-use area, which charges $8. You follow a footpath 0.8 miles to the campground, then walk about half a mile upstream along the bank and cross the summer hikers' bridge. The Park Service calls the year-round option the "Option 1" route. Smaller vehicles like cars and vans take the eastern section of Howland Hill Road to a trailhead lot right at the grove.
| Summer route | Winter route | |
|---|---|---|
| How you get there | Day-use footpath, campground river trail, hikers' bridge | Drive US 199, South Fork Road, Douglas Park Road, Howland Hill Road |
| Where you park | Campground day-use area, $8 fee, any vehicle | Stout Grove trailhead lot, no RV or trailer parking |
| Vehicle limits | None for the walk | Under 22 feet per California State Parks |
| Road surface | Footpath and bridge | Hard-packed gravel and dirt, mostly unpaved |
To make the drive, leave US 199 at South Fork Road just east of Hiouchi, take Douglas Park Road, and pick up Howland Hill Road. The Park Service's Howland Hill Road page says the road is narrow and mostly unpaved, with few pullouts, and too narrow for RVs, trucks and trailers. The California State Parks Jedediah Smith Redwoods infosheet sets the vehicle limit at under 22 feet.
The grove at the end makes the drive worthwhile. Clara W. Stout gave the 44 acres to Save the Redwoods League in 1929 in memory of her husband, lumberman Frank D. Stout. It became the first dedicated grove in the park. The loop is only half a mile. A spur drops about twenty feet to the cobbled beach where Mill Creek meets the Smith. The Park Service still suggests allowing two hours for the whole visit, mostly because of the drive.
Howland Hill Road Becomes the Front Door
With the footbridges gone, Howland Hill Road is the way into most of the old growth south of the river. As of October 22 the Park Service lists the road as open. Its road page also warns that storms can damage the road and that parts may close briefly for repairs in spring. Several familiar trailheads now depend on that one road.
- Stout Grove. The trailhead lot is on the eastern stretch.
- Grove of Titans. You reach it from eastern Howland Hill Road, and it connects to the Mill Creek Trail.
- Mill Creek Trail. The west trailhead sits midway along the road. The east trailhead is the end reached by the summer footbridge, so for now the west end is the way on.
- Boy Scout Tree Trail. It has been only partly open since August 4. A fallen tree blocks the trail about 1.75 miles from the trailhead. You can climb over it, but the Park Service calls that "possible, but challenging."
The summer crowds that filled the Grove of Titans lot are gone. The road isn't any wider for it, though, and the Park Service's current conditions page is the place to check before you head up South Fork Road after a storm.
Walks That Never Needed a Bridge
The closest trails to town never depended on the footbridges. The Hiouchi Trail starts near the west end of the Hiouchi Bridge. The Park Service describes it as a moderate two-mile hike along the river. The Hatton Trail runs from US 199 to the Hatton-Hiouchi Trail. Off Walker Road, the Simpson-Reed loop is about a mile, and the Peterson loop adds an optional half mile. The conditions page lists Simpson-Reed as open.
These walks are about the same distance from town as they are in July. What winter changes is that the Hiouchi Trail now ends at the river. The Stout Grove connection on its far end was one of the two crossings pulled this fall. For anyone heading farther out, the Little Bald Hills backcountry camp is listed as open.
The River Out Front Answers to a Gauge in the Park
The Smith runs past Hiouchi, but the river's status depends on a gauge. California's North Coast low-flow restrictions run September 1 through April 30. They cover the main stem from the mouth of Rowdy Creek up to the mouth of Patrick Creek on the Middle Fork, plus sections of the South Fork and North Fork. To open, the Smith needs 600 cfs at USGS gauge 11532500. In his October 1 Fishing the North Coast column, Kenny Priest calls it the Jedediah Smith State Park gauging station.
That boundary means the stretch past Hiouchi can be closed while the lower river is fishable. Priest reported the Smith closed above Rowdy Creek on October 1, with the main stem from Rowdy Creek down to the mouth open. On the California Department of Fish and Wildlife's North Coast low-flow table, the Smith was closed for October 27 and 28, in the update posted October 26. In his October 15 column, Priest wrote that the quarter inch of rain then in the forecast wouldn't do it. He said rivers would need several inches and a run of steady storms to open.
Open and closed calls come out on a fixed schedule.
- Monday's decision covers Tuesday and Wednesday.
- Wednesday's decision covers Thursday and Friday.
- Friday's decision covers Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Those calls rest on flow forecasts, not live readings. The department can also open a river on any day when flows clear the minimum and look likely to stay there until the next decision day. As a result, the gauge can read above 600 while the table still says closed, and the other way around.
Fall 2024 shows how fast it can change. In a Fishing the North Coast report from that season, Priest wrote that the Smith opened on a Sunday afternoon after peaking at 1,130 cfs on the Jed Smith gauge, and fish moved above Rowdy Creek as the water rose. It closed again on Wednesday as flows dropped. Rain started that afternoon, and the river reopened Thursday. So one storm doesn't open the river for the season. Each opening lasts until the next decision day.
When the water does come up, the 2026 CDFW freshwater regulations allow one Chinook a day on the main stem, with no more than five wild Chinook over 22 inches a year across the whole river. Anglers fishing for salmon on the Smith also need a North Coast Salmon Report Card. Visit Del Norte County puts trophy salmon in October and November and steelhead from December through April. This is general information, not legal advice. CDFW's regulation booklet and the low-flow page are the final word on what's open and what you can keep.
Town Runs on Winter Hours Too
The Hiouchi Visitor Center sits in a 1930s cabin at 1600 US Highway 199, with exhibits on Tolowa culture and redwood ecology. It switched to winter hours on November 2. The detailed schedule on the Park Service's visitor center page lists 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Monday and Thursday through Saturday, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, through March 8. The summary line on that same page says closed Wednesday and Thursday. The State Parks infosheet says it's open daily from November to March. Call ahead before a midweek visit. It closes on Veterans Day, November 11, on Thanksgiving, November 26, and on Christmas Day. The smaller Jedediah Smith Visitor Center inside the campground is closed until May 20. The campground itself stays open, with sites first-come, first-served from early October to mid-May.
Hiouchi Cafe's website lists 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., seven days a week, for breakfast, lunch and takeout. A Del Norte LAFCo report approved in November 2025 describes the commercial center as a motel, the Hiouchi Hamlet store and fuel station, a few recreation businesses, a church and one restaurant. For a Howland Hill trip, that makes the Hamlet the last place to fuel up and the cafe the place to eat before 2 p.m.
Where the Park's Winter Calendar Goes
With the campground visitor center closed and the footbridges in storage, the park's winter events move south to Prairie Creek. Redwood Parks Conservancy holds its 37th Annual Candlelight Walk at Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park on Friday, November 6, and Saturday, November 7, from 4 to 7:30 p.m. each night. Saturday, November 7, is also a sunrise Hike and Bike Day on the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. On these first-Saturday events, held October through May, the parkway is closed to vehicles and open to hikers and bikers. That afternoon, the Park Service starts weekend ranger walks at Prairie Creek at 2 p.m. They run through December 27.
Winter changes how far a Hiouchi home is from the river and the groves, and that matters to anyone weighing a move here or thinking about renting a place out in the off-season. If you'd like to talk through how the seasons work for a property near Jedediah Smith, the Green Pacific Real Estate Team knows this stretch of US 199 well. Start your stress-free home journey with a free local market valuation.
