Grove of Titans in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park
Updates, directions, and history of the grove discovery and changes.
by Mario Vaden - Certified Arborist, Redwoods & Wedding and Photographer
NOW OPEN, ALONG MILL CREEK TRAIL
The page below includes photos showing different redwoods in this grove. In 2020, I added photos of the boardwalk project. Find more insight at Grove of Titans Goes Heavy Metal
This page is about a group of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) called the Grove of Titans discovered 1998 by Michael Taylor and Steve Sillett. Between 2008 and 2021, larger and wider redwoods were discovered (Year of Discovery) but these are huge, easy to access and worth the visit. In 2017, mainstream news erased secrecy so I added directions below plus narrative about history, hidden cameras, wear and fund raising. This explains why discoverers kept the location secret in 1998. By 2017 the grove was plastered nationally on CBS News, tripling wear. For map & directions scroll past the first images. To people who want to understand the Grove of Titans in depth, and conservation, this page reveals what news and park management omitted (see bridge photos). Also, prior to construction, video was posted to inform people about some hyperbole used to get money donations (Grove of Titans Video)
The coast redwood below is the 1998 discovery Lost Monarch in Grove of Titans. When this photo was taken 2013, needles on the ground were deep enough to photograph like this without impact. For scale is a local woman, who used to work on trail crews in these parks.
Continue reading after image - keep scrolling down
A fund raising effort for up to 3 million dollars began 2017. Even though the project had plenty of pork spending, donations were gifts and the area needed some improvement to constrain random movement. Our own $1000 check was the 1st given to Grove of Titans with most of that from Mark Graham (letter at end of this page).
NPS /National Park Service, wrote on their site that the Grove of Titans was "Known by indigenous people for thousands of years, the group of trees was "re-discovered" and named by researchers in the late 1990's". There doesn't appear to be specific documentation. Native American tribes inhabited the redwood coast for centuries, but they may not have been to this grove. It's certain they roamed many areas, but their interests seemed to be more fishing, weaving and hunting than exploring for big redwoods. They knew parts of the area well, but when the other 95% of old growth was still standing, it's doubtful the native tribe people would have seen more than 10% of the entire redwood groves. We (Sillett, Taylor, Atkins, VanPelt and myself) know from experience how brutal the bushwhacks are to reach many of the redwood groves. And there's nothing in there for a tribesman to burn daylight seeking. Elk don't go in that deep. Less berries. And it would be insane to go that deep for bark or wood to build with. A smart person (and they had to be very smart) would invest time on the perimeters. Oddly, we have found evidence of bootleggers going deep to build to build a shanty - to hide. That was in Jedediah Smith park, about 3/4 mile bushwhack in from the west side. Some decaying boards and a few remnant bottles.
The grove location was discreetly available back in 2001 from Dr. Robert VanPelt's book Forest Giants of the Pacific Coast but few people connected dots. The Grove of Titans remained obscure until 2010 when a man from from Medford located the spot then posted online to spread the whereabouts. Like clockwork, worn ground appeared and according to an Humboldt State University study, 8000 sq. ft. of plants vanished. The report exaggerated by including pre-existing social paths, but plenty wore bare.
During news cycles to raise money, parks and writers pointed to social media as cause of wear, cloaking the fact that they (park staff / affiliates + news in tandem) prompted the worst surge of wear. The parks' pockets filled while patches of earth emptied. The damage surged in waves with each news release. A lack of editing spread damage like sparks from a fire being beaten with a stick. From close observation, I estimate 75% of the damage can be attributed to the park staff's method of networking. Related to that money drive, I added a bridge repair delay shown down this page, plus a video about a deck built in Stout Grove (Stout Grove Deck Video ). The photos and video teach how the parks can waste money while asking for money. Those are to help others prioritize their future donations.
When the Grove of Titans location became publicized, the "Quest" vanished. A good number of people used to enjoy a "treasure hunt" locating the Grove of Titans just from clues. One person described searching from scratch like a quest in the game Zelda Ocarina of Time. That opportunity vanished.
About the Grove of Titans coast redwoods
Image: for comparison and scale here's Arianna next to a more recent and larger 2014 discovery. You can navigate to its page for a bigger photo (see The Big Kahuna. In May 2020, I also posted video for this redwood and photos. The dimensions of these coast redwoods demonstrates why (read) Coast Redwood is the real giant Sequoia
A chapter called Day of Discovery in Richard Preston's book (2007) is where many people first learned about the Grove of Titans. The adventure began with Michael Taylor and Steve Sillett bushwhacking up Clarks Creek on the opposite side of Jedediah Smith park near Simpson Reed grove.
They entered the redwood forest along Hy. 199 and followed a fork up to New Hope Grove where they found the tallest redwood in the park. Then crossed south through the heart of the park in a single day all the way south to the Grove of Titans near Mill Creek.
They had never seen the grove before, and that's when they discovered it. Other wanderers had seen these redwoods before without realizing the significance for size and measurements.
The Grove of Titans redwoods best-known are these five:
Del Norte Titan
Lost Monarch
El Viejo del Norte
Screaming Titans
Chesty Puller.I updated Screaming Titans page with before and after photos to convey damage within the Grove of Titans. The photos on that page are from the same set as images I sent to the parks to use for information signs.
Image: evident from the photo below, the funded trail project actually caused more loss of vegetation. A couple years later, the walkway actually looks pretty good aesthetically as the materials age and some plants envelope a few edges. More is at the BLOG about it: Grove of Titans Goes Heavy Metal
Scroll past this image for directions and more information:
Directions and Map
Grove of Titans boardwalk opened in 2021
The grove is along Mill Creek Trail in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. The shortest hiking route to Grove of Titans is using Mill Creek trail where it meets Howland Hill Rd. about 1.5 miles southwest of Stout Grove' driveway. There is a concrete bridge where Howland Hill Rd. crosses Mill Creek. Park in one of the turnouts and find the trailhead about 500 feet west of that bridge. There is a restroom almost directly across the road from the trailhead. Mill Creek trail goes north up into the wooded hill. After 15 minutes the trail drops down to a clearing close to Mill Creek among a grassy marsh. As soon as you reach this open area you enter the edge of the Grove of Titans. The route is obvious as you proceed. There is another set of restrooms just minutes away near Boyscout Tree trail but that trailhead is clearly marked with a different name. The following photos and notes should clarify:
1. Use Howland Hill Rd., enter a west gate on the Crescent City side of the park, go east. These trunks below are the first large redwoods you see immediately after passing the entry gate. Drive for a while and go a few minutes more past the Boyscout Tree trail which is just past another center gate.
2. Proceed past Boyscout Tree trail and look for a Mill Creek trail sign off to the left. The sign is tucked back from the road but in view about half way through the park along the old road.
3. Hike up through a forested hillside for 20 minutes or so. The first 15 minutes is forest with mostly coast redwood and Douglas fir. The clearing later will be evident after you descend and pass fallen logs. There are large bigleaf maples with moss and a draping plant called Oregon Spikemoss or Selaginella draping as strands.
4. Down in the clearing social paths were displaced by the boardwalk. The photo below shows Chesty Puller coast redwood with part of Lost Monarch, the dark trunk in the background. From this view El Viejo del Norte is also in the background left of Lost Monarch. The space between is a marsh.
5. Map to Grove of Titans. This covers most everything. An unmarked redwood named Sacagawea is in the general grove area where you will duck into a hole and walk around a fallen log. The biggest redwoods are fairly easy to spot right next to the trail but none of the trees have signs identifying nicknames.
News and Publicity
The most significant problem with wear and vegetation was near the redwood called Screaming Titans. The grove was widely publicized by Richard Preston's book sold in park visitor centers The book was the greatest factor leading to heavy impact. Preston could not have imagined the change when he wrote his book. It's actually a great book. If you haven't read it already, see my review: The Wild Trees
Some years back, Redwood Parks Conservancy wrote:
"When the grove was discovered in the late '90s, it was nearly inaccessible, surrounded by thick under-story with no direct trail access. As knowledge of the grove began to spread, mainly via websites touting the locations of the trees, visitors began to venture off-trail to find this hidden treasure"
That's not how the situation evolved. Knowledge spread from the book more than anything and the grove was directly accessible by trail for decades. Social media came into play afterward, amplified by news stories and park affiliates.
Scroll to keep reading below these local ads:
(707) 464 - 2137 at 701 Hy. 101 S. Crescent City, CA 95531. 
(707) 465 - 3474 at 700 US-101, Crescent City, CA 95531 
February 2017, the Statesman Journal published comments from head ranger Brett Silver and scientist Steve Sillett about a possible $1,000,000 boardwalk and trail. In March 2017, Del Norte Triplicate quoted the ranger that Grove of Titans is the "worst kept secret" in Jedediah Smith park, noting surveillance cameras used to capture 22,000 images. All the articles remained "on script" each retaining scraps of accuracy without a comprehensive story.
Image: Screaming Titans several years after foot traffic increased. The collapsed stems and wood show disintegration similar to what I described on the El Viejo del Norte page. These groves experience breakage. This is why danger can actually increase by drawing more visitors directly beneath these huge redwoods. Certified Arborists like myself usually point this out in our work as we offer advice and reports to residential and commercial property owners so they know which trees to keep people away from. Hypothetically, if this redwood were on a school property, there's 0% chance that play structures would be located directly beneath the canopy, and it would probably be fenced-off. But parks and trails are managed differently, and I don't recall park management contacting arborists to incorporate their experience and knowledge.
Preston's book about redwoods, big tree hunters and research climbers is a great way to get more insight.
The Grove of Titans redwoods in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park boils several of largest coast redwoods. The grove was claimed by some to have the 1st, 4th and 5th largest coast redwoods. But lluvatar of Prairie Creek and Fusion Giant of Redwood National Park were bigger. Iluvatar was the redwood on the cover of the October 2009 National Geographic magazine.
Screaming Titans is really two redwoods that grew into each other. The age is probably 2/3 what people would guess or expect. If Del Norte Titan is 2300 years old as estimated, Screaming Titans may be more like 1700 years - still very ancient!! From my main redwood page menu, navigate to pages for each of 15 largest coast redwoods and others. Chesty Puller and Screaming Titans are not among the 15 largest but are included in the menu under awesome and big.
Image: this is the oldest photo I have of Lost Monarch showing the area in 2008. There wasn't a trace of human activity. Just a thick layer of needles, branches and plants all around. The coast redwood Chesty Puller is across in the background.
It's intriguing how the handful of largest redwoods in this grove appear of similar age. What prompted their genesis? Why are there not more? Were there more?
The terrain experienced a dramatic change which probably occured before these huge redwoods germinated. But there is a grassy marsh in the midst that is void of large evergreens. The "Ruthlor Gulch" creek (The Wild Trees) probably passed through the marsh centuries ago. Dr. Steve Sillett expressed a guess that a landslide changed the valley. Ruthlor Gulch creek is the one that flows past Screaming Titans down toward Mill Creek.
There is a big mound from a presumed ancient landslide that diverted the brook. Near Screaming Titans is, or was pre-boardwalk, a large strange trench that looks hand-dug - a long open void. Maybe a log got pressed into the ground and decayed. There's a similar long "trench" on the opposite side of Mill Creek near another huge redwood that's not part of the new trail project. These anomalies are rare in the parks, and there just happen to be two of them in this same grove.
These large coast redwoods were discovered in 1998 by Steve Sillett & Michael Taylor during what Steve described to me as the "toughest bushwhack ever". Sillett and Taylor entered Jedediah Smith redwoods along Hy. 199. They would have parked at Walker Rd. near Simpson Reed grove, crossed Hy. 199 on foot, then followed Clark's Creek up into the hills, through valleys and brooks for an entire day.
Their zig-zag bushwhack was about 3 miles combined. Along the route they passed a previous coast redwood discovery called New Hope and another called Neptune which could be a northern extent of the Grove of Titans which possibly nobody else has seen, even to this day in 2024 as I edit this page again. They also found a huge Douglas fir named Ol' Jed up Ruthor Gulch. There is another extraordinary record-holder in there also, found years later by Chris Atkins, Steve Sillett and myself.
Image: peering over sword ferns with Del Norte Titan in view.
The redwoods in this grove have diameters approaching or exceeding 26 feet and heights exceeding 320 feet. These are so big, their own girth can hide their size when standing close.
Some of these have hundreds of pounds of canopy soil, fern mats and epiphytes. But that is not exclusive to this grove. If you hike trails in the parks and look overhead, you can spot epiphyte ferns in most of the coast redwood parks.
Several redwoods in Grove of Titans are much wider than the Stout redwood across the Smith River from Jedediah Smith campground. The Stout Redwood is about 16' wide, 10 feet more narrow than the Lost Monarch.
For the record, Grove of Titans never had "the 10 largest coast redwoods", a myth sown 2010. That came from an anonymous source online, reposted by others taking it like "gospel truth".
Preventing more Wear
If you visit the Grove of Titans, do not walk up the trunks to get a better photo. That's how damage to vegetatation happened.
Years ago, responsible people lifted fronds, stepped around sorrel and stayed off trunks. That was the good-old-days when people had to work to find this place and treated it properly to leave better aethetics for other photographers and explorers.
Image: Del Norte Titan with winter rain falling down through the Grove of Titans. For scale is a traveling photographer.
When you see my older photos with a man or woman next to one of these titans, they side-stepped fern and sorrel. Those were the years of leave no trace behind and leave the area at best for the next person.
Now it's impossible to reverse the damage after the location was leaked so heavily. But hopefully more people can learn now and reduce further spread of damage.
Facts about social trails vs. official trails
Richard Preston misled readers when he wrote no trail was built through the Grove of Titans. No trail was built specifically for it, but Mill Creek trail crosses through the grove.
Small signs makes it clear that the parks want hikers to stay on official trails but that won't happen. You know and I know the parks are a government organization that tries to live in a perfect bubble. The rest of the society lives in the flexible world.
The Grove of Titans has at least two social trails that predate Mill Creek trail and in that regard are more official than the "official" trail to local culture. These very old paths date back to the historic days of Howland Hill Rd. and recreational life of local residents of Crescent City or Smith River.
Presently, the most important thing is that visitors stay in the middle of any trails. So pick the official trail or social trail and stay in the middle. If you don't wander off, it's impossible to stomp more plants. The problem in the grove was never walking and standing between plants, but stepping on plants.
Image: Our oldest daughter Trisha explored with me looking for the Grove of Titans in 2008. The grove was a more adventurous experience in the days when it was a pristine, and had to be found. This redwood is an anonymous giant of the grove.
Hidden Cameras in the Grove of Titans and the Park
In 2015, motion cameras were installed in the Grove of Titans by someone from HSU to monitor human activity. That seems redundant because wear and number of visitors was obvious. Even local people conversing in town accurately estimated foot traffic. I don't recall any signs informing hikers about the cameras. There were over 20,000 images recording any activity. If anyone was taking photos, walking, picking their nose or taking a leak, they were recorded. Cameras were also placed near Hyperion redwood in Redwood National Park. Hidden cameras in the park may be anywhere. So be careful where you stand when "nature calls" !!
Grove of Titans other redwoods
August 2016, I added a few extra coast redwood photos to this page for Morpheus, Vesuvius and Ruthor Gulch Beast but removed the pics because someone with the parks was worried about gawkers wandering farther up the valley to find them. So as a favor, I omitted those photos.
Image: The redwood below is Chesty Puller in the Grove of Titans. This shirt in this photo refers to Suicide Charley Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, which has a historical connection to Gen. Lewis B. Puller after whom this redwood tree is nicknamed.
Nothing-burgers and donating money
To anybody ready to donate $100.00 or $1,000,000, inquire about a final plan before giving money. When I first heard of a $1,400,000 price for Grove of Titans, I thought Holy-Cow! Wonders could be done for $250,000. But it was a shock to hear that rangers / parks need an archaeologist to insert a single sign post. Their own rules return to bite them.
A dirty little secret - desperation for money raises questions about purity of public education. The conservancy wrote: "unmanaged trails also transport sediment into Mill Creek, a salmon-bearing stream adjacent to the grove"
That was a nothing-burger designed to panic people. In stark contrast, drive Howland Hill Road during rainy season and look at the road where puddles, muck and sediment migrate to Mill Creek and brooks - a 1000 times more than any path near Grove of Titans. 1000 is not exaggeration - maybe even understatement. Does the park shut down that road for sediment? Not a chance. Find the road photo added a short scroll below.
Additionally - Fish & Wildlife teams exclusively wore an entirely new social trail through Grove of Titans to the Mill Creek. Scroll to the photo of the contraption in water. They went routinely to count fish. That required ranger awareness. There wasn't a peep about this kind of thing during money raising. This may help you understand how much to give and how to ask more questions. Sediment was not a problem in the Grove of Titans. Damage and loss of plants was the big problem.
Image: Bella, a resident of the adjacent town enjoying the grove in autumn season.
Another big question is how this project will be funded for maintenance in future years. These giants drop massive debris which can crush walks and decks - gigantic chunks like those dropped by El Viejo del Norte in 2008 or Godwood Creek Giant in 2010. This is why excess deck can become repairs. Feel free to ask questions. $1,000,000 cannot ensure Grove of Titans will stand 100 years from now. Spending is both gamble and investment. Those redwoods could remain 1000 years or fall in 10 years.
Summary about donations: if possible, donate to the redwood parks. The natural resource is a benefit for countless visitors. And the rangers and other employees can use extra resources. My pages are not designed to discourage giving but to encourage learning and information.
Image: This is Howland Hill Road. Look at all that muck! Now consider what I wrote above about the sediment panic interjected into fund raising for Grove of Titans. Some of you reading have seen this spot. Vehicles grind this mush and it drains through culverts with Mill Creek directly down the left side. This spot has been this way for years, even decades.
Image: One reason for future Grove of Titan's maintenance questions are situations like the bridge below. This is the beginning of the Nickerson Ranch Trail in the same park. This almost new bridge in Jedediah Smith park was destroyed by a trunk smaller than limbs in Grove of Titans. This is why I ask people to pause before donating for decks and boardwalks (and human bodies) under giant redwoods. Imagine if the parks had used the Stout Grove deck funds for this bridge instead. Have you seen my video about that deck? It explains what I mean: Stout Grove Deck Feedback Video
Image: This is the cheezy replacement bridge about 1 year after the previous photo. The replacement is smaller and requires stepping down. Note yellow arrows marking damage. Not even one year and the replacement already got holes and broken boards. Will future Grove of Titans boardwalks and trails belong to the same maintenance division and budget responsible for this bridge?
Image: This shows Fish and Wildlife workers I referred to previously in an area where these teams formed new social paths through Grove of Titans. You can see the mucky sediment area behind where they accessed Mill Creek.
Image: explorers Chris Atkins & Dr. Steve Sillett return 10 years later to upland Ruthlor Gulch of Grove of Titans. We spent most of this day going up Ruthlor Gulch to the higher elevation of Jedediah Smith park to see what had changed.
My first experience in Grove of Titans, and what became my "crossroads"
The first time I heard "Grove of Titans" was around 2007 when Preston's book was published. I hadn't heard of Michael Taylor or Steve Sillett, but was more interested to see the Grove of Titans than meet those men because Preston made several book characters more quirky than they are in real life.
I was already exploring this part of Jedediah Smith park thoroughly. Considering how far I explored off Hiouchi and Mill Creek trails, I would have located the Grove of Titans within a year.
Preston spun the bushwhack narrative but gave the away the general vicinity. Between mention of Stout Grove proximity, "grassy glade" and other clues, there were only two creeks where the men could have discovered the Grove of Titans.
Image: A view toward Lost Monarch. When you decend the trail from the forest and reach the low flat near Mill Creek, this is the view looking toward the north across the marsh. This photo is from winter. The bare stems are plants like salmonberry and vine maple.
In the Day of Discovery chapter, Preston described enough about time, distance, direction and terrain that using Google Earth it was possible to pin-point the area. As I wrote above, the situation in the Grove of Titans today correlates with Preston's book.
I was at Lost Monarch early in my search but didn't realize. I was consumed with lichens and photograhed some on the northwest side of Lost Monarch's trunk, not noticing its size. The trunk is so large, if you stand too close, the rest can't be seen. I returned and left the area. Maybe two trips later, another bushwhack exited by Grove of Titans and I spotted another titan from a distance. I was exhausted and returned the next weekend for a closer look.
It was surprising to find out how close the grove is to the trail and that Preston gave so many details. That led to the origin of my main redwood page originally designed to cloak the grove location through use of various "red herrings" to distract people. The page delayed damage for up to 6 years. A few others recognized the effectiveness and helped link readers to the page.
We realized the park's complete "radio silence" was an ineffective strategy and that it was better to flood the internet with countless posts linking to one Grove of Titans page that buried inadvertent clues among countless search results. Eventually, it became obvious that the grove couldn't be contained. Step by step, well-meaning people posted extra clues without realizing.
Back in 2008, my arborist knowledge along with concealing the location opened the door to networking with Dr. Steve Sillet, Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor. So the Grove of Titans literally altered the course of my life. Due to a photo sitting on my website for about 6 months, Steve and Michael both contacted me about a month apart, with an invitation to meet and explore together.
Those men taught me how to explore and measure, plus many other things. That led to discoveries and a love of photography. So my professional work grew far beyond arboriculture to include professional photography and portraits. My prints hang from here to Denmark and I meet new friends from all over the world on account of experience in the coast redwoods. Including wedding couples, business owners and random photographers and hiking enthusiasts.
The Grove of Titans was a crossroads in my life.
Images below: Some photos of the Grove of Titans redwoods plus a copy of the letter and check sent to the parks for the Grove of Titans - the greater percentage provided to by Mark Graham, a redwood enthusiast from back east. Thanks Mark !!
