We decided we wanted a decent hiking venture in the Sonoma region while recently out in California and landed on the Armstrong Redwood State Natural Reserve which essentially is in the middle of nowhere. Located just north of Guernville, CA, the 805 acre park hosts a stand of beautiful and large Sequoias, with a series of trails from easy to strenuous, allowing the hiker the opportunity to choose what suits them that day. They also have a smaller set of trails that are handicapped accessible with a parking space in the middle, allowing those with physical challenges to enjoy all the redwoods up close.
If you peruse the website (linked above), we opted for the “Strenuous 5.6 Miles With 1100 Elevation Climb” trail…and loved every minute of it!
Starting at the Ranger Station, we hiked north up the East Ridge Trail, which was the more challenging section of the loop. It began with a series of switch backs, causing us to ascend quickly to the ridge.
From there, the trail had a normal succession of ups and downs, slowly rising to the highest point. Somewhere along the ridge, we met some of the fauna!
As we started the descent, we began to see the redwoods that the forest was named after.
The bottom of the East Ridge Trail lets out at a parking lot. In order to continue on the trail system, we had to walk a short distance on the paving (it was an easy find) to the Pool Ridge Trail, then back to nature! We ended up on the Pioneer Trail, to the Icycle Tree Trail, passing by the Icycle Tree, which was quite fascinating.
The Icycle Tree
Along the way, there was a stump slice from a fallen redwood, with metal tags depicting various events throughout the last 1000 years, starting at the tree’s germination in year 949.
All these lower trails are essentially flat and wheel chair friendly, meandering slightly around the forest of Sequoias. They also connect the two largest redwoods still standing, the Parson Jones and of course the namesake Colonel Armstrong, both of which are over 1300 years old.
Colonel Armstrong tree using panoramic camera setting.