Lady Bird Johnson Grove

This is the grove where Redwood National Park was formally dedicated, and it still feels ceremonial. A pedestrian bridge carries you over Bald Hills Road, and the trail makes a 1.5-mile loop along a ridge top through mature old growth, with a dedication plaque about half a mile in.

The dedication happened on August 27, 1969. President Nixon signed Proclamation 3925 naming the grove for Lady Bird Johnson, who was there, along with former President Johnson, Governor Reagan and Interior Secretary Hickel. The park itself had been established the year before. Lady Bird Johnson's own conservation work is why her name is on it.

Being a ridge-top grove, it fogs in often — which is the point, really. Coast redwoods draw a substantial share of their water straight out of that fog, and standing in it while the canopy drips is a different experience from a sunny walk on the valley floor.

The catch is parking. The lot is small, paved, and according to the Park Service typically full from 11am to 4pm in summer. Spaces are too small for buses, RVs and trailers, and Bald Hills Road itself is narrow, winding and shared with logging trucks. Arrive before 11 or after 4 and the problem disappears.

There are vault toilets at the lot and no water. The trail tread is aggregate and wood, four to ten feet wide, but the hikers' bridge over the road is too steep to qualify as wheelchair accessible.

No fee, no permit, open year round.