Redwoods Bend: Campsite (Grotto River)

This is a beautiful campsite overlooking the Klamath River. If you stay in our Maple River, Grotto River or Pepperwood River Camp, you may need to park your vehicle at the edge of the meadow. Campers have their own CAMP SHOWER with hot and cold water at the back corner of the Orchard where it meets the Meadow. There is also a cold water sink nearby for washing dishes and cooking gear, and we have two out houses available for campers. The space Redwoods Bend is off the grid, through the Redwoods, over a mountain and down into the Klamath River valley. We have a 5-acre meadow, an orchard with peaches, pears, apples, cherries, plums, pluots, apricots and grapes. We are right on the Klamath River on the Yurok reservation. It's a great place to come and recharge your internal batteries. THIS SITE IS FOR CAMPERS with their own equipment! DIRECTIONS TO REDWOODS BEND - Do not rely on your GPS. It doesn't work well around here! Cel phones will not work on Johnson Road. - From Southern CA, Los Angeles: North on the 405 to I-5. - After about 5 hours, take #580 West toward San Francisco/ through Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond & San Rafael, where you will hit the US#101. Continue North to Ukiah/Willits/Eureka/Arcata/Orick - From SFO area: - Oakland Airport – take Hegenberger Rd North to 880North to 80/580North, cross the Richmond/San Rafael bridge ($5), and you will join US#101 North. - San Francisco Airport – take US#101 North to Ukiah/Willits/Eureka/Arcata/Orick - Fill up with gas in Arcata before you make the rest of the trip to Redwoods Bend. - Just north of Orick, make a right turn onto Bald Hill Road taking you toward the “Lady Bird Johnson” grove of redwoods. As soon as you turn onto Bald Hill Road, check your odometer. You will be 23 miles from Redwoods Bend. Bald Hill Road will take you eastward up the mountain. - The road goes mostly uphill for the next 9 to 10 miles. There are a couple of scenic view sites on the right, where you might care to stop and check out the view. Sometimes we see Elk grazing in one of the highland meadows on the right. At about 9.5 miles, you will come to a Fire Station on your left. Veer uphill to your left onto Johnson Road. Check your odometer again. You have about 13.5 miles to go from this point. Slow down, watch for potholes in the dirt road. Go over the cattle guard bars in the road. Stay to your left when in doubt. At 5.5 & 6 miles in, you will pass new roads on the left made by the lumber company doing some clear cuts. Make sure you are on the main road, which veers to the right in these two locations. - When you get to 10 miles in on Johnson Road, there is a 90 degree turn in the road down to your left. This is called Bald Eagle Bluff by some. You may want to stop and get out and walk up onto the raised area and look down onto the mighty Klamath streched out below you. - As you proceed downhill, around many curves, and approach the 13 mile mark, you will be almost all the way down to the river. Look for a red gate and fence on your right, set back as the road curves to the left. This is the Redwoods Bend entrance. We are at 13065 Johnson Road. Stop at the mailbox at our gate and Eli will have a map waiting for you showing you how to get to your reserved site. - If you want to check out Redwoods Bend on a map or GoogleEarth, look for CA route 169, and go all the way to the end of the road. It ends in Johnson's Bar, CA which is on the other side of the Klamath River directly across from Redwoods Bend. You can see the round yurt and the orchard! Guest access We have a plenty of places to camp, and we have a shower house with two bathrooms and an on-demand water heater so folks don't have to wait for hot water. There is virtually no telephone or internet service to interrupt your peace and quiet. We see lots of wildlife, we have silver foxes, a bald eagle, a family of river otters just downstream, ... we see vultures and blue heron and osprey who fly overhead when they catch a salmon and call to each other to brag about it! Sometimes we see timid black bears and we often have black-tail deer in the meadow. We are surrounded by old trails made by the lumber companies 80 years ago when the clear cut all the old growth redwood on our side of the mountain, and now it's completely reforested with 200 ft tall Doug Fir, Madrone, Cedar, Oak, the pine species and Pepper wood trees. Please avail yourselves of the trails, the orchard and full length of the Klamath River "beach". We have a couple of neighbors who live on our side of the river, just downstream. The Yurok village across the river is known as "Johnsons" on the map, but the Yurok name for the village is 'Wautek'. We have a 50-tree orchard full of apple, pears, peaches, cherries, plums, grapes, and even a persimmon tree. All organic. Just depends what's ripe when you come. We like to share.