An easy hike to far north solitude
You emerge with a view of the South Fork Smith River on your left. The trail is routed upstream, a climb so benign that you hardly notice it, and where you often tower over the river. The Smith is notable as one of the few undammed major rivers in North A
Tucked in the most remote corner of northwestern California is one of the prettiest, easy hikes in the state where there’s a chance you won’t see another soul.
It’s called the South Kelsey Trail, along the pristine South Fork Smith River, deep in the Smith River National Recreation Area, part of the Six Rivers National Forest. You can walk as little as 1.5 miles oneway to Buck Creek and a small waterfall that feeds into a gorgeous swimming hole, with an adjacent wood shelter for camping and nearby fishing spots for trout.
The ambitious can continue a total of 5.1 miles oneway (from the trailhead) with a 4,500foot climb to 5,775foot Baldy Peak. The payoff is a 360degree view that spans 10,000 square miles and dozens of wilderness peaks in the north state. Again, all to yourself.
For those frustrated with heavy traffic on the highways and the high numbers of people at the wellknown locations in Northern California over the Fourth of July holiday week, the South Kelsey Trail can be the answer.
It works because most people are not willing to make the long drive, mindbending for some, to the distant Smith River and then deep into national forest to the trailhead.
From the Golden Gate Bridge it is 357 miles, more than 6 hours of driving time, to reach Jedediah Smith State Park, the No. 1 landing spot in the region with its pretty campsites and park model cabins in the redwoods, and coinoperated showers. Five Forest Service campgrounds (on the Smith River) and an RV park (in Hiouchi) are also available.
From Jed Smith, it is another 22 miles into the interior of the South Fork Smith watershed, a gorgeous slow cruise most of the way, to the trailhead for the South Kelsey Trail.
The parking area is perched on a flat in national forest above the South Fork Smith. The trailhead is well signed. For overnight trips, a campfire permit is required. Dogs off leash are allowed.
From the trailhead, you descend a short distance on a pretty dirt path through forest to the lowest point on the route, an elevation of 1,200 feet.
You emerge with a view of the South Fork Smith River on your left. The trail is routed upstream, a climb so benign that you hardly notice it, and where you often tower over the river. The Smith is notable as one of the few undammed major rivers in North America, running clear and cool in its long path to the sea.
It’s an easy 1.5mile walk to the Buck Creek Shelter, an openended wood shack with a stone fireplace, and out front, a rock firepit with makeshift benches. A few flat spots for small campsites are available nearby. In heavy rain, I can attest that the roof is waterproof.
The site fronts Buck Creek, which pours out of the forest with a series of gorgeous poolanddrops before it joins with the South Fork Smith. On a hot afternoon, it’s great for a dip and dogpaddling around. As a lowelevation stream, the water temperature has nowhere the chill factor of streams in the high Sierra.
On the nearby South Fork Smith, anglers can scramble along the river and cast for trout. The trout tend to “sit” at the heads of pools and point upstream, waiting for food to drift by.
The great beyond
Beyond the Buck Creek Shelter, it is 3.2 miles (oneway, from the parking area and trailhead) to Elkhorn Bar, 4.2 miles to 8 Mile Creek, and 5.1 miles to Baldy Peak. In the past few years, the Bigfoot Trail Alliance has brushed the trail from the Buck Creek Shelter to the ridge below Baldy Peak.
The entire route of the historic Old Kelsey Trail includes overgrown sections that are difficult to find, according to Clark Moore, who lives nearby and has made it a personal mission to trace out the historic trail. At one point, he crawled under the brush to find the route.
Past Baldy Peak, the map shows the route continuing down to little Harrington Lake (with a ford of Harrington Creek). The section has not been cleared, and in some spots it seems to disappear. For those looking for a lakeside campsite on a backpacking trek here, the extra leg to Harrington could provide a nightmare of manzanita and brush, as if caught in a spider web.
What most backpackers do on the way in is make mental notes of potential flats for campsites along the South Fork. Some will dump their packs at a campsite, rig them in a bearproof hang in a tree, then climb Baldy Peak and return without the burden of carrying the extra weight.
No matter what you decide, every trip here from short to long shares a common goal: pristine beauty, a fun hike, the chance for a great adventure, to swim or fish, end the day with a campfire — and no matter how far you go in this remote landscape, few people.