2 acres hosted by David S.
1 lodging site
Near Redwood National Park
Within a 30-minute drive from the Jedediah Smith Visitor Center.
Best tent sites: Finalist
Named one of the best Hipcamps to visit in 2023.
Best treehouses: 2nd place
Named one of the best Hipcamps to visit in 2023.
Staff verified
Accuracy verified by Hipcamp's on-the-ground team.
We acquired the property in 2015, out-competing a logger who wanted to cut the grove for timber. We want the redwood grove to demonstrate to our community, with its long history of forestry, that trees can be commercially valuable preserved in their natural state. You are helping us do that by staying in our woods!
As of 2023 more than 80 work-exchange helpers through WWOOF (World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) have labored to help develop the property in exchange for room, board and a hands-on education. Adjacent to the redwood grove is a permaculture farm that supplies a large share of our nutrition.
The property is also an overnight stopover for bicycle tourists traveling down highway 101, typically from Seattle or Vancouver to the Mexican border who find us through the website Warmshowers.Halfway back in a 100-year-old grove of redwood trees stands our treehouse inside a “cathedral tree”– a circle of trees sprouted from an old-growth stump. Built using specialized parts and tools from world treehouse headquarters in nearby Cave Junction, Oregon, this two-story beauty is accessed via a redwood spiral staircase leading to the first deck. Constructed from salvaged, old-growth redwood from the local mill, it blends in perfectly with the surrounding forest. There you'll find a redwood slab table under a chandelier.
A steel spiral staircase takes you to the upper deck, 22’ above the forest floor. Nestled among the branches, this large space features two cantilevered wings supported by cables. The first has a 12’ bar table atop decoratively etched tempered glass panels from which to overlook the grove, The other wing features an 8’ geodesic dome for reclining and relaxing. The dome has a storage compartment, two full-length pads and two opening windows. Bring your sleeping bags. You’ll find a swing for your inner child, a dumbwaiter for easy vertical transfer of belongings and a composting toilet under the lower deck.
You will enter the property and park at Tower of Jewels farm. The greenhouses, garden beds, ducks and orchards provide food for us and others in our permaculture group. The farmstead is the base for work-trade and educational opportunities centered on organic, biodynamic farming and permaculture. Please request a farm tour if these ideas and lifestyle interest you.
Because our neighbors have a rooster and other farm animals, you may hear crowing in the early hours. Inside the dome you will find disposable earplugs if this proves to be a problem for you.
We are located on two acres approximately six miles north of Crescent City, California, halfway between Portland, Oregon and San Francisco, California—a comfortable day's drive (350 miles) from each city. We are three miles from the old growth redwoods at Jedidiah Smith State Park, part of the Redwoods National Park jointly managed by the state and federal governments. The tallest coastal redwoods in the world are within 10 miles of us.
Two miles separate us from the ocean as the crow flies, about four miles by road. The nearest beach is Tolowa Dunes State Park where you are likely to see elk herds and porcupines. The beach is lightly used and on a weekday morning you can walk for miles north or south without seeing another person, though you are likely to see seals staring at you from the surf.
The town of Crescent City is six miles south. Here there is dining and entertainment, shopping, a museum, a beautiful crescent-shaped beach with surfing and tide pooling opportunities, the National Park Visitor center, a park with the nation's only beachfront disc golf course and more. The largest coastal lagoon south of Alaska is very close by with a hiking trail that starts less than a mile from the property.
A few miles north is the Smith River, the last un-dammed river in California. It's clear, turquoise waters can take your breath away at first sight. Upstream there is the Siskiyou wilderness and Six Rivers National Forest—no mining, agriculture or human development are allowed to disturb the landscape or water. The unique water color comes from the rare serpentine soil. The area also supports the rare, carnivorous pitcher plant (Darlingtonia Californica.)
