Smith River National Recreation Area | |
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Location | Del Norte County, California, United States |
Nearest city | Crescent City, California |
Coordinates | 41°55′00″N123°52′00″W / 41.91667°N 123.86667°W |
Area | 305,169 acres (1,235 km2) |
Established | November 16, 1990 |
Governing body | United States Forest Service |
Website | Smith River National Recreation Area |
Smith River National Recreation Area is a protected area located in northwestern California, United States. The national recreation area is in Six Rivers National Forest and is managed by the U.S. Forest Service, an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Created by Congress in 1990, Smith River National Recreation Area meets the northern border of Redwood National and State Parks.
The Klamath Mountains and the Smith River, one of the longest National Wild and Scenic Rivers in the U.S., offer a variety of recreational opportunities. The National Recreation Area has five campgrounds located near major streams and along the Smith River. [1] It is considered one of the best fishing regions in the country, and rafting and canoeing are popular activities. Most hiking trails are accessible year-round, but all activities may be greatly affected by periodic heavy rainfall that swells creeks and rivers.
The region receives over 90 in (2,300 mm) of rainfall annually, with the greatest amounts in the winter. Summers may be foggy as moisture laden clouds rise up the Coast Range mountains from the Pacific Ocean.
Trophy sized steelhead, chinook salmon and other game fish species have led to this area being considered one of the best fishing regions in the United States. Port Orford cedars are native to this area as the tree’s range extends about 50 miles (80 km) inland from the coast around Coos Bay, Oregon, to the mouth of the Mad River near Arcata. To prevent the spread of a root disease caused by the pathogen Phytophthora lateralis , forest roads and campgrounds may be closed during the rainy season when there is the most opportunities for contaminated soil to be spread around. The spores that live in water and wet soil can be introduced by vehicles, animals and people traveling from infected areas. [2]
The area is bisected by U.S. Route 199 which is designated the Smith River Scenic Byway. [1] Passing through the community of Hiouchi, Gasquet and Patrick Creek Lodge on the western side of the summit, the National Forest Scenic Byway is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System [3] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System. [4] The highway is the northern portion of the Redwood Highway. Formerly signed as California State Route 199, the highway links U.S. Route 101 near Crescent City, California with Interstate 5 in Grants Pass, Oregon, a distance of 80 miles (130 km).
The Clackamas River is an approximately 83-mile (134 km) tributary of the Willamette River in northwestern Oregon, in the United States. Draining an area of about 940 square miles (2,435 km2), the Clackamas flows through mostly forested and rugged mountainous terrain in its upper reaches, and passes agricultural and urban areas in its lower third. The river rises in eastern Marion County, about 55 miles (89 km) east-southeast of Salem. The headwaters are on the slopes of Olallie Butte in the Mount Hood National Forest, about 10 miles (16 km) north of Mount Jefferson, at an elevation of 4,909 feet (1,496 m) in the Cascade Range. The Clackamas flows briefly north and then flows northwest through the mountains, passing through North Fork Reservoir and Estacada. It then emerges from the mountains southeast of Portland. It joins the Willamette near Oregon City and forms the boundary between Oregon City and Gladstone.
State Route 74, part of which forms the Palms to Pines Scenic Byway or Pines to Palms Highway, and the Ortega Highway, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs from Interstate 5 in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County to the city limits of Palm Desert in Riverside County. Stretching about 111 miles (179 km), it passes through several parks and National Forests between the Pacific coast and the Coachella Valley.
The Smith River flows from the Klamath Mountains to the Pacific Ocean in Del Norte County in extreme northwestern California, on the West Coast of the United States. The river, about 25.1 miles (40.4 km) long, all within Del Norte County, flows through the Rogue River – Siskiyou National Forest, Six Rivers National Forest, and Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.
State Route 38 is a mostly rural and scenic state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting Interstate 10 in Redlands with State Route 18 in the Big Bear Lake area. It is one of the primary routes into the San Bernardino Mountains. Despite the orientation of its alignment, SR 38 is assigned in a west–east direction.
U.S. Route 199 (US 199) is a U.S. Highway in the states of California and Oregon. The highway was established in 1926 as a spur of US 99, which has since been replaced by Interstate 5 (I-5). US 199 stretches 80 miles (130 km) from US 101 near Crescent City, California northeast to I-5 in Grants Pass, Oregon. The highway is the northern portion of the Redwood Highway. In Oregon, US 199 is officially known as Redwood Highway No. 25. The majority of the road in California is the Smith River Scenic Byway, a National Forest Scenic Byway. The first roadway, a plank road, from Crescent City was established in May 1858, and before the US 199 designation was applied to the highway, the roadway was designated Highway 25 and Route 1.
The State Scenic Highway System in the U.S. state of California is a list of highways, mainly state highways, that have been designated by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) as scenic highways. They are marked by the state flower, a California poppy, inside either a rectangle for state-maintained highways or a pentagon for county highways.
The Avenue of the Giants is a scenic highway in northern California, United States, running through Humboldt Redwoods State Park. It is named for the coast redwoods that tower over the route. The road is a former alignment of U.S. Route 101, and continues to be maintained as a state highway as State Route 254.
State Route 299 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the northern part of the state. At 305.777 miles (492.100 km), it is the third longest California state route, after Route 1 and Route 99, and the longest east-west route. Route 299's western terminus is at US 101 at the northern edge of Arcata, and its eastern terminus is at the Nevada state line at a point east of Cedarville. Between Arcata and Redding, Route 299 intersects with State Route 96, and is briefly co-signed with State Route 3. In Redding, it intersects with State Route 273, State Route 44, and Interstate 5. East of Redding, it intersects with State Route 89, and a section is co-signed with State Route 139 before reaching Alturas. It is then co-signed with U.S. Route 395 northeast of Alturas, and then runs east through Cedarville and to the border with Nevada. A ghost town, Vya, Nevada, can be reached via this route, which after the border becomes a dirt road, which was formerly Nevada State Route 8A. The segment of SR 299 between Arcata and Redding is the Trinity Scenic Byway, a National Forest Scenic Byway.
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The Shasta–Trinity National Forest is a federally designated forest in northern California, United States. It is the largest National Forest in California and is managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The 2,210,485 acre forest encompasses five wilderness areas, hundreds of mountain lakes and 6,278 miles (10,103 km) of streams and rivers. Major features include Shasta Lake, the largest man-made lake in California and Mount Shasta, elevation 14,179 feet (4,322 m).
The Whiskeytown–Shasta–Trinity National Recreation Area is a United States National Recreation Area in northern California. The recreation area was authorized in 1965 by the United States Congress. Recreational activities available include swimming, fishing, boating, camping, and hiking.
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