Jedediah Smith Campground — Hotel in Crescent City

The Quintessential redwoods campground. Jed smith is the perfect camping spot for visiting all major Jed smith groves, Myrtle beach, smith river, and even crescent city/ocean. Avoid crowds: Go on your excursions early and late, return to a nearly abandoned campground in the afternoon.

The campground itself is spotless and well maintained. Rangers are helpful and friendly. Big Redwood trees are in the campground on the lower/outer loop near the river. Before I launch into specifics, important to note we don’t mind walking and a half mile is not really notable for us. I think any campground is easier if you don’t mind walking but jed smith specifically becomes far better if you’re ok with it.

We had walk in site A which is the Last site along the river with your own short trail down to a rocky/sandy beach on the smith river. Site A has its own picnic table, bear box and fire ring. Redwoods are in this site, several big ones in fact. I recommend site A strongly for privacy, location and river access with a few caveats.

You park about 1 minute away on a driving loop near the bathroom access stairs then walk between sites 50 and 51 and straight through B to access A. You’re not really closer to neighbors here vs. other sites but it might feel that way with how open the space between the walk ins happens to be. There are trees between you but it’s still mostly open. If you got a rowdy neighbor in B you’d know it. So B is on one side of you but the benefit here is no one is on your other side and no one is walking past your camp at all. B is surrounded by other sites. If you have a group and get both walk ins I think it would be fun.

A is quite a bit smaller than B. A Big family had like 6 large tents in B, we would’ve been lucky to get 2 medium ones into A due to lack of flat ground.

Short walks to bathroom, river, boat ramp and seasonal foot bridge from this site. The shower was not a highlight…needs quarters and was lukewarm water at best. The shower room itself was clean but huge and this added to the chill.

I totally recommend the campground. I recommend campsite A if you are ok walking a bit extra and hopefully get good neighbors (we did) or take both walk in sites. Frankly, neighbors are a crapshoot anywhere so I guess this...

One of the cleanest and most spectacular campgrounds you'll ever stay at. Being from Oregon, we are very spoiled when it comes to state campgrounds. This one though takes the cake. Let's start with the bathrooms first... All the bathrooms have been freshly tiled and are well maintained. The only complaint is no soap or towels but I think they were betting you would have both considering the showers are next door. Regardless they were spicnspan in my book and even though it was .50 cents for a 2 minute shower, .75 cents would get you nearly 5 minutes... More than enough for myself and my wife (with much longer hair) . The visitors center has a nice theater setting and lots of information about surrounding groves and trails. I recommend you visit to get more ideas of things to do. With the river right there, groves and trails abound you might need to pick and choose your time wisely as there is lots to see and do. We also tend to scout campgrounds out ahead of time to make sure we can fit our 15x15 ft tent as its quite a beast. We found site 77 to fit our needs nicely. It's quite a walk to the bathroom but definitely more secluded and off the beaten path. It's also a shorter jaunt to the river if using the bridge to cross over to Stout Grove. (only available certain times of year). The only downfall is that this campground is very popular and you have lots of people all the time. We thought going in the off season mat help buy it was still busy in late September. Either way it's off the main road and traffic was very quiet at night with barely a hum to be heard. If your wanting to spend time in the Redwoods you might as well be in the heart and Jedidiah is definitely the center of it all! Make sure to go to Pederson Trail just up the road as well as Stout Grove. Both are easy walks...

Wow. This campground is in the best location. Nestled in the redwoods along the Jedediah Smith River. Beauty everywhere you look.|The showers take quarters, 25 cents per minute. There are single room bathrooms at the shower building. Our campsite had another restroom building nearby with 3 stalls. Everything is kept fairly clean. |The Ranger program in the evenings is really packed with cool information. They are enthusiastic and passionate as all rangers we met were.|We stayed in #99 and by luck, I think it's the best site. Several huge trees, super lush green foliage, and you could easily put several tents and 2 or more cars. Its next to a trail to the showers. 2 spots from the restroom. Your own water pump and from the road, you can not see the fire pit or table/bear box. We plan to aim for that spot again. |There is a store 1 mile away with almost anything you'd need. We decided to purchase firewood in town at the welding shop next to Texaco. $5 cash and highly recommend. |Things you can not miss when you are there:|The FREE ranger led kayaking tour on the Jedidiah Smith River. Plan to get wet, wear water shoes and phone protector, a sack lunch, and $2 cash per person for the bus. My husband took an unexpected swim, Jeff and Rachel were amazing rangers and we had an unforgettable time.||Stout Grove. It's a very easy walk through the most amazing trees you ever seen. We spent hours there absorbing their...