Jedidiah Smith State Park

Camp Review

• We camped at site 77, which was the only site available for booking at the time. I was worried that this would be a terrible site, but instead, I think I lucked into one of the best sites at Jedidiah Smith! The site was large and private—what more would anyone want?

• The site only had one neighbor. To one side and behind the campsite were fields of fern and fallen logs. Only after a hundred fifty feet or so was a quiet building.

• Unfortunately, we drove in at night and left soon after waking up, so we did not get to enjoy the site as much as we’d want to.

• The tap water from the water spout tasted like bottled spring water.

 

What Happened?

After a disappointing dinner at a brewery in Crescent City, we drove into the campsite in pitch dark. It was so dark that I had difficulty backing up even with a backup camera. Once we parked, we quickly brushed our teeth and got into bed. Although we had a neighbor, it was pretty quiet and we went to sleep after a long day of driving and hiking.

The next morning, we woke up lazily to the sounds of birds chirping and our lone neighbor making breakfast. Once we got out of bed though, we did the same steps as the night in reverse—we put on our day clothes, brushed our teeth, and got in the truck. Actually, with the campground being lit by some beautiful morning light, we explored a bit around the campsite before we left.

At the entrance gate, the ranger understood why we did not have a receipt tagged on our window (once we explained our late arrival) and wished us a good day. And what a good day it’d end up being!