Grants Pass to Crescent City Highway 199 Road Guide - Oregon & California Redwood Highway

Mantle Rock

ZERO ODOMETER at the driveway into Patrick Creek Lodge

0.0 Patrick Creek Lodge:
Stunted trees growing on mantle rock in the Smith River National Recreation Area, Highway 199, California. In this part of the tour you will be driving through an exposure of rocks that were uplifted from the earth’s upper mantle. This is the largest exposure of this type of rock in North America. The poor nutrients in these rocks, along with the presence of chrome and nickel, retards the growth of plants. Some plants such as the California pitcher plant growing at mile 4.0 are adapted to growing in these harsh regions. You saw portions of these mantle rock exposures at Eight Dollar Mountain near Selma and again at the Rough and Ready Forest State Park south of Cave Junction, both of which were located in exposures that paralleled Highway 199. In this area, this exposure of rocks turns to the south and you are now going to be driving through them.

0.6 Turnout: Use turnouts to allow faster moving traffic to pass.

1.6 Turnout

1.9 Bridge

2.0 Road becomes four lanes

Landslide in serpentine rock along the South Fork of the Smith River, California. 2.3 Land slides are common in these mantle rock exposures and you are likely to see a number of new and very old landslides along the river through this area. Land slides provide good evidence of the instability of mantle rock and the reason for this occurred in the very early history of when these rocks were formed. In the mantle, very little water is able to penetrate from the surface to the mantle rock but as the rock is uplifted and still under high pressure and temperatures, water begins to mingle with these rocks, usually working its way through cracks. When water is added to mantle rock, it changes to a type of rock called serpentine. One of the common serpentine minerals is talc and this tends to make the cracks in the rock slippery and prone to land slides. New land slides have a white color. Older landslides appear to be more brick-red in color caused by staining from the iron in the rock. The older the landslide, the more reddish the rock. The process of serpentinization occurred only in the earliest history of these rocks when they were under high pressure and temperature. Water from rain does not appear to cause further development of serpentine.

2.7 Bridge

3.0 Grassy Flat Campground (left):
A section of the old highway and part of the old bridge that was washed out in the 1964 flood can be seen by turning left into Grassy Flat. The campground is closed in the winter but the road is open to the old bridge.

3.4 Slide area - watch for rocks. Rocks often roll onto the road from the cut on the right.

4.0 Botanical Trail (right):
Pitcher plants, Darlingtonia Wheelchair Accessible Loop Trail, Smith River National Recreation Area, Highway 199, California. This is a must-see stop for anyone driving through the unusual mantle rock exposures of Smith River National Recreation Area. The trail is wheelchair accessible and has interpretive signs that tell you about the botany and mining history in this area. The hallmark feature is the colony of insectivorous pitcher plants, known in this area as the Darlingtonia. They are well adapted to survive in the nutrient poor soils of the mantle rock and are generally found growing around springs and seeps in the mantle outcrops of this region

4.3 Slide area watch for rocks

4.7 The road to right is another small section of the old highway. The bridge that crossed the river was washed out in the 1964 flood. There is a smaller bridge just before the cul-de-sac that is one of the original bridges installed when Highway 199 was constructed in 1922.

4.8 Bridge

5.2 Panther Flat Campground (right) has a day use area next to the river that is open for public use. A day use fee can be paid at the self-serve station near the campground entrance. Rocks from a landslide have created a nice swimming hole at this location.

6.4 Lado Del Rio road on the right was the site of the community of Darlingtonia, a town you may see shown on some maps. There was a lodging facility located here.

5.4 French Hill:
Flat topped mountains near French Hill, Gasquet, Smith River National Recreation Area, Highway 199, California. The flat-topped hill in front of you is called French Hill and was the site of gold mining in the 1800s. Gold was mined in gravel beds of ancient rivers that are believed to have flowed over a wide, flat region not much higher than sea level. The gravels of French Hill were deposited on these flatlands about 30 million years ago and since that time regional uplift raised the gravel beds, with erosion carving out river canyons around them. This is a good example of the uplift this entire region has experienced; bringing rocks up from deep in the ground to the surface such as the roots of the ancient volcano that was pointed out in the first part of the tour at Grants Pass. You will see another terrace that has been recently uplifted out of the sea when you get to the end of the tour and drop down on to the flat lands of Crescent City and Tolowa Dunes State Park. The picture above was taken from French Hill looking at other hills in the area.

7.2 Four lane ends. Reduce your speed.

7.5 French Hill Trail and USFS Ranger Station:

The historic pack trail used by miners to bring supplies from the Gasquet Store to the mines on French Hill is on the left.

Gasquet Forest Service Ranger Station, Smith River National Recreatoin Area, Highway 199, California. Gasquet Ranger Station in on the right and has inside and outside displays as well as books and maps pertaining to Smith River National Recreation Area. The buildings and rock work at this station were constructed by crews at the Gasquet Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp in the 1930s, the same crews that did the rock work at the Patrick Creek Campground.

7.7 SET ODOMETER TO ZERO at the Gasquet Store. Toll Road (right),

The Old Redwood Highway Road Tour returns to Highway 199 on the road next to the Gasquet Store.

During the past few miles, you have been following the Middle Fork of the Smith River. At Gasquet, the north fork merges with the middle fork.

Gasquet Resort photo taken from near the old cemetery. Smith River National Recreation Area, Highway 199, California. The community of Gasquet was established in 1856 by Horace Gasquet and his wife, both from France. His original store and station was located between the north and middle forks of the Smith River, probably because this is where the 1852 Cold Springs Mountain Pack Trail crossed the North Fork of the Smith River. This site was located near the present-day Gasquet cemetery. In the following year, 1857, the Turnpike and Puncheon Road was completed, which allowed for much less expensive shipping by freight wagon. No doubt, the completion of this road caused a dramatic drop in the number of pack trains going over the Cold Springs Mountain Pack Trail. He later purchased property across the river, the side you are on, and set up what was to become the town of Gasquet. The town included a vineyard (foreground of picture above) that Gasquet used to make wine for his customers.

By 1877, the Turnpike and Puncheon Road had gone defunct and Gasquet was forced to use pack animals to ship supplies to stores he had set up at Happy Camp, California and Waldo, Oregon. He decided to build his own road to Waldo, which was completed in 1887 and became known as the Gasquet Toll Road. You can drive through the redwood forest on a portion of this road by following the Old Redwood Highway Road Guide. This section of the tour begins at South Fork Road about seven miles from here. Howland Hill Road, Redwood National Park, Crescent City, California. The road through the forest is named Howland Hill Road and has a graded, gravel surface with more hiking opportunities than you will find on the Highway 199 tour route. A picture of the road is shown to the right. The turnoff for the old road is pointed out in the next section of the Highway 199 Road Guide. To pick up the tour, follow the Highway 199 Road Guide to South Fork Road. Follow safety suggestions as you make the left turn on to this road. Tour information for the Old Redwood Highway Road Guide can be obtained by following the link titled Redwood Forest at the bottom of the page.

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Disclaimer: All information in Highway199.org is accurate to the best knowledge of the author. However, conditions in outdoor settings can change dramatically after storms or fires. For this reason, travelers are advised to check current road conditions before traveling through the area, drive responsibly and take measures to understand safety issues in the region. When participating in outdoor activities, always plan and prepare for safe hiking, swimming or any other activities mentioned in the Highway 199 website. More on disclaimer and copyright...