Armstrong Woods State Natural Reserve

I'm having problems uploading to blogger, so I'm in search of a new host. Route 66 is insterrupted until I can get a new site. In the meantime, I'm uploading what I had previously written. We visited Armstrong Woods in mid August, about a week before the wildfire went through.

The Armstrong Woods State Natural Reserve is located in Guerneville.

There is a free parking lot before you enter the gates. The parking lot opens at 8 am but when we arrived at 7:45 am, there were already a few cars there. If you want shade in the morning, park closest to the trailhead. If you get there late and still want free parking, you can park on the street a couple hundred yards away.

If you want to park closer to some of the trails, pay $10 at the entry booth and you can drive into the park.

The East Ridge Trail starts in the free parking lot.

It is a steep climb up from the parking lot. After 2 hours, you'll each the summit. From the parking lot, it's 2.9 miles.

If you want a less strenuous hike, turn left towards the Picnic Area after 1.2 miles.

From the summit, take a left and parallel the road until you reach the Pool Ridge Trail.

When you reach the parking lot at Gilliam Creek, turn right to the end of the road until you see the Pool Ridge Trail.

Another hour and a half later, you'll reach flat ground and the Discovery Trail.  You'll find the Colonel Armstrong Redwood Tree, over 300 feet tall.

You can't see the top of the Colonel Armstrong Redwood.

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