HATTON REDWOOD TRAIL

The Hatton Trail is an attractive hillside trail that climbs to a bright ridgetop grove. The entire route is lined with old-growth redwoods: lush, impressive big-tree lowlands at the beginning, gradually changing to more mundane but still scenic uplands at the end.
The main drawback of this trail is the constant traffic noise, which rises and falls in volume but is almost always present. The trail has also deteriorated over the years; some sections have slumped and are rough due to exposed roots.
Typically for Jed Smith, on sunny days the woods are remarkably bright and filled with light, except for the dense, jungle-like lowland at the beginning. There’s also a lot of variety in the redwoods and other vegetation that keeps the hike interesting. A lot of people who are just driving by stop at the big pullout on Highway 199; since the Simpson-Reed Trail isn’t there anymore, some of them check out the Hatton Trail instead.