BFRO #4845: Calif. Del Norte County Jed Smith Park
π Location
Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, Hiouchi area, along Smith River, Del Norte County, CA, Hiouchi, CA
Specific Location: Across the Smith River from the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park campground, near Highway 199 (Hiouchi/Smith River bridge area)
Coordinates: 41.78500, -124.05500
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41.7850Β°, -124.0550Β°
π Description
I am the Manager of the Visitor Center at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. During the winter of 2001-2002, my family and I were the camp hosts at the park, and lived in the park full time. One evening in mid-December 2001, I and my two children, ages 11 and 10, were in our travel trailer reading when we heard the a sound that made us cower. It was something between a human "cat-call" and a cow mooing, a kind of "Ah-oooo" that just echoed through the woods.I have served as a docent naturalist for the California State Park System. I have hiked the woods of California all of my life and I have never heard anything like this before. I have heard bear, mountain lion and elk, and this was nothing like those. What impressed us most was how loud it was. We have heard groups of humans in the campground hooping and hollaring and their noise level was not even close to this. We were inside of a travel trailer that had the windows closed up and the noise was clear and strong. We estimated that it had to have come from just across the Smith River from the campground.I decided to make this report after hearing what seemed to be the same kind of sound on a recent rerun of "Sightings," a recording by Matt Moneymaker.
π Circumstances
Three witnesses total: myself, my daughter and my son.
π€οΈ Weather Conditions
It was around 8 p.m. and the weather conditions were drizzily. It was dark with no moonlight due to weather conditions.
βΉοΈ Additional Details
It was around 8 p.m. and the weather conditions were drizzily. It was dark with no moonlight due to weather conditions.
π Sources (1)
π₯ Community Contributions
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Case Information
- Case ID
- cmiy1xydm00dk8fysfl2f6qv0
- Primary Source
- BFRO
- Added to Map
- December 9, 2025
- Last Updated
- December 10, 2025