The original Redwood Highway
The Kerby Stage once served Illinois Valley residents with "luxury" travel
A backcountry adventure drive from Illinois Valley to Crescent City
Prior to the construction of Highway 199, if you wanted to go to the coast from Illinois Valley you drove on the Wimer-Gasquet Toll Road, a narrow gravel road that ran from O’Brien, Oregon to Gasquet, California and continued over Howland Hill Road through the redwood forest to Crescent City.
The story of these two roads begins in the 1870s when Jacob Wimer, a merchant in Illinois Valley, began construction on a new road to Crescent City to replace the older and steeper Turnpike Road (known today as the McGrew Trail). This new route was completed in 1882 and a toll was charged to travel on it.
At about the same time, Horace Gasquet, a store owner in California, began construction on a road from Crescent City to Wimer’s road near Oregon Mountain on the Oregon-California border. This road was finished around 1887 and provided a more direct route to Crescent City. Over time, the preferred route to the coast became a combination of the two roads; Wimer’s road in Oregon and Gasquet’s road in California.
Howland Hill Road winds through Redwoods National and State parks. Photo by Roger Brandt
This route is still maintained in good condition and offers an opportunity to get off the beaten path and enjoy a scenic route that was traveled from the mid 1880s to the early 1920s by residents of Southwest Oregon who wanted to go to the coast. If you would like to drive the old Wimer-Gasquet route to Crescent City, be certain you have a map showing both the California and Oregon sections of the road and are in a vehicle that has tires designed to go on gravel roads. Be prepared for emergencies with extra food and water. Do not attempt to take the road in the winter when snow makes the route impassible.
