Notes: Use this alternate route to visit Rocket Top whenever Bull Creek is impassable. If the seasonal footbridge over Bull Creek is installed or Bull Creek is low enough to wade across, use the 1.9 mi (3.1 km) shorter normal route to Rocket Top from the Lower Bull Creek Flat parking area instead.
Drive: Rocket Top is 195 mi (314 km) north of San Francisco near the community of Weott.
Northbound: From U.S. Highway 101 just north of Weott, take exit 663 South Fork Honeydew and turn left onto California State Route 254 (Avenue of the Giants). Drive north 0.2 mi (0.3 km) on California State Route 254 (Avenue of the Giants) and turn left, under the bridge, onto Mattole Road.
Southbound: From U.S. Highway 101 just north of Weott, take exit 663 South Fork Honeydew and turn right onto Mattole Road.
Drive west 5.2 mi (8.4 km) on Mattole Road to the bridge which crosses Bull Creek. 500 ft (152 m) past the bridge, near a small sign that reads
Fire Lookout,
turn left onto an unmarked road (also known as Grasshopper Road and Grasshopper Multi Use Trail). Drive south 250 ft (76 m)
on the unmarked road and park in a pullout on the right. The unmarked Bull Creek Flats Trail South trailhead is on your left.
Hike: GPS-assisted navigation is recommended for this hike. From the trailhead, hike east 3.4 mi (5.5 km) on Bull Creek Flats Trail South, across Squaw, Miller, and Connick Creeks, to the trail exit point 40.34297 -123.95711. Leave the trail here and, using a GPS device, hike downhill/northeast 0.16 mi (0.26 km) off-trail to Rocket Top.
| Rating: | Moderate | One-Way Distance: | 3.5 mi | (5.6 km) | Ascent: | 368 ft | (112 m) |
| Time: | 1 hr 30 min | Off-Trail: | 0.16 mi | (0.26 km) | Descent: | 523 ft | (159 m) |
View Rocket Top Tree location in Google Maps