Welcome to this family owned resort! It all
started in 1920 by Charles & his wife, Frances Smith under the name of
Big Trees Auto Camp. They traveled to the Santa Cruz Mountains on
vacation and fell in love with the trees, the river and the weather and
decided to purchase the 13 acres of paradise.. The property, originally
a brickyard, became an immediate attraction for auto campers from far
and wide.. Here the visitors would enjoy the beautiful outdoors and
relax under the redwoods.
The Smiths raised their four children Bette, Florence,
Eric & Charlotte on this property. During this time a couple of
locals, Earl & Amy Powers, became friends with the Smiths and helped
build the main house, referred to for years as "The Big House." In
later years, Frances' mother came to live with them in the second story
apartment - her name, Gragor Holt (of the Benjamin Holt Caterpillar
Tractor Family from Stockton.)
Charlie spent much of his time developing the park.
One by one he built single room cabins and leased them by the year to
family and friends. As Big Trees Auto Camp evolved tent camping
became another way to get out under the stars. Charlie and his
wife cherished this land and when they finally died it was their oldest
daughter Bette and her husband Don Kelly who took the reins.
So that left Bette and her husband Don to continue the
family tradition. For the next 35 years Smithwoods was run by the
Kelly's with the help of 2 of their 3 children Doug and Penny.
From car camping to tent camping to RV camping many families have built
a tradition around this home away from home. There were summers of
crawdad fishing on the river, Spring trips to Roaring Camp and winter
months of campfires and 'smores. After the death of Bette in June
2005, the care of the park changed hands to the next in line, oldest
daughter Brenda and 2 of her children Chris and Rick (Charlie's
great-grandsons.) They welcome you to their extended family with
hopes of building long and lasting relationships in the years to come.
Enjoy!
