Story:
This was a 9.7 mile hike with a vertical change of 1800 ft.
The Fall Creek unit of Henry Cowel SP is a beautiful hiking area. While the hike along the creek is fairly easy, hikes up from the creek are quite strenuous. The dirt parking lot at the trailhead is off Felton Empire road. There are no facilities here and no maps at the information board. Parking is free and can accomodate about 25+ cars.
From the parking lot, we proceeded down to the Fall Creek trail. The trail starts at the junction of the Bennett Creek trail (you can see a bridge to the left). After hiking about a 1/2 mile (gradual slope), we verred left at the bridge and went up the South Fork trail toward the abandoned lime kilns. The trail now starts to become steep.
At the lime Kilns, we took the Cape Horn trail. There is a shortcut about 50 yards from the Lime kilns which we took. This shortcut connected us with the Lost Empire trail. This trail is steep. After 2.4 miles, we finally reached the summit of the trail at BIG BEN Redwood Tree. From here, it's downhill on the Big Ben Trail. After 1.4 miles, we finally reached the Fall creek trail again. A left turn and a short hike brings you to the continuation of Big Ben trail on the left. This is 0.4 miles of up, up, up!
The top of Big Ben brings us to the truck trail, a wide dirt road that (thankfully) goes down. We followed the road down until it connected with the Ridge trail which we continued on until we made a right onto the High School trail. We noted the change in trees on this trail, going from Redwood to a mixture of Redwood, Oak, Madrone and Manzanita.
At the bottom of the hill, we made a right onto the Bennett Creek trail and proceeded back to the parking lot.
This was a 9.7 mile hike with a vertical change of 1800 ft.
The Fall Creek unit of Henry Cowel SP is a beautiful hiking area. While the hike along the creek is fairly easy, hikes up from the creek are quite strenuous. The dirt parking lot at the trailhead is off Felton Empire road. There are no facilities here and no maps at the information board. Parking is free and can accomodate about 25+ cars.
From the parking lot, we proceeded down to the Fall Creek trail. The trail starts at the junction of the Bennett Creek trail (you can see a bridge to the left). After hiking about a 1/2 mile (gradual slope), we verred left at the bridge and went up the South Fork trail toward the abandoned lime kilns. The trail now starts to become steep.
At the lime Kilns, we took the Cape Horn trail. There is a shortcut about 50 yards from the Lime kilns which we took. This shortcut connected us with the Lost Empire trail. This trail is steep. After 2.4 miles, we finally reached the summit of the trail at BIG BEN Redwood Tree. From here, it's downhill on the Big Ben Trail. After 1.4 miles, we finally reached the Fall creek trail again. A left turn and a short hike brings you to the continuation of Big Ben trail on the left. This is 0.4 miles of up, up, up!
The top of Big Ben brings us to the truck trail, a wide dirt road that (thankfully) goes down. We followed the road down until it connected with the Ridge trail which we continued on until we made a right onto the High School trail. We noted the change in trees on this trail, going from Redwood to a mixture of Redwood, Oak, Madrone and Manzanita.
At the bottom of the hill, we made a right onto the Bennett Creek trail and proceeded back to the parking lot.
Tips:
Trails off the creek trail are steep. The temperature is generally cool, but it can heat up, especially at the higher elevations. Good shoes and water are recommended.
Trails off the creek trail are steep. The temperature is generally cool, but it can heat up, especially at the higher elevations. Good shoes and water are recommended.
Tags:
Henry Cowell, Felton
Henry Cowell, Felton
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