Community Corner

Weekly Walker: June Hikes Lead to Waterfalls, Ancient Redwoods

Local trekker, and San Carlos man-about town, Tom Davids, suggests weekly hikes on some of the Bay Area's most scenic trails.

June will soon be here and time to mark your calendar for a couple of wonderful hikes through beautiful redwood forests.

Our Challenge Hike this month was planned to be at Sierra Azul OSP but last week, Veralyn and I found very hot and dry conditions at this Santa Clara County park so we will move this visit to a later time in the year and move our June hike to the 11 mile Barry Creek Trail Loop in Big Basin State Park.  Here is a description of the June hikes.
 
June 8 (Saturday) our Challenge Hike is the popular Barry Creek Falls Loop in Big Basin, one of the premier redwood forest and waterfall hikes in the Bay Area. This strenuous 11 mile hike takes about 6 hours and has a total elevation gain of about 900 ft.. About 5 miles into the hike we will pass by three waterfalls including the 60 ft. Berry Creek Falls. Most of the hike is shady and under the tree canopy.  There is a restroom at the trail head but no guarantee during the hike, except for a pit toilet at Sunset Trail Camp if open. There is a $5 Park and Rec. fee for this hike and a $10 State Park usage fee per vehicle. Dogs are not permitted in this trail.
 
For this hike, we will carpool from the Sam Trans garage (500 block of Laurel St.), leaving at 8am and returning about 5pm. If you drive direct, you can reach Big Basin from the town of Boulder Creek, or take Skyline Blvd. south to the intersection with Highway 9. Go downhill on 9 for 6 miles and connect to CA236.  Proceed on this narrow winding road for 8.5 miles to park headquarters.
 
June 12 (Wednesday) is our Pathfinder Hike at Sam McDonald County Park and Heritage Grove.  This is a moderate 4 mile hike  to a grove of ancient redwoods which were about to be lumbered in the early 1970's when a group of conservationists rallied support for the county to purchase this beautiful grove. There is no fee for this hike.
 
We will carpool from the Adult Community Center, leaving at 9am and returning by 1pm. There is a rest room at the trail head but not beyond. Dogs are not permitted.
 
Please email me if you plan to join either of these hikes or if you have any questions.
 
Bonus Challenge Hike...Skyline to the Sea Trail...Looks as though we have enough hikers to continue planning.  The hike is scheduled for Aug 3.  If you are ready to sign up, let me know how many are in your party and if you prefer hiking down to the Sea, or up to Skyline.
 
Tom Davids
tom@tomdavids.com


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