Rhododendron Trail, CREA Trail, and West Ridge Trail loop

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

(Map link.)

Is it too late for the Eastside Rhododendrons? Or still too early? I don't think they like these dryer winters. Nothing has looked happy yet, unless it's on a forest edge and might be getting watered. It is getting late, though, so I thought I might go off to see them, then I thought I'd take a shorter drive to maybe be disappointed and went for the Rhododendron Trail instead. I decided on a route that would get me on a trail or two I hadn't hiked while hitting the north portion of the Rhododendron Trail, then got myself to a trailhead. There is a level of guesswork in finding trailheads in Prairie Creek. They have very nice signs, but the ones you can see while driving are generic warnings that there is a trailhead in 500 feet and there may be pedestrians crossing. I was aiming at the north part of the loop, but landed at the south side. I didn't feel strongly enough about it to move, but did flip my direction from clockwise to counter-clockwise.

signs surrounding a trail under very big trees — No pink flowers visible by the signs at the start of Brown Creek Trail, it's very hard to be fully disappointed with any hike among the redwoods of Prairie Creek.

I wasn't sure how far I was planning to hike because the brochure only lists the distances for full trails and my plan had some partial trails. The detailed trail sign at the trailhead has mileages for the closer trails as well as an "easy walk" and "longer hike" suggestion. It didn't help better my approximation. About 12 miles? There were plenty of hours of sunlight for it, whatever it was. I started up Brown Creek, which gave the impression of a creek coming in from the left, then wandered off right.

flat bottom valley — South Fork coming down to meet the rest of Brown Creek off the side ot the left.

There is a junction with Foothill Trail, which I had forgotten about, then for South Fork Trail, which I had remembered. Taking it would mean getting more Rhododendron Trail for an extra mile or less, but I was feeling more interested in the Brown Creek Trail. I kept left and crossed over the bridge and followed the trail as it backtracked then started a very gentle climb.

sign and really big trees — Foothill Trail is said to have some excellent trees along it on the way to one tree simply named "Big Tree".

trees going very far up — Another failed attempt to try to capture how tall redwoods are.

trees on the right edge of a valley — My way. Rhododendron Trail in 1.2 miles.

huge trees on the flat — A selection of redwoods along the Brown Creek Trail.

The easy hike suggested on the starting sign is up the Brown Creek Trail to a side loop trail in the Carl Schenck Grove. The way there is extraordinarily flat. I expected a sign to point the way at the junction, but the bridge makes it hard to miss and the plaques around the place identify it well enough. Schenck was the third trained forester in the country and opened the first (by a month) American school of forestry. I crossed the bridge to see the grove.

bridge over the small creek to get to the really big trees — The bridge and Carl Schenck Grove.

tree with a name in front — There are a number of named trees within the grove to honor other forestry pioneers.

white flowers with tufts — Columbian windflowers by the creek side.

I found the second, larger loop to be partly blocked by a large, fallen tree. Many have scrambled under it, but that wasn't something I wanted to do when getting started on a long hike. I turned back and completed the smaller loop before starting up Brown Creek Trail once more. I quickly came upon a grove dedicated to Frederick Law Olmsted. Not advertised as part of the easy hike, but I would highly recommend getting that far if the easy hike is your goal and you have a little extra time and energy for more rather flat hiking.

more big trees around a plaque — The Frederick Law Olmsted [Jr.] memorial grove, as identified by the plaque at the center.

small water flow an d big trees — Brown Creek flowing past more big trees.

After the grove, the trail starts some mildly steeper climbing. I found the first blooming rhododendron just short of the junction with the rhododendron trail.

white flower with purple blotches — The last of the trillium. There was actually two buds, one next to this flower, getting ready to open, but they may not get pollinated.

sprays of pink up high — Rhododendrons overhead, as they typically are.

shattered sign and large log, cut — Junction with the Rhododendron Trail.

I had forgotten about the catastrophe that had befallen the sign at the junction between Brown Creek Trail and Rhododendron Trail. Poor little sign. There is a memorial trail near the junction with a warning sign that it doesn't go through anywhere. This apparently includes not going through another tree that has been down a lot longer than the one at the junction. I could barely find the trail to the barrier and couldn't find it past and still hadn't found any memorial indications. I turned back and started northerly along Rhododendron Trail.

deeply ridged leaves — The cascara configures its leaves high up a little like a rhododendron, but the deep ridges and tiny flowers show it not to be.

tuft of flowers — A tuft of rhododendron flowers through leaves. There was another tuft below, but it has gone.

hanging glowers — Evergreen huckleberry.

start of a cone structure in the ground — I'm only certain that it's parasitic. Maybe a fringed pinesap.

true lily not yet ready to go — The leopard lilies are bulging with buds but not yet blooming.

bursts of deep pink on either side of the trail — The clintonia is having a good showing.

excursions of white — The windflowers are trying to take over for the trillium in extravagance.

backs of little white flowers — Inside out flowers also make an impressive showing in the undergrowth. They come in two types locally, one is evergreen and one dies back after seeding.

flowers in the forest — Rhododendrons where they belong among the redwoods.

closeup of rhododendrons — Getting up close to those flowers.

more muted bells of light pink — The salal is starting to turn to berries, but there's flowers left.

I skipped the CREA Trail (stands for California Real Estate Association, but I tried not to dwell on that) the first time past. This time, I decided to go for it. I expected more rhododendrons along it, and more there were. It shows a little less use than the other trail, but still easy to follow.

bright leaves hiding red-brown flowers — Western wild ginger flowers still hide under the leaves. The two on the left are turning to seed.

pair of flowers bunches — More, more, more.

grove sign and log on trail — There are a number of groves along the trail and just one log (in picture) on the trail. It crosses the trail twice but has been cleared on the upper end.

fat redwoods on a hill side — The trees are a mixed bag, but some are very nice indeed.

ferns and one rhodie — An arrangement of ferns and rhododendron.

rounds of pink in the duff — Another I'm uncertain about except it is parasitic. Perhaps a gnome plant.

The trail hits a top and goes down. I dithered a bit about actually going down and having to come back up, but managed to make it all the way to the end. The edge of the old grown is extremely noticeable as it approaches US-101.

big trees, little trail — Big trees for now.

signs at the trail — US-101 is actually about 200 feet in the other direction. This sign has not been correct since sometime in the 1980s and looks pretty good. The sign below deciphers to "state park boundary" upon close inspection.

thin trees, close and dark — A break near a creek carries alders, then it's all numerous thin trees.

car zooming by the opening for an old road — And the cars zoom by.

The opening next to the freeway is marked by a lot of ribbons and absolutely no parking. I'm not sure who the ribbon are for, but I think people hike some of the old roads on this side of the park. Somebody likes to have it marked. I turned back to climb the few hundred feet back up and over. On the way, I pondered the marked groves, one indicating there was half a mile of trail. I could see something faint and overgrown with huckleberry to a small downed tree, then nothing.

bends of white emerging — Another parasitic flower emerging. Maybe ghost pipes.

broken sign — The sign may have moved, but there's meant to be more trail somewhere around here.

hollow where there was a tree — A stump and tree leaving a large space for the memory of another tree.

sign says pleasant memories grove — Not all the groves are dedicated to people.

more pink spots among the redwoods — I only noted a few of these flowers on the way up, which is one reason to go ahead and travel a trail in both directions.

I made it back to the Rhododendron Trail and proceeded along it. There is some more up before it drops down to the road.

tree as trail — Maybe the only place where walking on a tree is sanctioned.

seven bunches close together — The thickest display of rhododendrons, which generally weren't very thick at all.

strong flowers — More columbian windflowers and a single fairy bell.

Arriving at the trailhead, I cross over the former highway carefully. The speed limit is still 45MPH and the sightlines not all that long. I started up the north Prairie Creek Trailhead, but was determined to walk the ridge back rather than the creek. I took that quick turn for Zigzag #2 and started to climb.

mighty springs of tiny white flowers — Western lily of the valley carpets some areas. These are just starting to bulge with seed.

trees on top of the ridge — West Ridge Trail with its mighty redwoods.

I have hiked West Ridge Trail north of Zigzag #2, but not south. I turned south to see more of the ridge, which I have found pleasant in the other areas. Well, except that patch of logged trees. It doesn't have one of those going south. It rather gently rolls as it goes. I thought I'd see more rhododendrons, but I didn't.

ridge top trail — The trail winds. The right is ocean side and has subtle hints of this compared to the left.

big trees, one with globs on the sides — More tall trees. It's the short tree in the middle with the boogers that got my attention, though.

I got to Zigzag #1 and turned down. It has a flat spot in the middle to rest the knees.

pair of showy flowers — Rainbow irises appears sporadically all along the trail.

Back down along Prairie Creek Trail, I was rather happy to be in long sleeves and trousers. It is a bit overgrown and some of that stuff has spines. I tried some salmonberries along the way, but found them somewhat lacking in taste.

big yellow-orange berry — A salmonberry still in need of some time to ripen.

bark detail in a swirl — Bark detail at the bottom of one redwood.

seasonal bridge over the creek — Prairie Creek was low, so the seasonal bridges were out to cross it.

Back at the start, I was a little disappointed with the rhododendrons. Most of them were not displaying in the fullness that I hoped to see. Perhaps I have too great expectations. There still were plenty of mighty, massive flowers on the tall shrubs.

Comments

Unknown said…

Thank you, Valerie, for the beautiful "moments" !!

I don't know how you manage to provide us with so many of these detailed journals, but please keep them coming!!

28 June, 2021 10:20