Big Tree and the Rhododendron Trail to Brown Creek

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

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I decided I wanted to do the Rhododendron Trail entirely, and up the California Real Estate Association Trail (CREA Trail), and connect the loop via Prairie Creek Trail (now called Karl Knapp Trail) and Big Tree and Cathedral Trees even though the rhododendrons are long gone now. Maybe I'd get to see more of those various parasitic flowers? I really only expected the ghost pipes to still be around in some form, but the others I have found in the area are not such long shots at this time either. All of this encompasses a length much further than I really wanted to go, but I've gotten it into my head that CREA is important to seeing the strange flowers as they seem more abundant along its little trod length. I've done something similar before, when they foolishly closed off parking in the park due to Covid starting. My legs didn't fall off. My feet weren't worn to stumps.

Paved trail takes one the short way from the parking lot to the Big Tree.

I started at Big Tree. The trailhead has the park's usual signs with detailed maps, except here they come in two layers. The first details the whole park and shows the single big loop of trail and road where bicycles are allowed. The second shows the local area in much better detail. There's a few extra trails at this spot. I noted Foothill and Cathedral Trees, the second being the important one to me at the moment. I didn't note the tiny Circle Trail.

Cathedral Trees Trail is a little more inviting to me with its curves and slightly softer surface.

So when a trail curved off to the left of what I thought was my trail, but it could well be the other way around, I got confused. So I got out the handheld and asked it for a map, which it refused to draw. It looks like when I swapped the memory card for a known good one, it didn't fix the problem that the card keeps becoming inaccessible. I rebooted and had to reset some settings and got it to work, but that puts the handheld on the might-be-wise-to-replace list. Also, it would have taken less time to wander around the tiny Circle Trail and get right back where I started and know I needed the right side trail for sure.

Tall, straight redwoods along Cathedral Trees Trail.

The trail quickly becomes covered in big roots, notable after the paving and then smooth gravel. It jogs to the left as it crosses Cal Barrel Road. The old trail has a sheltered bench beside the giant tree that came down across it to force that jog. Brush and branches resting on that log provide the rest of the shelter, leaving plenty of room to stand because this was near the base of one of the bigger trees. No wonder they decided to go around.

The crossing of Cal Barrel Road into a very sheltered bench.

There's some broadleaf trees too. Bigleaf maples along the larger streams are very broad leaf.

A smaller trail breaks off at a sharp curve of Cathedral Trees Trail with a sign a few steps down. The start of the Rhododendron Trail marks it as lesser used.

The smaller, but by no means unused, Rhododendron Trail getting started.

Some wildlife that kindly set its web to the side of the trail instead of across it.

The climb is easy and the temperature was not particularly warm, but the air felt oppressive all the same. Humid and overcast, but with brief patches of blue somewhere above the canopy. My lens didn't like it either and fogged over every time I capped it. Once it was only capped a few seconds and had clouded up again!

Looking up up up into the canopy and out to a blue patch of sky.

Another long downed log covered in thriving growth for the trail to route around.

A massive burl is a high fern garden.

The leopard lilies have come and gone.

It's a gentle climb, for the most part.

A tall rhododendron dwarfed against the redwood next door.

A few remaining California harebells try to lend color to the forest floor.

The bold blue of the clintonia seeds do a little better.

For the traditional yellows, there's banana slugs!

Salomon's plume berries were red, but become light with speckles.

Looking up as the trail passes through a burned out tree. It's a gimmick that would be avoided today to preserve the possible bat habitat.

The first part of the trail takes an awkward loop around another huge downed tree before ending at Cal Barrel Road just short of its end. Keep on climbing to find more trail.

It looks as if people continue on Cal Barrel Road past its current end as an informal trail.

Not far along the next section of the Rhododendron Trail, I found a stand of ghost pipes. Little pink remains in them at this time. They actually seemed faintly blue to me as I pondered their tubularity.

A couple of the ghost pipes are freshly up out of the ground.

The bract/leaf bases do seem a bit blue.

A short and steep slope takes a very kinky trail.

And there's an excellent view of the big trees fed by a minor stream.

As the day wore on, the weather improved and the air no longer felt oppressive. The lens stopped insta-fogging.

Some few redwood sorrel flowers hide among the leaves still.

One of those delightful old A-frame bridges found throughout the parks. Step lively over the missing board.

I stopped by some red huckleberries and ate a while, then taste tested some of those berries as I passed more along the trail.

Bright red berries of red huckleberry.

The trail gets really straight as it follows on top of a log, which it manages with a barely noticeable transition.

A little bit of evidence of a burn, and one tree that isn't a redwood.

A rainbow selection of salal berries.

Seeing the ghost pipes already and only really expecting to see ghost pipes, I allowed myself to shorten the hike from the one I didn't really want to do anyway. But I wasn't going to go down South Fork Trail. It's steep. I don't like it. Brown Creek Trail is much better. I did go ahead and wander the flat bit at the top, though. I remember finding ghost pipes along there once. I didn't spot them this time.

Back on the Rhododendron Trail, there are benches. This is the more easily accessible one.

Less remembered, the Rhododendron Trail also sheds some feet quickly, at least at first. Down I went, past one bench. I stopped for a while at a second simply because it has a very excellent view out over some big stream watered redwoods.

View down the stream between the benches to a tree with a lovely twist.

A restful view of magnificent old growth redwoods on a hillside seen from a restful bench.

And up along the stream while resting on the bench.

A pair of hikers, the middle two of four hikers I saw while not at Big Tree and experiencing its crowds, came by. They assured me that I was about to follow the best trail in the park. I'm not sure how many of the trails they've experienced given that they were speaking something Germanic amongst themselves and the fact there is a choice of trails up ahead. They meant Brown Creek Trail.

Chestnut backed chickadee (by its call) that was not the only bird I saw, but the only one that almost stood around for a photo.

Once again heading downhill.

Ooh! Ooh! More ghost pipes!

Just look at them!

There was fire here once. Does the scar go so high because it climbed along the bark or because it was really flaming that high from the ground?

Fallen flowers alerted me to a late blooming rhododendron. There were a couple others fallen, but this one still held a few flowers aloft. The rhododendrons are not quite long gone after all.

The last rhododendron!

Dropped flower still looking perfect on the trail.

It's a very tall undergrowth under these very tall trees.

One trillium is still hanging on to its seeds.

The red baneberries are a bit more reliably red than others.

Trail past another pretty big tree.

Treetops against the blue sky.

Getting to the junction with Brown Creek, I took a couple extra steps to the short memorial grove trail. It isn't too badly overgrown, but it has been shortened by the falling of a tree far wider than I am tall. Presumably there are memorial plaques or boards beyond, but I've not seen them.

An overgrown Brown Creek from a log near the current end of the memorial trail. Everything gets overgrown.

The detour didn't cause much delay before heading down the quickly widening and well used Brown Creek Trail. It probably does sit somewhere very close to the top in a ranking of trails to see the trees in this park. There are some very nice trees along it.

After the A-frames came these sturdy little bridges.

The tiny but lush tributary under the bridge.

The white twisted-stalk hides its bright color contribution under its leaves.

Brown Creek is not so large itself.

Some trees go to great lengths to have a planter garden. The other side had sorrel and more ferns.

There's a memorial grove loop trail along the way that I decided to wander. It's actually a figure eight lined with numbered and named posts. The numbers suggest there might be a little more to the second loop, behind a huge log. On the other side, a more recently fallen tree crosses the wide valley.

Into the Carl Schenck memorial grove.

There's a bit more of the Brown Creek Trail after the memorial grove.

Tiny coastal brookfoam lines sections of the trail.

A hillside of magnificent giants.

There were children shouting down by the road as I got to the junction with Foothill Trail. It was happy shouting, but I was still glad not to be going toward it.

What's been eating you?

A log of a larger tree lines the trail while more stand above it.

A particularly long bridge provides a much different sort of viewpoint.

I noticed that the day had become positively pleasant with the sun coming out. It actually felt cooler than in the morning with cloud cover. The trees were doing it. I looked up as if I could see the many gallons of water coursing toward the leaves that were turning it and carbon dioxide into sugar to become cellulose to add a few grams to the many tons of tree already there. The giants were growing! I could feel it!

Fire scarred planter stump, but everything else is still growing.

Almost back to Big Tree.

The screaming children had found the Big Tree too. I decided it was time to take the rest of the Circle Trail.

There's a lot packed into the tiny Circle Trail.

They didn't stay long and I arrived at Big Tree in a rare moment when no one was pondering it.

Big Tree from under a nearby big leaf maple. A rare moment of solitude.

Up to the sky past Big Tree. The limb on the left is the size of normal trees.

After about nine miles of looping through the trees, I felt good. Hum. I wouldn't want it to get too crowded, though. You don't want to come. It's a green tunnel. Never mind the spaciousness of that tunnel made of old growth building blocks. All you can see is green trees and green undergrowth. Solid green up to 350 feet high.

*photo album*




©2024 Valerie Norton
Written 22 Aug 2024