Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Hiking: Henry Cowell State Park, May 15, 2010



Went camping at this nice redwood forest in Santa Cruz County. The campground entrance is from the east of the park, separate from the day-use entrance at the north. The two entrances are connected only by trails, so you can't just drive through. The campground facilities were well maintained and not too crowded on a Friday.
We started hiking at the campground, up the Pine Trail. At a short distance was the observation deck. After taking a few pictures here we walked along the Eagle Creek Trail. This took us through a beautiful redwood grove. At the intersection with the Pipeline Road we turned on to the River Trail. Just about 0.1 mile ahead was a great view of the river. The round trip was less than 4.5 miles and mostly shaded. The trails were pretty well-marked - didn't need a map. Some trails were sandy (having been part of the sea-floor many years ago). Also, be prepared to hop over many horse-droppings along the way. :)

A large map of the hike can be found here.