A Summer Hike along Fall Creek

The Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is the perfect place for a summer hike because it is forested, shady, and transected by a beautiful spring-fed creek that never lets up all through the dry season.

This 2,335-acre forested canyon, tucked into the rugged mountains northwest of Felton, is technically part Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, though it is geographically separated from the more popular unit of the park south of Felton. The Fall Creek Unit has a much wilder feel, with no picnic tables, campgrounds, visitors centers, or entrance fee.

Fall Creek, issuing from countless springs, is one of the park's most wonderful features. It bounces wild and cold all summer, splashing over granite boulders which make it reminiscent of High Sierra streams. This granite was transported from hundreds of miles to the south by movement of the San Andreas Fault.

You will also encounter limestone, which was created from the shells of countless marine organisms and then uplifted from the ocean floor by the collision of tectonic plates. The South Fork Trail will take you to three granite lime kilns which were built in 1870 by the IXL Lime Company. Nearly all the redwoods in the canyon were cut to provide firewood for the kilns. When heated to 1700 degrees limestone loses its carbon dioxide to become a calcium oxide powder called lime, which is used to make cement.

For an ideal 3.5-mile loop from the Felton-Empire Road parking lot, walk downhill to the creek and then upstream on the North Fork Trail. Then turn left on the South Fork Tail to the lime kiln area. Then continue north on the Cape Horn Trail and follow the North Fork Trail downstream along Fall Creek and back to the parking lot. You can add another 1.6 miles to this route by continuing upstream along the North Fork Trail to the Barrel Mill Site, where you can see some equipment used to make barrel's for transporting the lime.

TO GET THERE... From Hwy 17 at Scotts Valley, take the Mount Hermon Road west toward Felton and turn right on Graham Hill Road. Proceed across Highway 9 in Felton, where it is called Felton Empire Road. Continue about a mile and look on your right for the Fall Creek Unit parking lot.