The Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is the rugged sibling
of the main park, a few miles south on Highway 9. While the main Henry Cowell
park has family-oriented trails, picnic areas, and other facilities, the Fall
Creek unit is simpler, more back-to-nature affair. All you'll find are reasonably-marked
trails, trail that offer more challenge than most of the those at the main park,
without any frills. Before starting this hike you may want to get an official
trail map, available at the park headquarters.
If you want to go any reasonable distance in Fall Creek you'll need to do
some climbing. In my 10 mile loop I climbed up more than 2800 feet, including
one pull of over 1200 feet before encountering any noticeable descent.
The attached track log follows my hike through Fall Creek. It has waypoints
for features and trail junctions that I encountered. It also has waypoints for
features in the main park.
Trailmaps
Henry Cowell is just north of Santa Cruz:
There is a small parking lot on the north side of Felton-Empire Road, about
a 1/2 mile west of Hwy 9.
Here is a low-res topo map of the hike through Fall Creek.
The Fall Creek Unit of Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park is the rugged sibling of the main park, a few miles south on Highway 9. While the main Henry Cowell park has family-oriented trails, picnic areas, and other facilities, the Fall Creek unit is simpler, more back-to-nature affair. All you'll find are reasonably-marked trails, trail that offer more challenge than most of the those at the main park, without any frills. Before starting this hike you may want to get an official trail map, available at the park headquarters.
If you want to go any reasonable distance in Fall Creek you'll need to do some climbing. In my 10 mile loop I climbed up more than 2800 feet, including one pull of over 1200 feet before encountering any noticeable descent.
The attached track log follows my hike through Fall Creek. It has waypoints for features and trail junctions that I encountered. It also has waypoints for features in the main park.
Trailmaps
Henry Cowell is just north of Santa Cruz:
There is a small parking lot on the north side of Felton-Empire Road, about a 1/2 mile west of Hwy 9.
Here is a low-res topo map of the hike through Fall Creek.