May 26, 2012. Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, Felton, California. We met up with some friends and went camping at Henry Cowell this weekend. I appreciated the accessibility of decent hiking trails starting from the campground, so we never had to leave and yet we still 'got out.' The campground is a 45-minute to 60-minute drive from San Jose. Reservations can be made up to six months in advance through reserveamerica.com.
The following are photos from our hike, starting with The Powder Mill Fire Road which was extremely close to the campsite and (in my opinion) the most scenic of the trails; the above photo says it all.
We then took the steep Buckekye Trail down to the San Lorenzo River. In the Fall I would like to return and hike the Four Crossings trail which actually has you wading through the river four times for a more scenic experience (not that we were lacking).
We retraced our steps back up the Buckeye Trail and then continued along Pipeline Road to the scenic overlook with a glimpse of Santa Cruz in the distance.
We turned off Pipeline Road to hike Ridge Fire Road which is one of the most unusual trails I've ever encountered; the higher we got the more powdery and sandy the trail, as if we were hiking along a sandy beach...so strange! Theories claim that the land was once ocean floor.
At the peak of Ridge Fire Road there was beautiful wildflowers and an observation deck.
Finally, we returned to our campsite along Pine Trail. In all, it was a great walk--the most difficult terrain being Buckeye Trail and it's steep descent to the river. We accomplished the feat with a baby on our back who slept most the way.
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