Maple Falls from Land of Medicine Buddha
13.5 miles     2500 ft
5 Jan 2013
Summary

A gorgeous hike, fully shaded, leading to a seasonal waterfall. The last half mile requires scrambling and wading through a creek.

Location: Land of Medicine BuddhaForest of Nisene Marks State Park

Elevation Profile
Trip Planning

Trail Maps

» Trail Map by Virtual Parks: Good quality map showing mileage between different sections clearly. Also available as one large PDF File or six images (easier to print): Part IPart IIPart IIIPart IVPart VPart VI.

» Photo of Trail Map for Land of Medicine Buddha (from Feb 2012): Decent map showing various trails. Not to scale.

Route

Closed on weekends: In Feb 2016, Land of Medicine Buddha posted a notice that from 1 April 2016 onwards, public access to Land of Medicine Buddha would be limited to weekdays and Sundays after noon. No public access on Saturdays. See the notice.

Finding the trailhead for the trail that runs next to the creek is challenging for first time visitors. Hope the following instructions are helpful.

Part I: To MTB junction (2.7 miles):

  1. We had to drive about half a mile further along Prescott Road, after our Garmin GPS said that we had reached 5800 Prescott Road, Soquel, CA to enter Land of Medicine Buddha.
  2. Printed maps are available inside the visitor center / bookshop. If that's closed, printed maps are also available in a small box next to the road (close to the prayer wheel across the visitor center) -- look for a sign saying 'Maps'. Photo of Trail Map from Feb 2012 (not to scale).
  3. Finding the trail that runs parallel to the creek can be tricky. The best approach is to start walking back along the road (drawn in thick black on the map) until you see a school on the right. Continue walking along the paved road until you see a very wide trail on the right, going parallel to a creek (Bates Creek). You would have to make a sharp right turn, more like a U-turn in the clockwise direction, to hop onto this trail. If you miss the sharp right / U-turn and reach the wooden bridge over which you drove your car to enter Land of Medicine Buddha, you have gone too far.
  4. The trail map shows a trail via 'playground' / school area, connecting the paved road with the 6-mile loop trail. We tried following this trail but got lost in the school area -- there were many unmarked trails in that area which are not shown on the map. So don't go towards the school / playground area.
  5. In approximately 0.3 or 0.4 miles, you can access Bates Creek by going down a hundred yards or so to your left -- it's worthwhile to check this out -- the sound of flowing water is soothing. When you come up to the main trail, within a short distance, you reach an unmarked intersection. Go left and stay next to the creek (see map -- the trail meanders next to the creek for a long time).
  6. There is a 'landslide' marked on the map -- this is a short section that's slippery after rains. So proceed slowly with caution -- all of us managed to negotiate this section, including a little girl carried by her dad. No other section along the route was muddy / slippery.
  7. At 1.4 miles, the trail will cross Bates Creek. At the crossing, you can see a large fallen tree that's right above the creek.
  8. At 2.7 miles, there is an unmarked intersection with 'Western Ridge Trail' leading to Forest of Nisene Marks. This sign marks this intersection (it says "MTB's please respect the trail and slow down for hikers"). The elevation at this junction is about 1000 ft, the highest point along the entire route. Turn left onto a 0.2 mile trail leading to West Ridge Trail in Forest of Nisene Marks.

Part II: From MTB junction To Maple Falls in Forest of Nisene Marks (7.8 miles round-trip): All intersection in the forest are marked, unlike Land of Medicine Buddha. Follow West Ridge Trail (1.1 miles) → right on Ridge Connection Trail or Tote Road (0.4 miles) → continue along Stump Gap Trail (0.5 miles) → left on Loma Prieta Grade (1.4 miles) until it crosses a creek → left on an unnamed trail leading to Maple Falls (0.5 miles). Some trails provide a vigorous workout: these include the connector trail, Stump Gap Trail and sections of the Loma Prieta Trail. The last half mile to Maple Falls requires about 10 to 12 creek crossings. After heavy downpour (when the fall is the prettiest), there is enough water in the creek to get our feet wet. Some scrambling was also necessary because there are many fallen trees along this section, which were not cleared in January 2013.

Part III: From Maple Falls to MTB junction (3.9 miles): Retrace your steps, described above. Turn left after reaching the MTB junction.

To trailhead from MTB junction (3.0 miles):

  1. At 0.9 miles from the MTB junction, we reached an unnamed intersection -- we stayed right. This corresponds to the "Split Trail" marked on the map.
  2. At 1.6 miles from the MTB junction, we reached an intersection marked by "Prayer Flags" — these lie at the intersection of Logging Trail Loop towards Enchanted Forest and an unnamed trail leading back to parking lots. We turned left to go through the Enchanted Forest. If you turn right, you'll reach the parking lot faster, shortening the trip by about one mile, but you will miss the Eight Verses Trail which has benches and Buddhist sayings in large letters.
  3. At 2.4 miles from the MTB junction, we reached a bifurcation (this is marked by "You Are Here" sign in this photo — the map seems older than the latest map). This spot lies between Verses 4 and 5 of the Eight Verses Pilgrimage Trail. You may turn either right or left. We turned right.
  4. At 2.8 miles from the MTB junction, we reached the end of Eight Verses Pilgrimage Trail. It turned out that the Eight Verses Pilgrimage Trail is actually a short 0.75 mile loop close to the monastery / temples — it is not the long "7-mile loop" as I had originally thought by reading web descriptions.
  5. At 3.0 miles from the MTB junction, we reached our cars.

Apart from the hike, you may wish to walk along the paved road and check out myriad murals, prayer wheels, temples, etc.

Trailhead

Location: Land of Medicine Buddha, 5800 Prescott Road, Soquel, CA 95073 . Parking area is not visible in Google Maps.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: Feb 2012)

Capacity: About 20 to 30 cars may be parked inside the monastery.

Latitude: 37.011154     Longitude: -121.934555

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