Truck Trail - Fall Creek Trail - Route I
7.0 miles     1500 ft
19 Dec 2010
Summary

A gorgeous redwood hike next to a creek for several miles.

Location: Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park - Fall Creek Unit

Elevation Profile
Trip Planning

Trail Maps

» RedwoodHikes Map for this hike: Nice map showing all the trails clearly. Thanks to Dave Baselt for sharing this.

» Official Trail Map: High quality trail map with countours and trails clearly shown.

» Redwood Hikes Map: Annotated trail map of San Lorenzo Valley that shows many parks, not just Henry Cowell. This is an excellent map sold by Dave Baselt ($6.95 in Jan 2012).

» PeasePress Map: Trails of Santa Cruz: Excellent quality map showing various parks in the Santa Cruz area.

Route

Route: Described very well in a RedwoodHikes Article. In brief: Bennet Creek Trail (0.2 miles) → right on Fall Creek Trail (?? miles) → left on High School Trail (0.1 miles) → left on Ridge Trail (1.6 miles) → continue along Truck Trail (1.3 miles) → left on Big Ben Trail (0.4 miles, steep) → left on Fall Creek Trail (2.3 miles, trail stays next to the creek at all times) → right on Bennet Creek Trail (0.2 miles).

Notes:

  1. The hike becomes longer (9.2 miles, 1500 ft) if you continue along Truck Trail all the way until you reach a gated entrance marking private property. Then retrace your steps back to hop onto Big Ben Trail.
  2. In winters, Fall Creek is gushing with water and a bunch of seasonal bridges get washed away. So you may have to cross some of them on foot. Call the park ranger to assess trail conditions before you make this trip.
Photos

Full photo album — 19 December 2010

Photos are from a different hike with similar landscape: Truck Trail - Fall Creek Trail - Route II.
Trailhead

Location: 1400 Felton Empire Rd Felton, CA 95018 . Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions: Along CA 17 south, exit Mount Hermon Rd in Scotts Valley. Drive 3.5 miles northwest along Mount Hermon Rd. Turn right on Graham Hill Road. In 0.1 miles, go through traffic light (Graham Hill becomes Felton Empire Rd at this intersection). Drive about 0.6 miles on Felton Empire Rd. Turn into a large parking lot marked by a sign for Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: None (last visited: Jan 2012)

Capacity: About 20 cars. At 8am, we were the first ones to park. When we finished the hike by 1:30pm, the parking lot was full.

Latitude: 37.049718     Longitude: -122.083155

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