Gorgeous hike in Nisene Marks to West Ridge and Five Finger Falls.

Location: Forest of Nisene Marks State Park

» Official Brochure: Official Trail Map with details of both Forest of Nisene Marks and Soquel Demonstration Forest. The area close to Entrance Station in Forest of Nisene Marks is shown enlarged. Trail lengths are missing in this map.

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

West Ridge Loop (7.0 miles): From George's Picnic Area, follow Aptos Creek Fire Road (0.4 miles) → left on West Ridge Trail (3.6 miles) → right on Ridge Connection Trail (0.4 miles) to junction with Big Stump Gap Trail → continue along Ridge Connection Trail (0.5 miles) → right on Loma Prieta Grade (1.5 miles) to junction with Bridge Creek Trail. Continue along Loma Prieta Grade (0.6 miles) to Aptos Creek Fire Road.

To Five Finger Falls (5.2 miles): Turn left on Aptos Creek Fire Road (1.3 miles) to a location called 'Bottom of Incline' (see trail map). Turn right on Aptos Creek Trail (3.0 miles) to junction with Big Slide Trail. Continue along Aptos Creek Trail (0.9 miles) to reach Five Finger Falls.

To George's Picnic Area (6.5 miles): From Five Finger Falls, retrace your steps along Aptos Creek Trail (0.9 miles) to junction with Big Slide Trail. Continue along Aptos Creek Trail (3.0 miles) to return to 'Bottom of Slide'. Turn left on Aptos Creek Fire Road (1.3 miles) to junction with Loma Prieta. Continue along Aptos Creek Fire Road (1.3 miles) to return to George's Picnic Area.

Notes:

• A short section of Aptos Creek Fire Road may be replaced by Porter Trail (see trail map). Porter Trail requires a couple of creek crossings without bridges. Going north, the first crossing is very close to Aptos Creek Fire Road. If it looks challenging, you may retrace your steps back to Aptos Creek Fire Road and walk along the fire road, bypassing Porter Trail (see trail map for details).
• Aptos Creek Fire Road is wide fire road, shaded throughout. Even though this is a fire road, the abundance of tall trees all along make it no less pleasant than single track trails.
• In December 2009, Big Slide Trail and Aptos Creek Trail were clear but looked unmaintained. We felt we were in wilderness.

Location: Along Aptos Creek Road, about one mile north of intersection of Aptos Creek Road and Soquel Drive, Aptos, CA. Near 'Steel Bridge' and 'Winter Gate' in the official map. . No street address. Parking area is not visible in Google Maps.

Directions: From Highway 17 going south, go along CA-1 South. After about six miles, take Exit 435 for State Park Drive towards Aptos. Soon after the exit, turn left onto State Park Drive. After 0.3 miles, take the second right onto Soquel Drive. In half a mile, you will reach the intersection of Soquel Drive and Aptos Creek Road in Aptos, CA. Turn left onto Aptos Creek Road and drive about a mile to reach the Park Entrance kiosk where you would have to pay entrance fees. Drive another mile to reach George's Picnic Area, which is near 'Steel Bridge' and 'Winter Gate' in the official map.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: $8 per vehicle (last visited: March 2014)

Capacity: About 15 cars

Latitude: 36.997309     Longitude: -121.906507