A great redwood hike leading to a loop around a creek. Fully shaded throughout but a tad long at 11.5 miles round-trip. No particularly steep sections.

Location: Portola Redwoods State Park

» Redwood Hikes Map for this Route: An excellent quality map by Dave Baselt for free. Thanks Dave! Also see the full map for Portola Redwoods.

» Official State Parks Map: A map showing all the trails but hard to read.

» Redwood Hikes Map: Annotated trail map of Portola Redwoods State Park and Pescadero Creek County Park, Second edition, 2008. This is an excellent map sold by Dave Baselt ($6.95 in Dec 2011). This map is useful for exploring a bunch of parks: Portola Redwoods, Pescadero Creek, Sam Macdonald.

» Redwood Hikes Map: Bay Area Trail Map: Saratoga to Big Basin, First edition, 2010. This is an excellent map sold by Dave Baselt ($6.95 in Dec 2011). This map is useful for exploring many parks in this area. Highly recommended for avid hikers.

This hike is described in great detail at RedwoodHikes.com (Peters Creek Loop). Please refer to two maps: first and second for the hike. Many thanks to Dave Baselt for these maps.

To Peter's Creek: From the visitor's center, walk along Service Road for about 0.2 miles. Turn left on Summit Trail. Continue along Slate Creek Trail to Slate Creek Trail Camp. Then follow Bear Creek Trail until you reach Peters Creek. Along Peters Creek Loop, we had to cross the creek twice. In winters, especially after rains, the creek has plenty of water but the water level is not too high. The first crossing was tricky to find because the trail on the other side of the creek was not visible. The second crossing was easy to locate.

To Trailhead: Return via Bear Creek Trail and Slate Creek Trail. At the junction with Summit Trail, you may take a right and continue along Slate Creek Trail, then turn right on Old Tree Trail to return to the parking lot.

Notes: In Feb 2010, the Visitors Center was closed, no maps were available and the restrooms were also closed due to shortage of funds. So take a map with yourself to explore this beautiful park.

Location: (Park HQ) along Portola State Park Rd, La Honda, CA 94020 . No street address. Parking area is visible in Google Maps if you zoom in sufficiently.

Directions: From I-280, take Page Mill Road 8.6 miles to Highway 35, cross the road and continue on Alpine Road for 3.8 miles. Turn left on Portola State Park Rd (there is a clear sign at the intersection of Alpine Rd and Portola State Park Rd). Drive for 3.5 miles to reach park headquarters.

Google Maps:

Parking Fees: $10 per car (last visited: Feb 2010)

Capacity: Several cars

Latitude: 37.252505     Longitude: -122.218378