A serene hike through beautiful redwoods to Slate Creek Trail Camp.

Location: Portola Redwoods State Park

» 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.

Route in brief: 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, where Slate Creek Trail meets Bear Creek Trail. From Slate Creek Trail Camp, return by 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: Slate Creek Trail continues beyond Slate Creek Trail Camp for another one mile before it actually crosses Slate Creek. The extended trip becomes 8.2 miles round trip.

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