Big Ben at Fall Creek Unit: 8.2 Mi Moderate Hike

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CARPOOL REQUEST COMMENTS ARE NOT PERMITTED DUE TO THE LARGE SIZE OF THE GROUP. Please read below how to carpool.

Distance: 8.2 miles, counter-clockwise loop.

Hiking Time: 4 hours

Elevation: Gain/ Loss ± 1760 feet

Difficulty: Moderate

Official Trail Use: No Dogs or Bikes

Please read our tutorial for hiking in the sun:
https://www.sleeplateandhike.com/tutorials-how-to-hike-in-the-sun/

RECOMMENDED MAP:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/546/files/HenryCowellRedwoodsFinalWebLayout2013.pdf

ALLTRAILS MAP:

https://www.alltrails.com/explore/map/map-7199a8f5-461c-4721-a4ea-75f662ad693a?u=i&sh=pyl4xm

MEETING PLACE: Parking lot at Bennett Creek Trail head.

Please use the Google Maps link above to familiarize yourself with the trip and explore various route options from your home. Zoom in all the way.

The GPS locations below and the map link above are accurate enough to find us by looking around with your eyes when you get there.

(Most Cars) GPS Degrees Minutes Seconds Format:

37°02'59.0"N 122°05'00.1"W

(Google Maps) GPS Degrees Decimal Format:

37.049717, -122.083350

Most street addresses provided are approximate, and may be up to a couple of miles from the hike location. Use GPS coordinates when driving, if possible.

Parking:

Small parking lot at Bennett Creek Trail head (about 25 cars) and street parking on Felton Empire Road. You may need to park a 1/4 mile down the street and walk.

Plan to arrive 30 minutes early to find parking, and walk to the trail head.

Carpooling: We will use this link for carpooling:

https://groupcarpool.com/t/tz0p6b

Please sign up here.

CARPOOLING MANNERS:

Please refrain from trying to negotiate your carpool in the comments, as it is equivalent to sending multiple "Reply All" emails to everyone.

Please start your carpool quest, by first adding yourself to the carpool link above.

Then, use the contact info provided by the driver or rider in the link above to contact them directly and privately.

Please be considerate of others and resist the urge to "Reply All".

Thank you for understanding.

SUMMARY:

The Fall Creek unit of Henry Cowell State Park occupies a steep canyon on the side of Ben Lomond Mountain. The park is almost entirely wooded with dense second-growth redwood-dominant forests. The main attraction, though, isn't the redwoods but the extravagantly lush canyon bottom with its lively creek and abundant redwood sorrel groundcover.

The lower Fall Creek Trail is a popular year-round destination for locals, and the small parking lot often fills up. Horseback riding is allowed throughout the park.

The first half of this hike is a climb through young second-growth mixed woodland, ending at the Big Ben tree. This is followed by a descent through lush second-growth redwoods along lively Fall Creek.

HIKING DIRECTIONS:

The hike starts on the Fall Creek Trail, which ascends gently alongside the rushing creek. In this area the trail is wide and has only a gentle grade. It runs alongside the large creek, under an exceptionally lush second-growth redwood forest. Redwood sorrel carpets the ground.

Turn left at the first intersection to climb to the limekiln site.

Continue on the Cape Horn Trail and turn left onto the Lost Empire Trail. This latter trail follows an old sunken roadbed that climbs steeply along a ridge and then levels out. The scenery improves as the trail enters the lush side canyon where Lost Camp historic site is located.

The scenery improves quite a bit after Lost Camp. The trail narrows and becomes true single track, again climbing steeply along the ridge, and the bright, open forest of tanoak and scattered redwoods is noticeably more attractive. The redwoods are small and somewhat sparse in this area, but there aren't any stumps and the clumps of small redwoods normally found in logged areas.

The Lost Empire Trail climbs through bright tanoak woods

At the Big Ben Tree, turn right onto the Big Ben Trail. The stumps re-appear as the trail descends through very nice woodland to Fall Creek, but there are several more mid-sized old-growth trees along the trail. The forest gets denser and the sound of the creek becomes audible as the trail approaches the bottom of the canyon.

The Fall Creek Trail, which descends through a narrow canyon in the deep shade of lush second-growth redwoods, is the most enjoyable part of the hike. The trail is best at the top and bottom; especially below the Barrel Mill area the scenery steadily improves, the woods becoming lusher and denser. After the Cape Horn Trail intersection are four footbridges that often wash out in the winter.

Some content from: "Big Ben and Fall Creek", © 2006, 2012, 2014 David Baselt

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