The Portola Redwoods State Park is a somewhat hidden gem. It's about an hour from the Bay Area to the park, located off Alphine Road, after a very twisty drive. Both Peters Creek with its Tiptoe Falls, and Pescadero Creek pass through the park, and Fall Creek begins its long fall here. About 18 miles of trail are within the park. There are camping and picnic areas on the flats near the park headquarters. The park headquarters has one of the better selection of books and maps, including a large three dimensional model of the hills and trails for quite a distance around.
Note that the bridges are not put in place during the rainy season, so Tiptoe falls requires wading a stream unless you wait until May.
This park is located off from Alpine Road, on the ocean side of the Santa Cruz mountains. There are a wide range of hiking options, from the easy to the rather hard. The shorter trails are well travelled and well groomed. At least one of the longer trails seems to be infrequently groomed and heavily overgrown with poison oak.
Directions
- From Highway 35 (Skyline Boulevard), head west on Alpine Road (opposite to Page Mill Road) towards the ocean.
- Travel 3 miles down the very windy Alpine Road until you come to Portola State Park Road.
- Turn left onto Portola State Park Road, which terminates at the park.
- Both Alpine Road and Portola State Park Road are steep in sections. You should be ready to switch into low gear rather than use your brakes so that you won't overheat your brakes and cause them to fail.
Click on the map below for a larger, higher quality map.
See also
