Every Trail Tells a Story
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
What this hike offers is nothing less than a grand tour of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, a place that seems to have been assembled from a naturalist’s dream. Here you’ll find awesome redwoods that tower skyward, fern canyons so lush they seem prehistoric, a wild black sand beach pounded by Pacific surf, and Roosevelt elk that look like they stepped out of a Tolkien tale. The James Irvine-Clintonia-Miners Ridge loop ties much of it together, leading you from cathedral groves to airy ridges, from moss-draped bridges to vistas that stretch all the way to the sea.
The James Irvine Trail is the star of the show, and rightly so. It plunges you straight into the redwood forest primeval, where light slants through the canopy and footbridges whisk you over trickling creeks. Designed with grace as well as utility, the trail has the feel of something carefully built to showcase beauty rather than simply to get you from point A to B. Back in the mid-1800s, however, it had a grittier purpose: miners used the route to reach their not-so-profitable claims at Gold Bluffs Beach.
Irvine himself never mined these hills-he was the Southern California land baron whose foundation gave generously to higher education and conservation. (I sometimes joke that I like this trail because his Irvine Company provided me with a generous scholarship in my college days. But really, it’s the trees.)
The loop works best if you take Clintonia Trail up and Miners Ridge down. Clintonia is a sweet connector named after the fuchsia that blossoms here in summer. Miners Ridge brings you out of the dim cathedral of the forest and onto a ridge where the views open wide: rolling slopes thick with redwoods, and beyond them, glimpses of the Pacific.
If time is short, you can simply walk James Irvine Trail as a one-way from the Prairie Creek Visitor Center to Fern Canyon and the coast-a superb 4.5-mile trek that ends at one of California’s most enchanting canyons. But if you have the legs and the day, the loop delivers the full Prairie Creek experience, a sampler of why this is one of the world’s truly great redwood parks.
From Prairie Creek State Park is located on Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, four miles north of Orick. From Highway 101, exit onto the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway and drive 0.5 mile to the signed entrance of the park. Proceed to the campground entry/kiosk and to the Elk Prairie Visitor Center. Park in one of the two lots on either side of the road and walk past the visitor center to the main trailhead. Day use fee.
From the Visitor Center, take the Nature Trail and soon cross Prairie Creek on a high wooden footbridge. Pass right-branching Prairie Creek Trail in 0.1 mile, a junction with West Ridge Trail at 0.2 mile, and cross Godwood Creek to soon reach signed James Irvine Trail.
The path rises, dips to cross a tributary of Godwood Creek on a footbridge, then rises again, switchbacking across the west side of Miners Ridge and reaching a junction with left-forking Miners Ridge Trail (this hike’s return route).
Hike among the ancient redwoods, enjoy vistas of old-growth forest en route-particularly down-slope along Godwood Creek-and watch for other arboreal companions: Douglas fir, western hemlock, tanoak and maple.
At the 2.2-mile mark, reach Yamas Grove and an inviting bench. Duck under a redwood fallen across the trail as you pass through an area of blowdowns, travel the canyon bottom a mile, descend steps and cross a creek to reach the signed junction with Clintonia Trail.
Ascend Clintonia Trail 0.5 mile through a lovely and more open redwood forest to crest Miners Ridge. The path travels another 0.7 mile through the forest to meet Miners Ridge Trail. Turn left, soon regain the ridgeline, and enjoy wonderful vistas of slopes thick with redwoods.
The trail descends a final 0.5 mile or so to meet James Irvine Trail. From here retrace your steps a mile back to the trailhead.