Fern Canyon Hike<\/a><\/p>\nThis is an easy-moderate hike. From Fern Canyon to Gold Dust Falls is 2 miles round trip; to Butler Creek Backpack Camp is 4.5 miles round trip; to Ossagon Rocks is 6 miles round trip. No elevation gain to speak of.<\/p>\n
In the case of this hike, the journey north from Gold Bluffs Beach overshadows the destination; nevertheless, the destination\u2014the odd Ossagon Rocks\u2014are intriguing in their own way. The rocks resemble sea stacks, though they\u2019re positioned right at land\u2019s end, not in their usual offshore location.<\/p>\n
DIRECTIONS TO Gold BLUFFS BEACH<\/h3>\n
From Highway 101 in Orick, drive 2 miles north to signed Davison Road. Turn left (west) and proceed 7 miles to road\u2019s end at Gold Beach and the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park Fern Canyon trailhead.<\/p>\n
THE HIKE<\/h3>\n
Coastal Trail begins on the other side of Home Creek, an easy ford in summer, but may present a challenge during the rainy season. Usually a signpost on the north side of the creek shows the way to the start of Coastal Trail, as the California Coastal Trail is known in these parts.<\/p>\n
Join the path for a brief meander through the forest then out across the grass-topped dunes. The hiker is often out of sight of the surf, but never altogether removed from its thunderous roll, even when the Coastal Trail strays 0.1 mile inland.<\/p>\n
A mile out, the sound of falling water and an unsigned path forking right into the forest calls you to Coastal Trail\u2019s first cascade, a long, wispy waterfall framed by ferns.<\/p>\n
Another 0.25 mile along the main path leads to the short connector trail leading to Gold Dust Falls. A well-placed bench offers repose and a place to contemplate the inspiring cataract. A minute or so more down the main trail delivers you to another brief spur trail and the third of Coastal Trail\u2019s cascades.<\/p>\n
Coastal Trail edges from prairie to forest and reaches Butler Creek Camp, a hike-in retreat at 2.25 miles. The small camp is located at a convergence of environments\u2014creekside alder woodland, a prairie matted with head-high native grasses, the creek mouth and the beach beyond.<\/p>\n
Cross Butler Creek and travel the grassy sand verbena-topped prairie for a final 0.5 mile to cross Ossagon Creek and junction with Ossagon Trail. Continue on Coastal Trail a bit farther north, then bid adieu to the path and head oceanward to Ossagon Rocks.<\/p>\n
Interested in more hikes near Gold Bluffs Beach? Check out HIKE the Redwoods<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wildlife-watching, waterfalls and a wilderness beach are highlights of a hike along the northern reaches of Gold Bluffs Beach in Redwood National Park. While even…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7789,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,99],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7772"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7772\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetrailmaster.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}