Trillium Falls Trail - Redwood National and State Parks

Our August 2013 visit to Redwood National and State Parks continued with a hike of the Trillium Falls Trail.  A paved parking area at the end of the paved section of Davison Road provides access to the trail head.  In addition, restrooms with running cold water are also provided.  The area now known as the Elk Meadow just below the parking area was once the site of a large sawmill.  Due to the work of a Save-the-Redwoods League program to protect the redwood trees, a quarter-mile wide swath of hillside forest was preserved within site of the old sawmill complex.  

The trail is a 2.8 mile loop beginning and ending at the parking area.  The trail is rated moderate in difficulty due to the climb from an elevation of about 50 feet to around 350 feet.  We hiked the trail in the recommended counter-clockwise direction.  There are ten named groves located along the trail.  These groves commemorate a donation to the parks on behalf of individuals, couples, families or organizations.  Benches are provided at four of these groves.  The first bench is at the top of the climb up out of the valley from Trillium Falls while the other three are near the mid-point of the trail at the far end of the loop from the parking area.  

In addition to a fiberglass foot bridge over the creek near the falls, there are ten additional wooden foot bridges.  Six of the foot bridges do not have handrails.  A portion of the Davison Trail provides a connecting path from the parking area to the trail head.  It is a wide gravel lane open to bicyclists as well as hikers.  The Trillium Falls Trail is wide enough to meet other hikers, but not wide enough to hike side by side.  Its surface is packed dirt and humus.  This combination provides a spongier and more erosion resistant surface than dirt alone. 

Due to our visiting late in the dry season, there wasn't much water flowing over the falls and the western trillium blooms were long gone.  Even with the occasional noise from the nearby highway, this was a lovely walk in the woods.

The trail heads quickly heads uphill

Large redwoods dwarf the trail

A break in the canopy due to a fallen giant

The open vista is due to logging over fifty years ago

The size of  a redwood is almost incomprehensible

A new tree sprouts from the roots of an old one

Only a very wide-angle lens can capture the canopy and the forest floor

Trail, sky and 300 foot tall trees

A fallen branch spans the trail

Tall trees and green ferns

The open forest provides light for a diverse understory

The Redwood Volunteers Grove

Another giant stands vigil along the trail

The enormous size of these trees cannot be portrayed

A small footbridge spans a seasonal stream

A switchback leading down to the creek

Fiberglass bridge at Trillium Falls

Ten foot high Trillium Falls

The Sierra Club Presidents Grove

Redwood sorrel

The purplish underside of redwood sorrel

Root ball of a fallen redwood

The only damp place along the trail

The ferns seem intent on taking back the trail

Note the tree root snaking around the lower log to find the ground

Another majestic redwood

Bench and marker

Doris and Richard Leonard Grove

Fire damage and new growth

The Jeangerard Family Grove

More of the Jeangerard Family Grove

Light streams down through the forest

Western skunk cabbage

A towering giant reaches skyward

A new tree grows out of an old one

About halfway around the loop, the trail crosses a logging road

The logging road provides a longer range view

The Donald and Ann Bernstein Family Grove

This apparent tight squeeze is much wider than it looks

Fallen trees become nurseries for the forest

A well-maintained trail through a forest cathedral

The Charles C Wagner Grove

Looking straight up

The Schneider Grove

Richard J. Mazurek, M.D. Grove

These burls make it almost appears that the bark is sliding down the tree

Saperstein Family Grove

Looking back at the fallen log that marks the end of a switchback

About 300 feet high

Redwoods and deer fern

Lighter and spiraled

Althea P. Lang Grove

Only the tallest of hikers would need to duck under this fallen tree

This fallen tree is about six feet in diameter

The final section of the trail follows an old logging road

Davison Trail bridge over Prairie Creek

Prairie Creek

Elk Meadow from the Davison Trail bridge over Prairie Creek

Entrance to Redwood National Park is free.  However, Jedediah Smith, Del Norte Coast and Prairie Creek Redwoods California State Parks have a day-use fee of $8 per vehicle at campground entrance stations.  All three state parks honor the America the Beautiful - National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass.  This pass is valid for one year for $80.  A lifetime National Park Senior Pass is available for $10 for those 62 years of age or older.

The park website is http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm.