Shelter In Place Hikes

The Bear River Ridge Road walk is located off the “Wildcat” Road above Ferndale – recommend walking this scenic open-range road when the wind isn’t blowing.
The Bear River Ridge Road.
The South Fork Janes Creek Loop connects with Trail No. 10 in the Arcata Community Forest. The closest trailhead is on West End Road.
The walk on the Elk River Trail into Headwaters Forest passes under beautiful big leaf maples along the creek for 2 miles before heading uphill through logged-over forest and finally ending in an old growth redwood forest trail loop (pick up a map at the trailhead). Keep your eye out for covered bridges on adjacent roads as you drive to the trailhead on Elk River Road.
Temporary bridges cross the Eel River in the summer. This one gives access to the Garden Club of America Grove from Avenue of the Giants.
Head south to the Avenue of the Giants for a walk into the Garden Club of America Grove.
Renowned architect Julia Morgan (1872-1957) used natural materials and simplicity in the design of this “Four Fireplaces” structure located at the Women’s Federation Grove off of the Avenue of the Giants.
A walk near the “Four Fireplaces” structure takes you to an albino redwood.
We enjoy walking through old cemeteries. The Table Bluff Cemetery is east of Loleta at the north end of Singley Hill Road.
Table Bluff Cemetery.
Go out the back NW corner exit of Costco and walk to Old Town on the west part of the Eureka Waterfront Trail and back. This wonderful redevelopment hiking trail combines a close look at remnants of the forest-products industry and the railroad lines and a walk by current fishing and crabbing activity. My eye was converting much of the scenery to B&W and looking for flowers and color among the rust and concrete. Oh, and I learned what the word “Wharfinger” on that building means (the operator or manager of a commercial wharf).
Along the Eureka Waterfront Trail.
Industrial form and color on the Eureka Waterfront Trail.
We enjoyed a long walk around the Humboldt Botanical Garden at the College of the Redwoods and found some of our favorite flowers as well as some new ones in bloom. Everyone is required to wear a mask and only 50 people are allowed in at one time, so go early.
A long walk around the Humboldt Botanical Garden at the College of the Redwoods included Peter Santino’s “All Happy Now” earth sculpture at the top of the garden. It merges two ancient architectural features, the ziggurat and the labyrinth.
The “Wildcat” Road to Petrolia from Ferndale includes a spectacular view looking south toward the Lost Coast and Petrolia.
Who knew? In the Petrolia Table Cemetery is a world-record Blue Gum Eucalyptus at 49 feet in circumference, 141 feet tall and a 126-foot spread. It is massive!
South of the public telephone booth in Petrolia is an sign describing a short walk to the Pioneer Cemetery. Definitely worth the walk. The earliest date on a gravestone is 1857 for a 11-month-old child.
South of Petrolia, take the Lighthouse Road west to the campground/parking area and walk north on the ocean beach to the mouth of the Mattole River. It feels very wild there.
Highly recommended – the north unit of the Ma-le’l Dunes off of Young Lane on Highway 255 in Manila (no dogs or horses allowed). The next-door south unit allows dogs and horses.
A first-time visit to Shelter Cove should include a walk on the beach where fishermen launch the boats.
Shelter Cove offers either a day hike or the south end trailhead of the Lost Coast Trail on Black Sands Beach. Hikers usually walk the ocean beach trail south due to prevailing winds and carefully time low tides to pass otherwise impassable sections of the trail.
An unusual tunnel tree straddles the Hope Creek trail in Redwood National Park. Lots of wildflowers on this loop trail with Ten Taypo Trail in old growth redwoods.
Sometimes a new discovery can be only a few blocks from home. We found this Camp Curtis plaque (California State Historic Landmark #215) at 3501 L K Blvd. in Arcata. The Camp served as the headquarters and garrison of the 1st Battalion California Volunteer Mountaineers from 1862 to 1865. The plaque fails to tell the sad history of Native American deaths at the hands of the settlers and military. It also includes a typographical error (“Calvary” for “Cavalry”), and a date error: According to her tombstone in Greenwood Cemetery, Marie Brazard Todd was born in 1848 not 1847.
We found recent BLM graffiti along the South Fork Janes Creek trail in the Arcata Community Forest.
We got all our ducks in a row (standing on floats) in the oxidation ponds at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary.
The east end of the Eureka Waterfront Trail takes you under U.S. Highway 101 with a view north to Humboldt Bay and the railroad trestle. Good access to the trail is behind the Target store.
We always drove by the trailhead for Trillium Falls on our way to Fern Canyon in the past. Now we’ll stop here for a beautiful hike in old growth redwoods, lots of trillium and the only waterfall in Redwood National Park.
We enjoyed the hike to the mouth of Redwood Creek either by the ocean beach from the Redwood National Park visitor center south of Orick or on the north levee at the bridge in Orick.
We have enjoyed the walk around the oxidation ponds at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary many times now because of the frequent sightings of ducks (like this wood duck) and geese.
One unusual sighting west of Petrolia next to the road are these “hebras” (a cross between a horse and a zebra).
The huge dunes at the Ma-le’l Dunes North Unit are slowly migrating into the forest adjacent to Humboldt Bay.
We recommend starting the Hikshari’ Trail at the parking area west of U.S. Highway 101 south of Eureka at Herrick Avenue and walking north toward the Eureka Waterfront Trail and back. It provides an unusual and interesting look first of the Elk River Slough and then of the outskirts of commercial use of Humboldt Bay.
A graffiti song lyric reflecting the times greeted us on the Hikshari’ Trail.
We enjoyed multiple visits this spring to Elk Head north of Trinidad watching the Columbia lilies and other wildflowers come in to bloom, but missed seeing any whales. The trail is heavily used.
The heavily used trail to Elk Head provides a great view south to College Cove (trail to the beach begins here) and the city of Trinidad and Trinidad Head.
We enjoyed the hike to the mouth of Redwood Creek either by the ocean beach from the Redwood National Park visitor center or on the north levee starting at the bridge in Orick.
The Hookton Slough hike out and back along Salmon Creek and the Humboldt Bay Wildlife Refuge is a flat, accessible trail … but avoid a windy day.
On our only trip inland this spring, we enjoyed the drive up to Horse Mountain and the hike into Cold Springs (go early to the meadow area when the wildflowers are in bloom) and then west to Split Rock (popular with rock climbers).
The Lyons Ranch trail from Bald Hills Road in Redwood National Park offers a scenic south-exposure walk on an old road into the ranch area that includes this old barn.
We finally got around to walking the Hammond Trail in McKinleyville north to the lookout over the mouth of the Mad River along Highway 101. Harbor seals lined the bank of the river on this day.
The walk along Bear River Ridge Road offers spectacular views to the south and over the ocean as the morning fog burns off.
We regularly walk the trails at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Refuge with its accessble walking and biking trails and lots of wildlife. We recently saw an otter at the Brackish Pond.

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