One of the lesser known, and lesser visited, parks in the Bay Area, Portola Redwoods State Park is a relatively unknown gem. With swathes of old growth Redwoods, this place offers a combination of majestic forests and solitude that can be extremely hard to find anywhere close to San Francisco!
The highlight of this hike and really the entire park is the Peters Creek Grove. This stand of old growth Redwoods is one of the most remote I have been too, and is an incredible place to be! This may sound weird, but it is the nicest sounding place I have ever been! This hike is a must do for anyone in the Bay Area!
Miles/Elevation:
11 miles
2,300 feet vertical gain
About Portola Redwoods State Park:
At 2,800 acres, Portola Redwoods State Park is primarily filled with rugged and isolated Redwood forest. Located on the Peninsula, this park is just north of it’s much more popular neighbor, Big Basin State Park, and is near a number of San Mateo County Parks and Open Space Preserves.
Portola has a 55 site campground and a backpacking campground, but lacks pretty much all other facilities! There is no cell coverage, no nearby towns or cities, and no restaurants or stores. For being in the Bay Area, this is about as remote as you can get!
The park is characterized by old growth Redwood forests. While the trees here aren’t quite as massive as the giants of Big Basin, there are still vast swathes of hundreds of year old trees. The terrain here is a bit more rugged than in Big Basin, which may explain the smaller sizes of the trees here compared to Big Basin!
Two of the park’s most well known features are the Peters Creek Grove and the Old Tree. The Old tree is an easily accessible giant just about anyone could walk to, while the Peters Creek Grove is in an isolated valley miles from any roads, and requiring thousands of feet of climbing to see! Both are awesome and deserve to be seen, but they provide great opportunities for all visitors to the park! This place has something for everyone!
There is a $10 day use fee to park a vehicle in the park.
Visit Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park for more great Redwood hikes!
Getting To Portola Redwoods State Park:
Before your hike begins, the real adventure starts with the drive to the park! Located in the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the main entrance and visitor center of Portola lies deep down a remote and steep hill.
To get to the park, head towards highway 35, Skyline Boulevard, until you get to Alpine Drive. Alpine is a small road that drops off the ridge that Skyline follows, and is quite narrow and super winding. Even for me, and I love mountain roads, Alpine is a bit of a chore with how narrow and winding it is!
After a few miles driving down Alpine Road, you’ll continue straight onto the park road. Alpine is narrow, this road is one lane. You’ll have another few miles downhill on a winding one lane road that is just as steep and just as winding. I actually had to stop and back up once to let someone by me!
From San Jose, Portola Redwoods is about a 50 minute drive, and from San Francisco it is about an hour and ten minute drive!
Old Tree, Slate Creek, Bear Creek, and Peters Creek Trails:
The Old Tree Trail:
Purisima Creek Redwoods has more awesome Redwood hikes!
I started my day by hiking the Old Tree Trail, and I would encourage you to do so as well. The Old Tree Trail is only about .3 miles each way, and is not very steep, so it’s an easy addition to your hike.
In addition to being easy, this short trail takes you to a massive old growth Redwood. The Old Tree is over 1,000 years old, and would fit in any of the massive old growth groves on the California Coast.
The trail is a simple out and back, and is a good way to wake your legs up! You’ll probably do the whole thing in about 10 or 15 minutes, and is definitely worth it!
The Slate Creek Trail:
After returning to where you started on the Old Tree Trail, you’ll take a hard right to begin the Slate Creek Trail towards your main destination. The trail immediately begins climbing and is actually a really steep initial ascent. After a couple hundred yards, the trail mellows out and maintains a gentle climb for the next mile and a half or so.
Check out nearby Bear Creek Redwoods too!
This trail is really just a walk in the woods, but it’s a really good walk in the woods. There won’t be any open panoramic views, but honestly you’ll be hiking through absolutely beautiful forest, so you should feel ok about it!
Hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains? Be sure to check out Castle Rock State Park!
After about 2 miles, you’ll arrive at the Slate Creek Trail Camp. If you are looking to do a backpacking trip in the Bay Area, this would be a great spot to start, and as an added bonus, it is easy to connect the trails in Portola to other parks like Big Basin and Castle Rock!
The Bear Creek Trail:
After arriving at the Slate Creek Trail Camp, you will want to turn left onto the Bear Creek Trail. The trail immediately widens out to almost looking like a fire road, and it immediately begins to climb. From the intersection at the camp, you will have a 1.3 mile hike to the high point of the trail.
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
The trail does climb for those entire 1.3 miles, but honestly the incline is never too severe. I was actually expecting it to be worse than it was, but it will obviously depend on your fitness level! Despite the climb, this section of trail is really scenic. You’ll at various points hike along the lip of a steep ravine, you’ll hike through some open meadows, and you’ll even pass a long abandoned car in the middle of the woods! Absolutely no idea how you could get a car here!
After about 1.2 miles, the trail enters into a unique section of pine forest. The best way I can describe it is the forest looks kind of dead and haunted. Sounds weird, but you’ll know it when you see it.
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
After a short walk through the haunted forest, the trail will take a steep downward turn. This is the descend down towards the Peters Creek Trail, your true destination. The descent is pretty brutal, one of the steepest trails I’ve been on in the Bay Area. Fortunately, the brutally steep section of trail isn’t actually that long, but you’ll have a 1 mile descent down back into the Redwood forests.
Peters Creek Trail:
After your 1 mile descent, you’ll find yourself at the bottom of a steep ravine coated in bright green ferns and clovers. You may not actually notice until you’re at the bottom, but at this point you’re in one of the most majestic Redwood groves imaginable.
The trail follows a creek at the bottom of a steep ravine coated in bright green foliage shaded by towering Redwoods. It’s quiet, the light is soft as it filters through the trees, and the sound of the stream as it tumbles downhill is heavenly. If you haven’t stopped for a meal yet on your hike, this is the place to do it!
The hike will soon split into the Peters Creek Loop. When you get to the split, it doesn’t really matter which way you go, it’s a loop! I personally went left and did the loop clockwise, but I don’t think there is one way that is significantly better.
Just after turning left on the loop, I found a nice spot to stop for a snack. This place seriously is the nicest sounding place I have ever been. Streams cascading overall small waterfalls, babbling brooks threading through the landscape, and the quiet!
Seriously, it’s quiet! There aren’t hordes of hikers with their kids all hiking in packs of 20! I honestly love that people are getting into the outdoors more since COVID. I think it’s a great thing long term to garner support for environmentalism and conservation, but even I’ll admit that an overcrowded trail isn’t exactly serene.
Those throngs of people you normally see in the great Redwood groves of Big Basin, Henry Cowell, or Muir Woods won’t be seen here. The trail is too long and too steep for most to make it, and the result is one of the most magical forests I’ve ever been too!
Hiking Back:
After you hike the Peters Creek Loop, simply retrace your steps back the way you came to get back to the trailhead. Not gonna lie, the climb out from the Redwood forest is legit brutal. It may only be a mile, but remember some of this trail is crazy steep, and even the manageable sections will have you huffing and puffing!
Once you finish the climb, it’s a simple walk through the woods back! There is just one thing to be careful of: make sure you don’t miss any turns! I thought I knew exactly how to get back, but I actually missed a turn and continued straight onto the Summit Trail as opposed to staying on the Slate Creek Trail from whence I came.
The signs in the park really aren’t very well marked, and that’s what I blame my mistake on! I saw a sign that said campground, but I knew I wasn’t going to the campground, so I continued straight. However, I should have gone in that direction because the trail goes past the campground, and there is a turn towards the campground.
It certainly soured my mood and added probably 2 miles to the day, but I managed to figure out where I was within a few minutes and got back to my car with about a 30 minute delay.
From here all I had to do was survive the crazy roads getting out of Portola Redwoods State Park and get home!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 9/10
This is a seriously great and underrated hike that you should do if you are able to. If you are a hiker that lives in the Bay Area, and you are fit enough to hike 11 miles and climb over 2,000 feet in a day, this is a can’t miss hike. The Redwood grove at the end of the trail is legitimately amazing, and the hike there is quiet and travels through some pristine forest. It really is an unknown gem!
Pros:
- Old growth Redwoods
- Quiet (can’t be overstated how nice this was)
- Smooth well graded trail
- Camping opportunities
Cons:
- Isolated (might be a pro)
- Challenging drive to the park
- Some very steep sections of trail
- No sweeping views
Alternative Hikes:
Trip Report: North Ridge Trail, Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve
Bear Creek Summit via Madrone Knoll Trail
Redwood Grove Loop and Cowell Highlights Loop
When to Visit:
Portola Redwoods State Park really is a 4 season destination. In summer, you can expect to sweat on exposed sections of trails, and to be comfortable on the shaded sections. During winter, expect to be cool in the shaded areas, and still warm in exposed sections. Rain is most likely in winter and spring.
Links for Further Reading:
Best trails in Portola Redwoods State Park, California
Portola Redwoods State Park – ThatsMyPark
CJW
December 27, 2022Thanks for the tips! The price point on Muir Woods really is a bummer :/