The mountains are calling!

If you have ever been to Big Basin Redwoods state park, then you have seen signs for this beautiful falls called Berry Creek! There are multiple trails that lead you to Berry Creek falls and most of them start from Big Basin Redwoods park. If the drive to Big Basin is not exhilarating enough, this hike sure does offer everything you need for a fun filled day. Most people do the Berry Creek falls loop in a clockwise direction, but we decided it do this in anti-clockwise direction and add a little extra mileage to our hike. No matter which trail you take, Berry Creek falls won’t disappoint you.

The hike starts right from the parking lot of Big Basin state park. Follow directions for Berry Creek Falls trailhead through the parking lot (through the outdoor theatre) and you will soon join Skyline-to-the-Sea trail. For the first mile or so, you follow Skyline-to-the-Sea trail until it crosses Middle Ridge Fire road. This is the junction where the Berry Creek falls loop starts, and you end up here on your way back. The initial stretch until Middle Ridge Fire road has decent elevation gain of about 300-400 ft. Keep following Skyline-to-the-Sea trail until it reaches the junction of Sunset trail. Most people would stick to Skyline-to-the-Sea trail and follow it to Berry creeks falls on a long descent through redwood trees, but we decided to take the Sunset Trail.

Once on Sunset trail, the hike begins to gain elevation as you pass through redwood tress on both sides. There are a couple of creek crossing on the Sunset trail before it reaches the junction of Tims creek trail. The creek crossings can be dangerous if there is too much water, but it was no trouble in June during a light rain year in California.

Keep following Sunset trail from Tims creek trail junction, and in the next mile or so you will end up descending towards Silver Falls. Sunset trail offers view to two other falls before ending up at Berry Creek falls; Golden Falls and Silver Falls. As you descend down and make your way towards Silver falls the trail gets slippery, so you will need to watch your step. Silver falls sets you up for the views at Berry Creek falls. There are several smaller falls that you cross along the way before ending up at Silver falls.

As you cross Silver Falls, Berry Creek falls is not too far, and is a downhill hike from Silver Falls. In the next half mile or so, you will find yourself descending towards Berry Creek falls, which will make the hike so far worth the trip. You don’t have easy accessibility to Berry Creek falls, but a couple of view points are built around the area, where its safe to enjoy the beautiful falls. We took a long break at Berry Creek falls, and enjoyed our snacks before proceeding on our way back.

Since we took the Sunset Trail we knew our hike back was going to be tougher than when we came down, as it was an uphill hike getting back to Big Basin. Much of the trail is shaded except for last half mile before the junction of Middle Ridge Road. We followed the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail on our return and ran across multiple hikers who were headed towards the falls. From Middle Ridge road junction the trail is much flatter and you follow Skyline-to-the-Sea trail rest of the way to parking lot. It took us about 6 hours in total to finish the hike, though we took more than an hour break descending down Silver falls and at Berry Creek falls.

Difficulty – Moderate Insanity Level – 1 Distance ~ 13 miles Elevation ~ 2000 ft Time ~ 5-6 hours

Directions: Big Basin Redwoods State Park – Berry Creek Falls Trailhead – Skyline-to-the-Sea-Trail – Middle Ridge Road Junction – Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail – Sunset Trail – Tims Creek Trail Junction – Sunset Trail – Silver Falls – Berry Creek Falls – Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail – Middle Ridge Road Junction – Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail – Big Basin Redwoods State Park