The Berry Creek Loop

Including the Sunset Trail, Berry Creek Falls, and the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail

Length 10 miles · Climbing 2150 ft

California > San Francisco Bay Area > Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Berry Creek Falls

For hikers, the Berry Creek Loop is the centerpiece of Big Basin. The highlight of the loop is a section of the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail that follows the valley of the West Waddell and Kelly Creeks through four miles of pristine redwood forest. The loop offers some great redwood scenery and has remarkably little encroachment from roads and other development.

The 10-mile loop starts at park headquarters and descends by way of the Sunset Trail to Berry Creek Falls, before a long and scenic ascent on the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail back to park headquarters. The total elevation gain is about 1800 feet. Taking the loop in this counter-clockwise direction spreads the climbing more evenly throughout the hike and saves the best scenery for last. Expect the hike to take about five hours.

This loop makes for enjoyable hiking year-round. If it's been raining exceptionally hard, the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail might be closed due to a landslide or a bridge near Berry Creek Falls may be out. Although it looks like Silver Falls could completely cover the trail, I've never seen this happen even during heavy rainfall.

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Hike description

The hike starts at park headquarters and promptly climbs 300 feet to Middle Ridge. Before noon on sunny days, the temperature often rises 5 - 10° during this climb, and it usually stays this warm for the rest of the hike.

After crossing the Middle Ridge fire road, the Sunset Trail descends through very pleasant redwood uplands. While the trees aren't particularly large, the forest has a bright, cheerful feeling that you don't get in the valleys.

After a large bridge that crosses West Waddell Creek, the trail begins a 500 foot climb. Near the start of the climb, you'll encounter an intersection with the Timms Creek Trail. It's possible to walk a shortened, 3-hour loop by taking the Timms Creek Trail to the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail, then heading back to park headquarters. This is an excellent hike if you're not up for the full 5-hour loop. The Timms Creek Trail descends into a valley with a good-sized creek; near the south end of the trail the valley widens and there's a small but exceptionally nice redwood grove with an unmarked bench. The trail ends in a jumble of fallen trees; at this point, look to your left for a log across the creek to the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail.

To hike the full Berry Creek loop, skip the Timms Creek trail and continue along the Sunset Trail, which gets steeper after the intersection. Although this isn't the biggest climb of the hike, it's the most difficult.

The trail then descends again, eventually crossing Berry Creek and then climbing to a clearing. This area shows signs of logging, although many large trees still stand. From the clearing there's a nice view of the valley where Berry Creek Falls is located.

The Berry Creek Falls trail begins shortly after the clearing and is one of the best parts of the hike. The trail descends past two waterfalls into a lush fern-covered glen, then follows a little brook through a narrow ravine spanned by fallen trees. As the ravine deepens, the redwoods get larger. Finally, the trail descends past Berry Creek Falls to a viewing platform where there is usually a small crowd of people.

Skyline-to-the-Sea trail

After the platform, turn left onto a bridge and onto the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail. This is the lowest point of the hike. After climbing over a small hill, the trail crosses West Waddell Creek by way of a crude plank bridge. During rainy periods, this bridge may be washed out or removed.

For the next few miles the trail passes through the deepest, darkest redwood forest south of San Francisco. There are some truly impressive trees here. Although the most biggest redwoods are between Berry Creek Falls and the Timms Creek trail, the forest is very scenic and mostly redwoods all the way back to Park Headquarters.

Shortly after its intersection with the Timms Creek trail, the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail splits. To the right is the main trail; to the left, the alternate trail. The alternate trail (which is actually the older trail) takes about 10 minutes longer and involves a bit more climbing; it's also more scenic, since it winds through a creek valley where some large trees and two attractive arched bridges are to be found. However, the main trail also happens to be very scenic in this region.

The main and alternate trails rejoin each other at another three-way intersection. One trail is labeled "main trail"; a second trail is labeled "alternate trail"; and the third trail is unlabeled. Make sure to take the unlabeled trail, otherwise you'll be headed back down toward Berry Creek Falls!

After Middle Ridge it's all downhill, but the final quarter-mile practically turns into a creekbed during the rainy season.

Related websites

The Big Basin Banana Slug Spotters' Society has an interesting graph showing which months you're most likely to see banana slugs, newts, and flowers on the Berry Creek loop (part of this website by Scott Peden and Joan Zimmerman devoted to the loop).

Sunset on the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail