★★★

The Rhododendron and Foothill Loop

Length 8.7 mi · Climbing 1050 ft

California > Redwood National and State Parks > Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park

The Foothill Trail near the Big Tree

This long loop climbs into typical Prairie Creek redwood uplands, then returns through the lowlands along Drury Parkway. It’s not quite as spectacular as the nearby West Ridge and Prairie Creek loop, but it also gets fewer visitors. The scenery gets progressively better throughout the hike, culminating in two very impressive redwood groves — the Big Tree Area and the Rotary Grove.

The Rhododendron Trail is little-used; you might see a group of hikers every 1–2 hours on an average weekend. The Brown Creek and Foothill Trails are busier, with a group maybe every 10–15 minutes. After the Big Tree, the number of people increases to a group about every 2–3 minutes.

If the parking near the visitor center is full, park on the shoulder of Drury Parkway where it passes through the open prairie.

From the Prairie Creek Visitor Center on scenic Elk Prairie, walk on the trail that runs along the entrance road. Cross Drury Parkway and look for the Cathedral Tree Trail running down the slight slope on the other side.

The Cathedral Tree Trail gets off to a great start as it skirts an impressive alluvial-flat redwood grove along Boyes Creek. Leaving Elk Prairie, the trail dives into the streamside vegetation along Boyes Creek, still skirting the old-growth grove. On one side of the trail is the dark, stately redwood grove; on the other are lichen-encrusted maples and dense blackberry brambles.

Magnificent redwoods continue to line the trail as it climbs through the creek valley and becomes the Rhododendron Trail. The trail climbs out of the valley and goes around a large fallen tree, then drops back down to the bottom of a shallow glen. The exceptional scenery is somewhat spoiled by a constant hum of traffic from Highway 101.

The Rhododendron Trail before Cal Barrel Road

The trail begins to climb in earnest, leaving the valley below and switchbacking up the hillside. The trees get a lot smaller as you climb and a dense understory of huckleberry appears. Topping a ridge, the trail passes through a large, hollow “chimney” redwood and descends to Cal Barrel Road. The freeway noise thankfully disappears at this point and doesn’t return for the rest of the hike. The scenery also improves quite a bit once you reach Cal Barrel Road; the woods are a lot more open and the redwoods are bigger on this side of the ridge.

The Rhododendron Trail before Cal Barrel Road

The Rhododendron Trail is a very pleasant meander through bright, sunny redwood uplands with some pretty good-sized trees. It’s especially enjoyable in winter and spring, when it passes a lot of lively creeks. The burbling and rushing sounds of the creeks fill the air, and sometimes two creeks are in earshot at the same time.

The Rhododendron Trail gets a lot more open after Cal Barrel Road

As you approach the South Fork Trail, the redwoods get smaller and less interesting. It might be tempting to take a shortcut on the South Fork Trail, but you’ll only save a mile and you’ll miss some of the best scenery of the hike.

After the South Fork Trail, the Rhododendron Trail starts to descend, and as it does the redwoods get noticably more impressive. Turn left onto the Brown Creek Trail, which descends gently through a very attractive redwood-filled glen alongside a burbling creek. The Brown Creek redwoods are somewhat small at first but get progressively larger as the glen becomes wider. The area around the memorial loop trail is the most scenic part of the trail and is one of the highlights of the hike.

The Brown Creek Trail

Turn onto the Foothill Trail, which is a wide, straight path that runs well above Drury Parkway. From time to time the whoosh of cars on the parkway can be heard. Because of the slight elevation, the Foothill Trail has smaller trees than the nearby Prairie Creek Trail. In addition, the forest along the first mile of trail is somewhat darker and less attractive than most of Prairie Creek’s old growth, although there are still lots of redwoods. The highlight of this stretch is the crossing of the Corkscrew Creek ravine on a long, high bridge.

The scenery improves dramatically as the trail reaches a second, larger, redwood-filled ravine. The trail descends to a flat at the bottom of the ravine and crosses Big Tree Creek on a wooden footbridge. Over the next quarter-mile the trees get increasingly impressive, culminating at the Big Tree. Unfortunately several large redwoods have recently fallen in this area, leaving it somewhat less impressive than it used to be, although the Big Tree itself is unaffected.

Passing the Big Tree, follow a paved trail a few yards to the parking lot, then continue straight past the parking lot. The wide, straight trail, which used to be part of Drury Parkway, runs through some maples along the edge of the redwoods. There are more people on the trail after the Big Tree.

Crossing Cal Barrel Road, the trail again plunges into the redwoods, briefly cutting through the lush and very impressive Rotary Grove. The grove passes by so quickly that a lot of people walk through without even noticing it, but in fact it’s one of the most impressive in the world, with sun-dappled monster redwoods rising through the deep shade of the dense canopy. Look up to see a redwood with massive reiterations right next to the trail.

Return to the visitor center on the Cathedral Tree Trail.