17 |
FERN |
DISTANCE: 0.75 mile round-trip
HIKING TIME: 45 minutes
SEASON: year-round
DIFFICULTY: easy
The drive to the trailhead is part of the adventure on this trip. Unpaved Davison Rd. cuts through the home of a herd of Roosevelt elk, California’s largest land animals. Visitors often see the big elk from their car windows. The narrow, winding road leads 7.0 miles to the Fern Canyon Trailhead, crossing a few unbridged streams along the way.
Your destination is Fern Canyon, a tunnel of ferns growing on 50-foot rock walls alongside coursing Home Creek. A bonus is that Fern Canyon is just steps away from beautiful Gold Bluffs Beach, a great spot for a picnic.
Park at the Fern Canyon trailhead. A sign explains identifying characteristics of various ferns—up to eight different species. Follow the Fern Canyon Trail up the streambed of Home Creek. If the summer footbridges are not in place when you visit, you will have to get your feet wet. Dense ferns line the canyon like wallpaper. Moss grows everywhere. You may see newts, frogs, and salamanders along the way.
Continue upstream for a half mile to a section marked as James Irvine Trail. Turn left onto James Irvine Trail and climb out of the canyon on wooden stairsteps, returning through the forest to the parking lot.
From Eureka, take U.S. 101 north for 41 miles to Orick. Continue north for 2.5 miles to Davison Rd. and turn left (west) for 7.0 miles to the Fern Canyon trailhead. The access road may be rough; no trailers or motor homes are permitted.
