UPDATE: This blockage has been cleared.

(The following is out of date; it’s remaining posted for historical reasons).

Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail is blocked about a half-mile west of the headquarters of Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Fortunately there’s a simple detour: just take the Sunset Trail up to Middle Ridge Road, cross it and carry on. A connector trail takes you back to the Skyline trail about an eighth of a mile up the Sunset Trail. From there it’s on to Berry Creek Falls and the rest of Big Basin’s wonderful interior.

Note for Big Basin regulars: this is the same blockage that’s been there for a few months; I didn’t do any Big Basin hikes this spring so I didn’t learn about it till last week. I figure a lot of folks do the whole Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail during summer vacation season, so they might want to know what the big deal is when they see all the “trail closed” signs.

(Base map courtesy of Virtual Parks)

There are plenty of signs and markers along the way. I sneaked up to the site of the blockage: a massive washout that obliterates a chunk of trail and blocks everything with a 10-foot-tall tangle of limbs and forest debris. Don’t waste the steps to walk up there; as the cops say, “nothing to see here.”

Looks like half the hillside gave way just on the other side of this little bridge. The obstruction is massive and the trail damage substantial.

After I turned back I got a nice hike in. More on that in a separate post.