| Date: 3/20/2010 |
| Time: 8:45 AM - 3:00 PM |
| Meeting Place: First Covenant Church |
Directions to the meeting place: This is the large church on the north side of Hwy 50 between the Sunrise and Zinfandel exits next to the post office. From the Zinfandel turnoff, head north and turn right on Olsen Dr and then right on Progress Ct. From Sunrise, head south and turn right on Folsom Blvd. Then turn left on Olsen and left on Progress Ct.
Go past the post office and thru the gates for the church and turn left into the first parking lot where we will meet. |
| If you'd rather meet us at the trailhead, we'll be there at: 10:00 AM |
| Trip Notes: |
Rain cancels. Tentative plan at this point is to take Poppy Trail to Blue Oak trail to Turtle Ridge. Cross over Turtle Ridge Trail and take Seven Pools Vista Trail to the vista point and on. Turn left on Seven Pools Loop crossing over Pond Turtle Road and shortly left on Quail Run. Then turn right on Turkey Ridge Trail to the end where a short side trail will take us to Hidden Falls Access Trail.
Turning right on this trail, we will follow it to the viewing platform. We might take the side trail down to the creeks. Then back Hidden Falls Access Trail and across the bridge over Deadman's Creek to get back to Poppy Trail whcih we will follow back to the parking lot. |
| Round-trip mileage: 4-6 miles miles |
| Difficulty: 2 ( 1=Easy,2=Moderate,3=Strenuous ) |
Description: |
This park opened to the public in October of 2006. It has 7 miles of trails suitable for hiking, running, biking, and horseback riding. And though it says 7 miles. The trails criss-cross and loop so that you could not do a 7 mile hike and have hiked the whole park. In 2 hikes, I have done about 10 miles and still have more to go.
For more info check out http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Facility/Parks/hiddenfalls.aspx.
While the map mentions difficulties from easy to difficult, I found the difficult were not difficult. Even as out of shape as I am, they only rank as moderate becasue they will take over 5 miles to do them. |
| The Route: |
From the parking lot, there are a number of routes to take. There is an upper trail, mostly for horses. Then Pond Turtle Road goes from the park all the way to Coon Creek on the opposite side of the park. It is a gravel road from the parking lot and can be a bit slippery and steep. An easier route to take is Poppy Trail which meanders a bit as it goes down from the parking lot. Once you get to the bottom, Deadman's Creek, on either Pond Turtle or Poppy, you quickly come to Blue Oak Loop and turning left on Blue Oak Loop will take you to Hidden
Falls Access Trail which will take you to the waterfall overlook.
Continue on Pond Turtle and you will find Turtle Ridge Road which is perpendicular to Pond Turtle, e.g. it runs East-West to Pond Turtle's North - South.
Seven Pools Vista Trail takes you to a nice Vista Point and Seven Pools Trail takes you along Coon Creek. Other trails exist.
http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Facility/Parks/~/media/fac/fac%20%20%20parks%20and%20grounds%20division/documents/HiddenFalls8x11TrailsMap52109.ashx |
| The Sights: |
The 2 main sights in this park. A 30 ft waterfall and some nice views of Coon Creek, including one from quite a ways above the creek. You can also get right down to the creek at the end of Pond Turtle Rd/Trail. Coon Creek also connect to Deadman's Creek just below the waterfall.
The big trees are Oak and Pine. |
Directions: |
| To visit the park, Get to Auburn. Head North on Hwy 49 towards Grass Valley from Hwy 80. After about 2.5 miles, turn left on Atwood Road (west) from Highway 49 until it becomes Mt. Vernon Road. Follow Mt. Vernon Rd. to Mears Road(about 3.5 miles from DeWitt Center). Turn right (north) on Mears Road and follow to Mears Place. Park hours are from one half hour before sunrise to one half hour after sunset daily.For a map, http://www.placer.ca.gov/Departments/Facility/Parks/~/media/fac/fac%20%20%20parks%20and%20grounds%20division/documents/Hidden_Falls_Vicinity_Map.pdf.ashx.
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