99. Silver Falls and Skyline to the Sea Trail

Length:	10.2 miles trip
Hiking time:	6 hours or overnight
High point:	1,300 feet
Total elevation gain:	1,900 feet
Difficulty:	moderate
Water:	bring your own
Maps:	USGS 7.5' Big Basin, USGS 7.6' Franklin Point
Information:	Big Basin Redwoods State Park

Walk past tall redwoods to three splendid sets of waterfalls along enchanting Berry Creek. To hike the complete Skyline to the Sea Trail to Waddell Beach, combine the first 4 miles of this hike with the last 6.3 miles of Hike 100 (Berry Creek Falls and Skyline to the Sea Trail). Backpackers must make advance reservations for trailside camping (call 831-338-8861).

From the interchange of Highways 9 and 236 (6 miles west of Highway 35), drive west on Highway 236 a steep 8.4 miles to the Big Basin Redwoods State Park headquarters. Or, from Highway 9 at the town of Boulder Creek (13 miles northeast of Santa Cruz), travel 9 miles on Highway 236.

To start, head west from just behind the fee kiosk, follow signs for Skyline to the Sea Trail, then turn left at the huge signpost just after crossing a wooden bridge. Bear right at a signed trail junction at 0.2 mile, then cross a fire road at 1 mile and continue on Skyline to the Sea Trail toward Berry Creek Falls.

Tall redwoods reach skyward along a moderate descent past a signed trail junction at 1.6 miles, where you continue left. Cross Kelly Creek 0.5 mile farther, and stay left at three signed trail junctions. Reach a series of small pools at around 3 miles, near where Kelly Creek merges with West Waddell Creek.

See magnificent Berry Creek Falls from a wooden bench at 4.1 miles. The trail drops another 0.1 mile to where Berry Creek pours into West Waddell Creek. Backpackers and car-shuttle day hikers can reach Waddell Beach by turning left here (for a description of the rest of Skyline to the Sea Trail, see Hike 100, Berry Creek Falls and Skyline to the Sea Trail). Bear right for a 0.1-mile climb to Berry Creek Falls, which plunges 70 feet into a sand-bottomed pool. Berry Creek Falls Trail then escorts you upward for a closer view of the top of the waterfall.

At 4.6 miles reach Silver Falls, which drops 60 feet into a small, oblong pool dammed by a toppled redwood trunk. The trail climbs to a dramatic vista of Silver Falls and then gives striking views of Golden Falls Cascade, a peanut-butter-and-orange-colored series of pools and cascades that decorate the trailside for 200 yards.

After a 0.1-mile climb away from West Berry Creek, reach a signed trail junction at 5 miles, where you bear right onto Sunset Trail (backpackers can go left 100 yards to Sunset Trail Camp). Break out of the redwood forest shade into a brief section of chaparral consisting of knobcone pine, manzanita, and chamise. You now canyon-hop twice to a signed trail marker at 7.7 miles and turn left.

Smaller redwoods appear over the final 2.5-mile leg. Bear left at the signed trail junction at 9.2 miles. The final mile travels past three signed trail junctions (take a left and two rights), then alongside attractive Opal Creek under massive redwoods, and finally to park headquarters.