Bob Lorentzen has died. He is best known in this household for authoring a series of guide books, including The Hikers hip pocket Guide to the Mendocino Coast. That book details over fifty strolls, walks, and day hikes from Gualala to the Lost Coast.
One of my go-to hiking areas lies within Russian Gulch State Park. A problem with guidebooks is that they conform to established points of entry. This is unfortunately true in guides to the waterfall loop hike in Russian Gulch. The books, including Bob Lorentzen’s, start you out at the state park campground. From there you are forced to walk a mile and a half on pavement. This is great for wheelchair access, but for day hikers that much pavement pounding can lead to shin splints, aching backs, and other ailments.
That mile and a half of paved trail (should be an inherent contradictory phrase) is relatively flat, but if you are hiking one of the reasons is to get some aerobic exercise. The guidebooks aside, a sizable number of hikers approach the Russian Gulch waterfall from the east end of the state park, near what is known as Horse Camp. Turn east off Highway One just south of the Caspar Creek Bridge onto Road 409. Take this county road beyond Prairie Way until the pavement ends. In this vicinity you may see quite a number of vehicles parked in turnouts or alongside the road. Don’t be dismayed, a significant number are bicyclists using Jackson Demonstration State Forest’s trails on the north side of the road.
The Russian Gulch entrance is fairly obvious to your south. As you pass Horse Camp on your left (east) take note of the dos and don’ts entering Russian Gulch S.P. Dogs and motorized vehicles are not permitted. Bicycles and horses are allowed in select areas only.
After a short but precipitous dip in the trail a quarter mile along your merry way a sign will direct you to the left and a switchbacking trail down to the level of the stream that leads across a footbridge then directly to the top of the waterfall, approximately three-quarters of a mile from the trailhead. The waterfall itself drops thirty-five feet to something of a sandy basin, holding an assortment of entrapped logs.
The falls separates into two halves on either side of a slight moss and fern covered outcrop of rock. You arrive above the falls by descending a slippery set of chiseled stone steps. Careful, there is no railing or fence to guard you from stepping into the stream or over the edge of the falls. Where else can you do that in a state park?
Follow the switchback down to a footbridge that offers photo opportunities as you confront the waterfall head on. We need a bigger winter’s rain than this year’s amount to produce the full mist-splattering effect this torrent can provide in a full precipitation March.
If all you want is the waterfall, it is a mere eight tenths of a mile back up and out to the trailhead and your vehicle. However, Russian Gulch has much more to offer. In fact, it possesses a plethora of loop and figure eight hiking opportunities. Backtracking a tenth of a mile, you will find the trail junction that leads uphill on gentle, long switchbacks intermixed with short, steep bursts. Stop at the end of the longest switchback to catch your breath and you’ll hear the waterfall tumbling almost directly beneath your feet.
That uphill climb is probably no more than a third of a mile. It takes you to a nearly flat plateau and a trail that wends through redwood, fir, and huckleberry. In another third of a mile or so watch for a dramatically twisted second growth redwood winding its way skyward. Its roots provide a prominent obstacle to step over across the trail, so there is little excuse for missing this oddity of nature.
There are walks or hikes in Russian Gulch from the mile and a half in and out from Horse Camp to the waterfall stretching to greater than ten mile figure eight loops. One of my favorites is an approximate 5 ½ to 5 ¾ mile jaunt. Instead of turning into the redwoods after that early dip, take the North Boundary trail another mile over gray clay soil to a left (south) turn into the semi pygmy. After a 1/3 mile you return to the redwood and fir trees guarding your way on a nearly flat path over four footbridges. In another mile you descend long switchbacks to the floor of the forest along the Russian Gulch stream. At this point you have a choice of a relatively short ¾ mile climb directly to the falls or my preferred route of approx. 2 1/3 miles farther around a southwestern branch of that stream. It is longer, somewhat steeper but few hikers go this way, so there is less disturbance as you listen to the mini waterfalls in the creek or cast your gaze on an entire hillside of ferns separated by sizable trunks of second growth redwood. Once you reach the flat top plateau of this longer route the chance to see that twisty redwood happens a ¼ mile or so before the descent back to the trail junction a tenth of a mile from the falls. The exit is the same ¾ mile route you would take for the shortest walk into Russian Gulch’s hidden waterfall.
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