Hiking Big Basin Redwoods State Park
Howdy! I hope your Monday was a breeze! Mine was a little rough after Vino de Mayo, but it wasn’t anything a long day at work couldn’t cure…ha!
Our hike on Saturday was probably the best we have been on thus far and I had a hard time narrowing down which pictures to post. I went a little nuts and put quite a bit on here but hopefully you will find them to be entertaining.
Before we left on Saturday morning, we made sure to distract the girls with Kongs so that we wouldn’t get any guilt trips for leaving them at home.
After eating a filling breakfast and packing our lunches, we headed toward Big Basin Redwoods State Park in Boulder Creek, California (not Colorado ).
Upon entering the park, we were immediately surrounded by enormous trees that gave off the most heavenly scent.
We paid the $10 parking fee and grabbed a trail map then Brandon we got side tracked and stopped in their café for a fresh fruit smoothie.
The sign they had beneath the cash register was pretty funny so I had to take a picture of it.
We decided on a strawberry and peach smoothie and then started out towards the first trail on our hike.
As you approach the main area where the trails split off, there is a large outdoor theatre that was originally established in 1936 and is surrounded by seats that are carved out of big logs.
The seats are pretty cool, huh?
Shortly after walking past the theatre, we reached the trail head that began our 11 mile hike.
At first, the hike starts out in the woods with a good amount of shade to keep you cool.
As we hiked along, we kept running into these little critters which we had to carefully avoid turning into road kill.
In addition to detoxifying the air, the enormous Redwoods made for great scenery as we walked along.
Eventually we ran into this slimy guy which is known as a banana slug.
We later saw another one nestled in a tree. We were sure not to touch them though because I had read that the salt on our skin can kill them.
As we continued hiking, our surroundings became more green and the sound of water running was audible.
Eventually, we started to hear a much louder roar of water and came upon this stunning view in the distance.
Berry Creek Falls is about 4 miles into the hike so we were ready to eat lunch at this point and decided to sit on a bench with a perfect view of the waterfall.
I had an almond butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat (inspired by Amanda) and Brandon had plain almond butter on his. He’s a ‘no jelly’ kind of guy.
And, of course, we snacked on some of Trader Joe’s Trek Mix as well. I really wanted to bring the one with chocolate but I was afraid the chocolate would melt.
Once we were nice and full, we hiked a few more minutes to get an up close view of the 70- foot waterfall.
It was so beautiful and I would have loved to get in the water below it, but we didn’t have enough time to play around.
There were some other people who had the same idea though and it looked like they were having a blast down there.
After you pass Berry Creek Falls, the trail takes you up alongside the waterfall so that you are able to see the top of the waterfall.
Shortly after the first waterfall, you come upon a second one that is not quite as big but still beautiful.
Then there are stairs beside that waterfall that take you up to another small set of falls.
The last set was the smallest of the three but still so peaceful to look at. There were also quite a few places to sit and relax among the falls in this part of the hike.
The waterfalls were certainly the highlight of the hike but we still had about 6 more miles to go!
The second trail was completely different from the first as it opens up to the bright sunshine.
There were some rocky areas that were a little tricky to navigate but Brandon had his trusty walking stick to help us.
We also spotted a few butterflies and wild flowers along the way back to the Visitor’s Center.
In total, it took us about five and a half hours to do 11 miles and we were exhausted. I still can’t fathom how people run marathons that are more than twice the distance we hiked. Insanity, I tell you!
The drive home was about an hour and half so I made sure to make reservations at a nearby restaurant to stop at on the way home.
We both had a much-deserved glass of wine along with the cute little bread rounds and trio of sauces they served to us.
It was a sruggle to stay awake during the meal but it was an excellent way to end the day!
Oh, and in case you were wondering, we changed our clothes in the bathroom at the park by doing a very careful balancing act so that nothing touched the ground. Public restroom floors…ew.
If you enjoy hiking and are ever in the San Francisco Bay area, you have to check out The Berry Creek Loop at Big Basin, it was so awesome!
Wow absolutely beautiful! I love hiking, but haven’t been since October! I am hoping to change that in the next month or so!
Oh, and as far as jelly goes, I actually prefer just peanut butter, but if I have to pick I would go with strawberry all the way! :)
Oh wow Sarah these pictures are gorgeous! What an amazing place! That outdoor theater is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen- is it still in use? Congrats on going 11 miles, that’s a great hike!! And I’m a no-jelly girl. However, I love jelly without peanut butter, but i can’t eat them combined.
I’m not sure if it’s still in use but it look well kept so my guess is yes. And most of the replies have been no jelly, I’m beginning to think something is wrong with me! :)
Wow talk about a gorgeous hike! I would probably be glued to my camera trying to take pictures of EVERYTHING. I’ve only been hiking twice and am hoping to venture more into it over the summer!
I was definitely glued to my camera and almost tripped a few times because of it, lol.
Beautiful pics! The weather looked perfect! I can’t believe that slug…crazy!
Thanks Holly! The weather was incredibly perfect, in the high 70’s to low 80’s, we totally lucked out.
That TJ’s Trek Mix sounds awesome. Of course, I would likely eat the whole bag in about one sitting! ;)
Wow thats gorgeous!
I’ve driven through that area before, but never had time to get out and explore. The trees are ridiculously huge! It’s hard to even imagine until you see them in person.
I know, I don’t think my pictures do those trees justice. They are enormous and so pretty!
Gotta have the Strawberry preserves with the PB lol!
btw..the redwoods looked amazing. Its the one part of Cali I haven’t seen yet.
Yay for pb&j! :) You should make a trip there, it was amazing. And your blog’s name totally had me singing “Too Legit To Quit” by MC Hammer, lol. :)
What a great place to hike. I love these tall trees and waterfall. I will definitely visit that park when I get a chance.
Wow, how incredibly lucky you are to live in an area with such beauty!! I am jealous!! I refuse to hike anywhere around Texas because my phobia of snakes is horrible!!
I like jelly with my PB but I am picky about which kinds. It has to be an “all fruit” variety and not the nasty high fructose globby stuff.
I agree with you on the jelly! You have to make sure you’re getting the good stuff!
Ah! Love Big Basin Park. Beautiful trails out there. Haven’t been there in years though. Funny since it’s JUST over the hill from me. We do frequent the German Bavarian restaurant, Tyrolean Inn just south of it in Ben Lomend. You totally make me want to drag the husband out there again and strap on our hiking boots.
I just went to Tigerella the other week too! What did you end up getting? I had the seafood gnocchi which was really good, though I did get a tummy ache afterwards. :\ And the shortcake is delicious!
I love almond butter and jelly sandwiches. I don’t always need jelly/jam/preserve, but love the almond butter.
I believe my longest run/hike would by the half marathon :)
I can’t believe you haven’t been there in years and live right there. It’s so pretty. Have you done Berry Falls Loop?
Tigerella was great! We got the two vegetarian options, a veggie pasta and a polenta lasagna. I personally loved all of their Italian wine and we were too full for dessert but I loved how creative everything sounded. I wish they had one close to me but it’s probably better they don’t- I would be broke. :)
Beautiful photos! It sounds like such a fun way to spend the day! I would have to go with Brandon on the no jelly thing, although I do like adding cinnamon and honey to my peanut butter sandwiches. I usually only go on short hikes with Bentley (around 3 miles) but i love running longer distances.
What a gorgeous hike; and that waterfall? Breathtaking! I love hiking, but the longest one I’ve ever done is 5 miles and even that was exhausting – I can’t even imagine how tired you must have been after 11! But I’m betting that your PBJ tasted amazing. I don’t know what it is, but food always tastes better outside… and nut butter always tastes better with jelly :D
That hike looked lovely! Makes me want to do another hike with my boyfriend too. Those banana slugs are so bizarre they are kind of cool but also kind of give me the creeps at the same time.
Great to see you are posting more pics of yourself! I remember a whilst back you said you never took a good photo but this proves otherwise :)
I know, the slugs were a little creepy. When I first saw it, it’s head wasn’t out so I didn’t know what the heck it was!
I still hate sharing pictures of myself but I’m trying. I find it help to have the flash off so I don’t close my eyes. And Brandon always takes a few so I have more than one to choose from, lol. :)
I don’t love posting photos of me either but you’ve inspired me. I’ve just posted my some before and after weight loss photos in my about section and I’m going to try and start posting some more within my posts too :)
Aw, that makes me smile Jan! You should be proud of your accomplishments so I’m happy you are opening up more. :)
Such a nice post with swoonworthy pictures! What a great adventure you guys had, banana slugs and all! Speaking of banana slugs, you sent me on a googling trip.. hehe.
I read about the banana slugs before we went but didn’t get a chance to see what they look like. They’re kind of creepy! :)