Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Northern California. Exploring Mountains, Valleys, and Seashore онлайн

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To Reach the Trailhead Take Hwy. 101 to Morgan Hill and take the East Dunne Ave. exit. Follow East Dunne Ave. east for 11 miles to the visitor center parking lot at the road’s end. After leaving the residential area of Morgan Hill, the road is a narrow twisting ascent—RVs and trailers are not recommended. There is an $8 day-use fee.

Description The hike begins across from the visitor center on singletrack Corral Trail (0.0/2,650'). After crossing a small bridge, the trail contours above precipitous slopes in a lush world of black oak, bay trees, buckeye, snowberry bushes, and coast live oak. Soon you encounter the first big-berry manzanita of the trip. Dozens of manzanita varieties exist, but few approach the massive size of these specimens; their twisting, blood-red trunks are almost treelike in girth. Chamise, toyon, and honeysuckle vines—common members of the park’s chaparral community—appear alongside.

The path emerges onto open hillsides graced with large valley oaks and reaches a six-way junction at Manzanita Point Rd. (0.6/2,510'). Cross the wide road, grab an interpretive brochure from the post, and continue on Forest Trail. Numbered markers line the path and correspond to the brochure’s descriptions of the park’s flora. After contouring through this shady educational world, you rejoin Manzanita Point Rd. (1.8/2,330') at its junction with Springs Trail and Poverty Flat Rd.