Hikers Can Track Hidden Beauty Along State Park’s Lost Coast Trail

Sinkyone Wilderness State Park and King Range National Conservation Area are part of California’s famed Lost Coast--an area of unstable earth and fast-rising mountains, about 75 miles south of Eureka. The San Andreas Fault lies just offshore and touches land at Shelter Cove. So rugged is this country, highway engineers were forced to route Highway 1 many miles inland, and the region has remained sparsely settled and unspoiled.

But what is a highway engineer’s nightmare is a hiker’s dream. Magnificent vistas and varied terrain--dense forests, prairies and black-sand beaches reward the hardy explorer.

Aptly named Lost Coast Trail travels this hidden coast. You could spend a day, a weekend or a week hiking this trail. One of my favorite stretches of the 50-mile-long trail begins at historic Bear Harbor in Sinkyone Wilderness State Park.

Just before the turn of the century, Bear Harbor was the scene of one of the most unusual railroad lines in history. In order to transport logs from Harvey Anderson’s timber holdings, the Bear Harbor and Eel River Railroad began construction of tracks from Bear Harbor to Piercy on the Eel River.

A winch lowered and raised the locomotive and cars over the first very steep stretch of narrow-gauge track near Bear Harbor. Past Usal Road, the train ran on its own power.

Disaster plagued the railroad from the start. A Pacific storm destroyed Bear Harbor wharf in 1899, owner Harvey Anderson was killed in an industrial accident in 1905, and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake caused major damage to the tracks and trestles.

Today, rusted rails dangling down the cliffs at Bear Harbor, and faint traces of the rail bed in Railroad Canyon, are all that remain of the railroad. (Railroad history buffs may view the steam engine used during the brief life of the Bear Harbor and Eel Railroad at Ft. Humboldt State Historic Park in Eureka.)

Another historical site visited by the Lost Coast Trail is the ghost town of Wheeler. Established in 1950, this company town and its modern sawmill stood for 10 years. Big trucks hauled the cut lumber to Willits.

The Lost Coast Trail is interesting for more than historical reasons. In the steep canyons are stately redwood groves, standing tall above a lush understory of ferns, calypso orchids and Douglas iris. Grassy meadows are seasonally bedecked with lupine, buttercup and Indian paintbrush. There are terrific views from the trail, which, although it marches up and down quite a bit, never strays too far from the incessant roar of the surf.

Directions to trail head: From Highway 101, take either the Garberville or Redway exit and proceed to “downtown” Redway, three miles north of Garberville on Business 101. Turn west on Briceland Road. After 12 miles, fork left to Whitethorn. A mile or so past the hamlet of Whitethorn (don’t blink or you’ll miss it), the pavement ends and you continue on a potholed dirt/mud road for 3 1/2 more miles to a junction called Four Corners. On the left is Usal Road, right is a road climbing into the King Range National Conservation Area.

Proceed straight ahead 3 1/2 miles to the Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Visitors Center. Maps and information are available there.

You can also inquire about the condition of the park road (Bear Harbor Road). Except after heavy rains, most vehicles with good ground clearance can make the 2 1/2-mile distance to Bear Harbor. Beware of one nasty place--where the road crosses Flat Rock Creek. At road’s end is Orchard Creek Camp and a parking area.

The hike: Cross Orchard Creek on a small wooden bridge. The trail meanders streamside and soon passes a path leading left to some giant eucalyptus that shelter Railroad Creek Camp.

The path crosses Railroad Creek and joins the old railroad bed of the Bear Harbor Railroad. At one time, the tracks angled up and over the ridge to your right and met a loading chute. Look carefully and you’ll spot some rusted rails sticking out of the clifftop.

If it’s low tide, pick your way over the driftwood piled up at the mouth of Railroad Creek Camp. The guano-covered, flat-topped rock you see offshore--Morgan Rock--supported a loading pier that reached to shore.

To pick up the Lost Coast Trail, double back from the beach a short distance. Sign the trail register located near the old corral. The path heads east up the canyon, cut by Railroad Creek. Bay laurel, red alder and maple shade the way.

The trail crosses the creek and begins climbing out of the canyon. You join an old logging road--one of several utilized by the Lost Coast Trail as it snakes 20-plus miles through the park--for a short distance. About 1 1/2 miles from the trail head, as you top a grass ridge, you’ll get a superb view of Bear Harbor and its offshore Cluster Cone rocks.

The path descends into Duffy’s Gulch, which embraces a pretty stream and a redwood grove. Woodwardia and sword ferns, as well as redwood sorrel, complement the thousand-year-old redwoods. The grove is named for Joseph Smeaton Chase, the long-overlooked trail rider/nature writer whose 1913 book, “California Coast Trails,” is a classic. Chase recounts his 1912 horseback ride along the California coast from Mexico to Oregon.

The trail climbs out of Duffy’s Gulch and heads south along the grassy, windblown bluffs. By now, the astute walker is beginning to detect a pattern to the Lost Coast Trail: lots of up-and-down travel.

The route alternates between mixed conifer forest and blue-eyed grass meadowland. A half-mile from Wheeler, you approach another stand of redwood--School Marm Grove. The fern-lined trail descends with Jackass Creek to the bottom of the canyon, then over to the grassy flats where the town of Wheeler once stood.

Some cement foundations are about all that remain of Wheeler. Walk past Wheeler Camp and the old town site, and follow Jackass Creek down to the beautiful black-sand beach.

Return the same way.

Lost Coast Trail Where: Sinkyone Wilderness State Park Distance: to bear Harbor 3/4-mile round trip; to J. Smeaton Chase Grove, 4 miles round trip, with 600-foot elevation gain; to Wheeler Camp, 9 miles round trip, with 800-foot gain. Terrain: Steep coastal mountains. Highlights: Railroad history, redwoods, grand views. Degree of Difficulty: Moderate. Precautions: Steep trail. For more information: Call Sinkyone Wilderness State Park at (707) 986-7711.