Cathedral Trees Trail – Redwood Coast Trip

The Cathedral Trees Trail in the Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park was probably my favorite hike we did during our trip. It was an amazing, totally abandoned trail with so many giant trees and other wonders to explore. The map says it is 1.4 miles, and I think that is one way. We returned via the Foothill trail which added about another mile.

After visiting the visitor center we returned to the car and studied the map. We had a hard time figuring out where we needed to be so I went back to ask a ranger for some help locating the trailhead. The particularly cute, and friendly ranger brought me outside and pointed out the trail and told me what to do to get where I wanted to go. He also told me about some of the other nice trails nearby. So to save you the trouble, the trail is alongside the road to the parking lot north of the visitor center, and crosses the main road (Newton B. Drury Parkway) then goes north along the road for a couple feet before climbing into the woods. After that there is adequate signage to keep you on the trail. TIP: You can avoid crossing the road if you keep your eyes open for a faint trail split that goes under the road. We learned that on the way back.

You can also start the trail at Big Tree, or loop with a couple other trail options. However, I think starting south at the visitor center and going north is the way to do it, as it gets better and better, and ultimately ends at Big Tree this way.

Boyes Creek.

Not far in and we start seeing large trees.

Trees and ferns.

Panoramic.

Another biggun.

I just love walking among all the trees.

It gets pretty dark down here.

More moss and ferns.

For the most part the trail is nice flat earth. but do keep your eyes open for roots that could trip you. (It’s particularly difficult, as you want to keep looking up at the trees!)

Moss covered branches.

Giant near more normal sized trees.

Just the lush green forest.

Large clovers.

I like the backlit colors in this one.

Little obstacle to climb under.

Tall group.

Getting into some bigger trees.

Somewhere along the middle of this fallen giant, and it still has a wider diameter than Landis is tall.

Tree over a log.

Through the giants!

And don’t forget to look up! Although, through the redwoods, it’s kind of hard not to.

I feel so small and insignificant.

But I am always at my happiest in the woods. The shirt is a complete lie today! (it says I’d rather be sleeping).

Starting to head uphill. The trail has been rather flat until now.

More forest.

A fallen tree.

And the hole it left behind.

The clover here, like in northern Oregon are huge!. I think the biggest one I have seen in Utah might in total size equate one of these leaves. And most are smaller than just half of one of the 3 leaves.

More big trees.

Clover and fern covered log.

And a burnt out tree.

Fallen giant.

And a large chunk of bark I think it left behind.

Landis liked this part.

Again looking up.

I believe this is still part of the same fallen tree.

Panoramic of some tall trees.

Ferns.

The destruction a fallen tree causes.

Bizarre wavy pattern in the bark of this tree.

I like this shot of a couple large trees.

Another panoramic. 

Another fallen tree.

Me in the roots. Makes a nice little archway.

I don’t recall if this is the same fallen tree, or another one. Either way, it just kind of reinforces you don’t want to be anywhere near one of these things when they fall. They call them widow makers when they fall.

The trail crosses Cal Barrel Rd. Not sure where it leads to.

Nice little bench here with a plaque.

The dirt road covers all of the plant life with a layer of dust.

From here the trail gets even more interesting.

I am really enjoying this trail.

Fern growing out of the burnt out tree.

It is just so beautiful up here.

Weird twisted bark.

Panoramic. Not as weird as Corkscrew Tree, but it is interesting that it is twisted like this.

We did not encounter a single soul until about here, and then only ran into 2 groups before hitting Big Tree. This of course was accompanied by the sound of a tour bus that completely destroyed the solitude of the forest.

Weird vertical branch.

In hindsight, I believe this may be the Cathedral Trees (not to be confused with Cathedral Tree at Trees Of Mystery). It looks like the spires on a cathedral. However, as interesting as this tree is, something else grabbed my attention.

Look at these stunning orange mushrooms growing on this stump! We had fun with my dads color blindness throughout this trip. But here in particular I was telling my parents about the mushrooms, and went to show them the pictures, and my dad (can’t see red on green) said, there are mushrooms in this picture? All I see is a stump.

Landis did some research and found a ‘chicken mushroom’ that looks like that might be what this is. Apparently named so because it tastes like chicken. Either way, I wasn’t about to have a taste as, unless you have an expert to identify the mushroom, you should never eat it. Mushrooms are notoriously difficult to identify.

They are awful pretty however.

The underside of the clover here is purple! Note, both shots of the clover I didn’t have to pick them. No reason to kill a plant to enjoy it, and in state and national parks it is illegal to do so anyway.

Landis next to a large stump.

More shots looking up.

Another grand display of the redwoods fortitude, a new tree growing from a severely damaged trunk.

Before long we hit Big Tree. A very large beast of a redwood that is 304 feet tall, and 21 feet in diameter. This is the largest tree we saw on our trip, well, that we are aware of anyway.

Panoramic.

Here there was a large group of tourists (obviously on the tour bus that disturbed our peace). We hung around for a few minutes before deciding we can hit it on the way out and hopefully not have such a crowd. (we were successful in that).

From here there are a few trails you can take to get back to the visitor center, or even just explore more. We opted to return via the foothill trail.

The first part of the trail is paved and handicap accessible. 

There are even some giants along the way.

I really just love being out in the woods.

Tangled branches covered in moss.

I believe they call these burls.

You can just make out the tiny people on the path ahead of us.

Lots of clovers.

Just neat seeing the new trees growing out of fallen ones.

Cool old sign for the Rotary Club. There is a lot of City Creek Canyon back home in Utah that is/was dedicated to the Rotary Club. I should look more into them, they seem to do good things.

Panoramic of a large tree with a normal size tree in front.

I like the lighting in this one.

Me with another giant tree. It really is hard to convey the sheer size of these beauties without putting someone in with them.

Clovers.

A stump with new life.

Even the last, unpaved section of this trail is flat and like paved.

Clover covered log.

Panoramic of a double giant.

Nice little bridge over Boyes Creek.

The trail goes right past this tunnel that allows the creek to flow under the main parkway rd. There is a ledge to walk on, seems a heck of a lot safer than crossing the road like we did on the way in, so why not?

Well that was a great hike through some amazing old growth wilderness. I am really thrilled we did it. We really only encountered a few other people, and nobody for the first part at all. I mean, other than the big group near Big Tree, and the sound of the bus for that small section it was truly a serene walk all by ourselves in the wilderness with some amazing sights to see along the way.

10 out of 10 squirrels.

As for difficulty, it was mostly flat, with only a small section of up and downhill that I didn’t find to be terribly rough. I did need to stop to drink water a few times but that was probably more related to the heat. Otherwise it was fine. Going with a DR3 for Cathedral Trees Trail, and DR2 for the short section of foothill trail we did.