Soquel Demonstration State Forest 2015-10-03

Soquel Demonstration State Forest is one of the eight state administered parks with the goal of demonstrating sustained-yield timber management, education, research and recreation. The main entrance is located at 29400 Highland Way, Los Gatos, off Summit Rd & Hwy 17. Located in the Santa Cruz mountains, the last 4 miles leading to the entrance is by narrow, winding roads. Plenty of road side parking is available on Highland Way. There is also a parking lot inside that was open today that can be accessed by crossing a narrow bridge.

Apollo and I started our hike by crossing the bridge over Soquel Creek. The first 3/4 mile or so from Highland Way trail head is through a private property. Hinh's Mill Rd is a wide dirt trail that winds its way through the forest filled with redwood, douglas fir and tanoak trees. This is a forest with active logging and you will see plenty of evidence of it all the way.

SDSF is popular location with mountain bikers. While equestrians and hikers are welcome, they are definitely in the minority. Today, I was the only person on foot while there were plenty of bikers zipping by us, couple of them with their dogs running with them.

That we were in the minority didn't bother Apollo who, as always, had a great time today. These days, he almost reads my mind and decides on where to pose for a photo. 

Hinh's Mill Rd is a 2.3 mile long trail before coming up on the first intersection with Sulphur Springs Rd. From the trail head, it is an easy ~400 feet descend to this spot. I turned left on Sulphur Springs Rd and walked another 1/2 mile or so to the Corral trail junction. This 1/2 mile stretch climbs up ~200 feet. Along the way, you will see two helipad locations.

SDSF borders Forest of Nisene Marks which we had hiked from the Land of Medicine Buddha in July. A classic hike in the woods, I saw several trees that had unique characteristics in how it was growing. 

All the trails are essentially fire roads with more mountain bike tracks than foot prints. We turned around at this point and made our way back. It is possible to extend the hike from Sulphur Springs Rd junction to create a loop, but they will add at least 4+ miles to the ~5 mile out and back segment by Hinh's Mill Rd. 

We completed our 6 mile hike that involved about 600 feet ascend overall. There are no paper maps of the trails available at the trail head. If you need one, please print a map  before heading there. 

More pictures from our hike today.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #SoquelDemonstrationStateForest #SDSF #RedwoodHikes