Loch Lomond Recreation Area 2016-03-02

Loch Lomond is a mountain lake tucked away near the town of Felton in Santa Cruz county. The lake actually supplies water to the residents of Santa Cruz and Loch Lomond Recreation Area is maintained by the Water Department. There is a $fee to enter the facility. Here are the directions to reach the recreation area.

Loch Lomond is usually open to public from March - Labor Day. However, on account of the drought, the water department had closed the facility for the past two years. I was delighted that they opened it yesterday and promptly went there with Apollo to check it out. While there is several miles of hiking amidst redwood, douglas fir trees as well as the shoreline of the lake, it is fishing and boating that is more popular with visitors of this park. 

Loch trail

We started our hike at Loch trail. The single track dirt trail hugs the coastline until Deer Flat picnic area. Along the way, there are several popular fishing spots for those anglers willing to do a small hike and not interested in using one of the rental boats. 

Loch trail

Hiking by Loch trail does involve negotiating ups and downs multiple times as well as few spots where the trail is really narrow. Loch trail ends at the junction with Loch Slay trail. We turned left on Loch Slay trail, heading towards Deer Flat picnic area. 

Loch Slay trail

The much wider dirt track Loch Slay trail still is close to the shoreline albeit at a slightly higher elevation. At the Deer Flat picnic area, the trail turns right and heads inland into the redwood forest. Highland trail also starts gradually ascending over the next two miles, gaining more than 600 feet. 

For the first mile or so, the climb up is through shaded trees, redwoods and firs. Quite suddenly, the trail comes out of the woods, offering views of the mountains and plenty of sunshine. And a short hike on the ridge top brought us to a clearing and the high point of Highland trail: a panoramic view point of Loch Lomond tucked in the valley and surrounded by the Santa Cruz mountains.  

Highland Trail

From the vista point, Highland trail still goes through few more ups and downs before starting to descend rapidly. Past the four mile mark on the hike, we came to the Big Tree Nature trail intersection. We turned left, opting to do the longer loop.

Big Tree Nature Trail

The 3/4 mile Big Tree Nature trail loop is a narrow, single track dirt trail that climbs steeply on one half and descends rapidly on the other. The trail was filled with foliage from the trees which I suspect meant we were one of the first hikers in this trail after couple of years of light usage. 

There are three picnic areas in this park accessible by cars. Big Tree Nature trail ends in one of them - Glen Corrie picnic area. From here, we continued on Gilchrist trail, another single track trail, skirting the other two picnic areas to reach the parking lot by the park ranger office. 

Drummond Point

From this parking lot, there is a short out and back hike by Mac Bain trail to Drummond point. I would highly recommend not skipping this section. Along the way, the trail gets close to the lake and you will get to experience some outstanding views of Loch Lomond. 

At Drummond point, there are several rocks and Apollo was kind enough to pose for what I believe is a great picture, standing across two rocks. My hiking companion is definitely an enthusiastic and adventurous one!

We wrapped up our nearly 6 mile hike walking back by the main road to where we had parked our car. If you are planning to hike this hidden gem, I'd recommend checking their website to ensure they are open. While I did confirm with the park ranger that there were no plans to close early in 2016, that can certainly change if the drought is persistent.

More photos from our hike.
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