hard
Activities
Canyon Rim Route Information
This long hike follows the rim of a secluded canyon full of second-growth redwoods.
Watch for:
Sticky monkey flower, coast live oak, expansive views.
Hiking Details for Canyon Rim Route
Distance: 11.7 mile loop
Elevation change: 1700′ elevation gain
Hiking time: 7-9 hours
Trail surface: packed dirt, mix of shade and sun
Best Season: Year round
Managing agency: CA Parks and Recreation
Parking lot location: Click here for directions
Overview:
For a great hike, take Jackson Flats Trail to Butano Fire Road. Turn right on Olmo Fire Road and then right onto Doe Ridge Trail. Make a left at Goat Hill Trail, continuing onto the fire road before heading left onto Little Butano Creek Trail, and finally the Main Park Road.
About half a mile up the trail, the road opens up with a view of Root Down Farm and other agricultural fields, coastal scrub and grasslands on Cloverdale.
Another mile up it turns into a Douglas fir and redwood forest with views of chalky, eroding rock faces. At the junction with Butano State Park/Jackson Flats Trail, there is a panoramic view of the Santa Cruz Mountains with the ocean in the distance.
Canyon Rim Route Photo Gallery
A little-known part of Butano State Park, the Butano Fire Road offers spectacular lookouts and access to the old system of logging roads and trails in the Santa Cruz Mountains. In 2000, POST transferred 903 acres of its Cloverdale Coastal Ranches to Butano State Park, where this gravel road begins.