Upward through the Wildflowers
(Garland Ranch, Sept/Oct 2009)
There are hiking destinations along California’s central
coast that attract a dedicated band of regulars. One of these is
Garland Ranch Regional Park in Carmel Valley. While there is a
hard core of folks who hike and run there weekly, Garland is
never more popular than in the spring, when a stunning mix of
wildflowers blanket both valley floor and hill sides.
A good way to get a cross section of this 4500 acre park,
(with a good selection of the many flowers the park has to offer)
is to hike from the river to the top, a half day hike that gives a
good aerobic workout and a visual feast.
The park, 8.6 miles on Carmel Valley Road from Highway
One in Carmel, starts at the Carmel River. There is parking
off the side of the road, and near the parking area is a bridge over
the river. Once on the park side of the river, follow the sign to the
left for 200 yards to the visitor’s center, the best jumping off
place for exploring the western end of the park. While there, you
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can pick up a trail map, fill your water bottle, and take a look at
books and charts that list the local flowers and birds.
From the visitor’s center, take the trail that leads across
the meadow directly toward
the thickly wooded
hills. In the spring, this
meadow is a blinding mix
of yellow poppies and
blue lupine. As the trail
rises, turn left on the
Lupine Loop, where
you’ll see owls clover,
blue dicks, vetch, miners
lettuce, red clintonia and
western blue-eyed grass.
Bay and buckeye trees
tower over head.
After about a half
mile the Lupine Loop trail
intersects the Mesa Trail.
Now the climbing begins. In addition to the flowers seen
below, you’ll start to notice Indian paint brush and the occasional
wild iris. When you stop to catch your breath, look down at the
valley spread out below you.
At the intersection with the Sky Trail, is the Mesa Trail
which leads to the mesa itself, with fields of flowers and a small
pond. Or save that for the way down and continue up the Sky
Trail, where the Indian paint brush grows in big clumps at almost
every turn, mixed with red clintonia and vetch.
I know I said this before, but this is really where the
climb seriously begins, and on a hot day it can be strenuous.
Make sure you have plenty of water. However, the advantage of
this steep trail is that you’ll want to stop often to admire the vistas,
which expand at every stop.
The top of the Sky Trail is over 1,800 feet, directly above
the valley floor. From the small bench at the top, you can see
miles of the valley, plus parts of the Salinas Valley over the top
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of the next range of hills. The top is a hillside meadow, complete
with dozens of tiny flowers, a good place to simply lie down in
the shade of a tree or in the warmth of the sun and hear the
buzzing of thousands of busy insects.
From this vantage point, (the top of Snively’s Ridge),
you can look south over another valley and to the Ventana range
in Big Sur.
On the way down, (if you’ve already taken a side trip to
the Mesa), pick up the Fern Trail. It climbs a bit before heading
down a shaded canyon to a charming little pond with a bench, a
perfect place to cool off and look for frogs, before heading down
to rejoin the Mesa Trail.
Getting There:
From Northern Calif,
take 101 past Gilroy
to the 156, five miles
to Hwy 1 and continue
south past Monterey
to Carmel
Valley Road in
Carmel. Turn left and
the park is 8.6 miles
on the right. From
So. Calif., take 101 to the Hwy 68 exit in Salinas. Take 68 to Hwy
1, and go south to Carmel Valley Road. Also, coming from the
south, and for a totally stunning drive along one of the most scenic
back roads in Central California, exit the 101 at G 16 at
Greenfield, and take it to Arroyo Seco where it becomes Carmel
Valley Road.