Trees are literally part of the trailslooping through Prairie Creek Park

Tunnels are cut through fallen redwoods on the Prairie Creek Trail. (The Daily Triplicate/Richard Wiens).

By Richard Wiens

Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park in northern Humboldt County is all some folks see of the redwoods.

Highway 101 runs along the park's eastern edge, and the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway offers easy access to the visitors center and several trailheads.

It a testament to the quality of Del Norte County hiking that we had never set foot in this park until now.

We were going to do this one by the books — we'd purchased two redwood-hiking books before leaving Colorado. One of them, "Best Short Hikes in Redwood National & State Parks," by Jerry and Gisela Rohde, laid out a "strenuous" 6.45-mile trek called "West Ridge-Prairie Creek Loop" that sounded just right for the day's ambitions.

Rebels with backpacks that we are, we made our first innovation as we motored south on Drury Parkway. Instead of driving all the way to the visitors center and paying a day-use fee, we stopped about a mile north of it at a roadside parking area a little past a sign for Corkscrew Tree and snuck onto Prairie Creek Trail.

There's been plenty of summertime mist lately (the sky didn't clear until we reached Klamath on the drive down), but not much rain. So the sight and sound of a steady Prairie Creek flow was a pleasant surprise as we headed south on the immediately rewarding redwood path.

In a sense, it was an off-season visit. The rhodies had lost their bloom weeks ago, and the winter rains that'll swell the waterways are thankfully still far off. There was plenty of evidence that Prairie Creek runs much deeper at times, including mostly exposed depth gauges in a couple of spots.

But the creek's mere presence paid dividends. The trail was dotted with quaint bridges, and spritely clovers adorned fallen redwoods.

The walkway itself was hard-packed and so well-maintained it sparked a fleeting thought that maybe this state park is favored over those in Del Norte. It was too nice of a day for prolonged envy.

The smooth scenic experience lasted all the way to the visitors center and its dioramas of the taxidermied. One exhibit featured a row of buttons, each lighting up a local critter. We learned what a marbled murelet looks like on a bad-hair day. The illumination of a great horned owl confirmed our sighting of an ambulatory one in Tolowa Dunes State Park weeks earlier — sort of a fat cat with wings.

Having dodged the day-use fee, we sprang for a $1 park map that detailed the trails nicely.

All that visitor-center civilization after an easy first stretch of hiking had us feeling pretty pampered until we headed north on the West Ridge Trail portion of our loop route and did some serious climbing. Funny how the heat and humidity kick in with a little altitude gain (600 fee within a 1-mile stretch as the gnarly redwoods sloped away on both sides of us).

The loop route called for turning east on a trail named Zigzag No. 1 (as if we hadn't been doing enough switch-backing already). But the Rohde book tipped us off to a perfect lunch spot just 200 feet past the junction: a bench facing west into a canyon containing the headwaters of Godwood Creek. After a refreshing repast, we doubled back to Zigzag Trail.

• Tip No. 1: Ascending the ridge, do not get so caught up in long-view scenery that you fall off.

• Tip No. 2: If you traverse Zigzag No. 1 in August with hairy legs, short, sticky green wormlike creatures attach themselves to you. Pick them off.

One thing I've noticed about round-trip hikes — the uphill and downhill sections ultimately balance out (brilliant, huh?). All that ascension on the ridge trail made for steep descension on the half-mile stretch of Zigzag.

Bearing south to return to the relatively level Prairie Creek Trail, we encountered patches that dissuaded me of the notion that California takes better care of this park, than, say, our own Jed Smith. We bushwhacked through some overgrowth, Laura waving a stick to ward off spider webs. Then we clambered over a freshly fallen redwood blocking the trail.

It'll be interesting to see what the parks people do about that, because they are quite innovative with fallen redwoods. Earlier in the day, we'd encountered pedestrian tunnels, notched-in benches and stairways, even a portion of pathway atop one of the sleeping giants.

We were almost to Corkscrew Tree and the loop's conclusion before coming upon the first people we'd seen since about 4 miles back at the visitors center.

This relative solitude has been a feature of every redwood trail we've traversed. As if living in a hikers' paradise wasn't good enough, we pretty much have it to ourselves, folks.

Trail notes

The hike: Loop around Prairie Creek Trail and West Ridge Trail in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

Highlights: The innovations to make fallen redwoods part of the trail, such as tunnels through trees; and the proximity to the year-round flow of Prairie Creek.

Sweat level: A fairly level stroll for much of the 6.45-mile loop, but some strenuous climbing on the West Ridge Trail portion, a couple of stretchs of underbrush on the trail, and a recently fallen tree to get past.

Getting there: Drive south on U.S. Highway 101 into Humboldt County, take Newton B. Drury Parkway south, and park along one of the pull-off points (free) or in the visitors center lot (day-use fee). Pick up a state park map for $1.