Comprising nearly 1,800 acres of redwood, mixed evergreen, and chaparral habitats, this popular park also offers access to the San Lorenzo R. The park’s 20 miles of trails provide excellent year-round birding. The park has a campground, picnic area, nature center, and gift shop. There are day-use and overnight fees. However, you may walk in for free at the main entrance road if (very limited) parking is available on Hwy 9 nearby, or at a few trailheads (see below).
Directions. The main day-use entrance is on Hwy 9 in Felton, 6 miles north of Santa Cruz. Three miles south of this entrance is the Rincon parking area, where a trail descends to the river in the Rincon Gorge. The campground entrance is on Graham Hill Rd, 2.7 miles from its intersection with Hwy 9 in Felton. The trailhead for the Powder Mill Trail and Pipeline Rd is at Graham Hill Rd 3.7 miles south of the campground, across from Nepenthe Rd. The Zayante Trailhead is at Graham Hill Rd 0.6 mile from Hwy 9, near the entrance to Roaring Camp in Felton; park in the small lot at the head of the road that leads to San Lorenzo Lumber Company.
Birds. In the day use area, an easy walk of two to three miles combines segments of the Meadow, River and Redwood Grove Trails. This walk samples species typical of the county’s redwood and riparian habitats and may produce Wood Duck, Common Merganser, Band-tailed Pigeon, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Belted Kingfisher, various woodpeckers (including Pileated), Black Phoebe, Hutton’s Vireo, Pygmy Nuthatch, Winter Wren, and Golden-crowned Kinglet. Other nesters in this section of the park include Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Pacific-slope Flycatcher, Violet-green Swallow, Orange-crowned, Yellow and Wilson’s warblers, and Black-headed Grosbeak. Winter visitors include Red-breasted Sapsucker, Varied Thrush, Townsend’s Warbler, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, various finches, and sometimes Evening Grosbeak.
Many of these same species can be found by taking the Zayante Trail north along the river from the Hwy 9 entrance road bridge. The trail, about 0.8 mile one way, follows the San Lorenzo R (look for American Dipper) and then Zayante Creek to Graham Hill Rd, passing through a wonderful riparian forest of box elder, sycamore and cottonwood. The stands of box elders and grassy margins near Graham Hill Rd are particularly productive in winter for sparrows, finches, and rarely Evening Grosbeaks.
A usually reliable area for nesting American Dipper and Common Merganser can be reached from the Rincon parking area by a one mile walk (with a 200-foot descent) on the Rincon Fire Rd to where it meets the San Lorenzo R. The dippers often nest in the rip-rap just upstream from here. (Be aware that there are no bridges over the river at any trail crossings in the park, although the river can be forded when the water level is low.) Elsewhere in the park, search for dippers near the junction of the River Trail and the Eagle Creek Trail, some 1.2 miles south of the main parking area.
From the campground, species favoring the mixed evergreen (including ponderosa pines) and chaparral communities can be found by taking the 0.5-mile (one way) Pine Trail, starting between campsites 47 and 49, to the Observation Deck, at 802 feet, the highest point in the park. Powder Mill Fire Road Trail and the paved Pipeline Rd are also recommended. Pileated Woodpecker, Hermit Thrush, Black-throated Gray Warbler (live oaks), and Hermit Warbler (mature redwood and fir forest along Pipeline Rd) nest here; and Red Crossbills are likely to be here when they are in the county. Hermit Warblers also nest along the Rincon Fire Trail. All of the trails in the upper part of the park are very good for owls, including Northern Saw-whet Owl and Western Screech-Owl, although access after sunset is limited to campers.