West Ridge Trail – blue lotus adventures

DETAILS

Directions:

From the Prairie Creek visitor center, take Prairie Creek Rd to Newton B. Drury Scenic Hwy then turn right. Merge onto route 101 south. Turn right on Davidson Road and follow to the end and Gold Bluff Beach. You can access the trail from the Coastal Trail

Equipment:

Sturdy hiking shoes
water
camera
food/snacks

Hike Info:

Easy to follow trail with no markers. From the Coastal Trail the West Ridge is steep and overgrowth along the path. Can be a tough until you can the ridge when it becomes an excellent trail.

The entire West Ridge Trail is 7 miles long. I hiked only 1.9 mikes of it as part of the Friendship Ridge Loop hike. This section, from the Coastal Trail to the Friendship Ridge Trail is a tale of two different trails. The first part, when ascending from the Coastal Trail is overgrown with tall fern and bushes. It is also steep in sections as you can the ridge and makes for difficult hiking.

However, once you are on the ridge, it is one of the most enjoyable hikes in the park. It is an easy trail that meanders along the ridge through Oregon White Oak trees. That section was one of my favorite hikes on this trip. However, the only way to experience this is by doing a loop hike from the Prairie Creek Visitor Center which is 12.5 miles or the one I did from the Fern Canyon Trailhead. There are a few other pull offs from the Newton Drury Parkway but I did not see any trail markers for this.