Dogs No Dogs
Features
River/Creek · Waterfall
Aptos
Creek Trail officially begins at the 1.55 mile mark along
Aptos Creek Fire Road. HOWEVER, it is closed from this beginning to its junction with
Big Slide Trail due to storm damage in the winter of 2016/2017. Therefore, this description shows its trail start at the end of
Big Slide Trail. From here it is open to its normal endpoint at Five Finger Falls.
Need to Know
Bring water shoes or be ready to get your feet wet to reach Five Finger Falls when it's cascading vigorously.
Description
The current (February 2019) open section of Aptos
Creek Trail begins at the end of
Big Slide Trail. Here Aptos
Creek Trail is on a forested bluff with the creek below, down a steep hillside. From here, the trail follows Aptos Creek upstream through the dense, lush forest. The creek is in a steep sided valley with the trail clinging to the hillside except for two places where the trail veers away from Aptos Creek to follow side creeks upstream a short ways, cross them, and return to Aptos Creek.
About 0.65 miles after leaving
Big Slide Trail behind, Aptos
Creek Trail crosses (no bridge) Aptos Creek. If you end up wading through it, Five Finger Falls has a nice vigorous cascade, worthy of getting your feet wet to see it. After some more small ups and downs, and climbing over logs, the faint roar of the falls can be heard. Continuing on, one gets to what looks like a side creek to cross, AND looking up the vertical gorge of the side creek, there they are - Five Finger Falls! (and the end of Aptos
Creek Trail.)
Flora & Fauna
Mixed redwood forest. Ferns and other lush creekside vegetation.
Contacts
Shared By:
Joan Pendleton
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