Sunday, April 13
Ah Pah Interpretive Trail
Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
Unceded land of the Yurok Tribe
.77 miles
45′ ascent
24′ descent
It’s a short drive up Drury Parkway from the Ossagon Trail. I pull into the Ah-Pah Interpretive Trail about 3:30 pm and I’m the only car here. From the interpretive sign: “Several years ago, a logging road cut through this forest. Built in the 1940’s, Ah Pah Road altered nature’s design. Redwood National and State Parks landmark watershed restoration program removed the road in 1995. Road removal uncovers nature’s design and allows ecosystems to recover.”
“Early restoration efforts included planting thousands of trees in hopes that a new forest would stabilize the eroding landscape. Park scientists quickly realized that the best way to remove a road is with the same heavy equipment used to build it. Rich topsoil – buried during the road construction – is uncovered and placed on the surface to speed revegetation.”
“In 1995, excavators pulled dirt from the creek, uncovering the original streambed and letting the water flow downslope as it did before. Over time, seeds from the surrounding forest colonized the soil.”
This short trail is a wonderful lesson in restoration and is educational for all. The terrain is pretty flat and there’s lots of cool trees for viewing and climbing around. There’s still some open areas of the forest so you can easily see the different rates of forest recovery.
In a real ‘aha moment’, I learn that the old Ah Pah road used to connect to East Ridge Road that I just hiked on as part of the Hope Creek Ten Taypo Loop AKA Tremendous Trunk Trail. And the East Ridge Road used to be a connector between Ah Pah Road and Cal Barrel Road. The Cal Barrel Road is the only one still in use, during the summer months only.
Journey Return 