Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Spring often brings windy, fogless days, exposing a dramatic convergence of land and sea.
Trip Description
The signed
Buckeye Trailhead
(230') lies just west of the abandoned ranger station's
dilapidated garage. You'll cross a cattle guard and climb behind the station to a gated
barbwire fence. Be sure to close the gate behind you.
After a steep, short climb past interwoven branches of poison oak and morning
glory, the trail reaches a piped
spring
(0.2 mile, 410') that pours into large metal bar-
rels. Continue climbing along a minor ridge to open slopes of fragrant coastal scrub,
including sagebrush, yarrow, hedge nettle, and ceanothus. The ridge leads to a minor
saddle (0.5 mile, 760') directly above Highway 1 for spectacular, unobstructed views
of the coast.
From the saddle, the trail crosses arid slopes flanked with open grasslands and
scattered yuccas, climbing northwest past a barbwire fence to the
Soda Springs Trail
junction
(1 mile, 860'). While the
Soda Springs Trail
leads a half mile to Highway
1, offering a shorter route to Buckeye Camp, the trail is steeper and often overgrown.
Past the junction, the trail crosses a bay-lined minor gully, which in wet season
supports a small waterfall 30 feet northeast of the trail. You'll quickly cross three
