Tips for Henry Coe

[terrapin]

I've hiked most of the trails in the park over the years, almost always in spring, and I've never had a problem with ticks. I always wear long pants and long sleeves for all my hiking so it's not a big deal to brush them off. Poison oak can be an issue depending on where you go. If you're on a maintained trail or certainly a road, it's avoidable. But some trails, particularly in the Orestimba Wilderness, see almost no maintenance. They got cleared out during the last fire but that was in 2020 and the poison oak (and chaparral) has definitely returned. I got a bad case of poison oak on the Pinto Creek Trail in 2018 or so, but that was basically a 2-mile bushwhack and exposure was unavoidable.

That said, if you can get to the Orestimba, do so. You really get a feeling of remoteness. Maybe skip the Pinto Creek Trail (or not...I haven't been on it since the fire), but Red Creek, Robison Creek, and Hartman Trails are wonderful. Climbing the Mt. Stakes Trail from Red Creek is fantastic, and there's an unnamed "road" you can descend to Robison Creek in order to avoid Pinto Creek.

[paul]

If I end up going my plan would be to work out a route that leaves me flexibility so that if I get to a trail and it looks like a poison oak nightmare, I can back off and take a road instead. Given that it will all be new to me, I am not too fussed about getting to any particular spot.