The Beautiful Outdoors at Byrne-Milliron Forest

November 20, 2020

Being active and getting outdoors is important for healthy living. Especially now, with so many families being stuck at home due to the Coronavirus, the outdoors is more important than ever!

One of the ways that our family gets moving is hiking. We recently hiked at Byrne-Milliron Forest in Corralitos, CA. Haven’t heard of Corralitos before? That’s ok, you’re not alone! Corralitos is a small town in the redwoods of Santa Cruz County.

The Byrne-Milliron Forest is a 402-acre forest and part of the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County. There are multiple hiking trails and a view that you won’t want to miss.

Hiking Trails

The main hiking trail, Byrne Trail, is fairly flat and wide as well as easily accessible. Hiking any of the loops on the main trail is a beginner level hike.

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New Leonard Bartle Trail

If you are looking for a more challenging hike, there are plenty of trails to take from the main trail. On our hike, we took the New Leonard Bartle Trail, which lead us to the ‘Cathedral Rest Spot’ and Porcupine Hollow.

The New Leonard Bartle Trail is definitely for experienced hikers. We really didn’t know what we were getting into when we turned onto the trail. When we kept hiking down farther and farther, we realized that we would eventually have to go back up!

At the bottom of the trail, is the ‘Cathedral Rest Spot’. There is an area of momentos that hikers have left over the years. In addition, there is a mailbox with notebooks that hikers have written in during their visit. It’s was a fun little discovery that we weren’t expecting.

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The hike out of the New Leonard Bartle Trail was rigorous. It was straight up. I consider my husband and I in pretty good shape, and we had to pace ourselves and rest along the way.

AJ’s Point of View

If you only hike one trail, you HAVE to hike up to AJ’s Point of View. The trail to get there, Rattlesnake Trail, is a moderate hike. It’s not as flat as Bryne Trail but not difficult either.

Once you get there, there is the most amazing view of Pajaro Valley and Monterey Bay; pictured below. However, this photo does not do it justice!

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There are a few trails that we didn’t get to on our first visit. I have no doubts that we will go back again. One of the hikes that we want to complete is the hike to the ‘Great White’ Redwood Tree.

As always, we used our Gaia GPS to help navigate our way. Gaia keeps track of our distance, elevation and location. We simply access the trail map from the Gaia map and we always know where to go!

A Few Things to Note

The road up to the parking lot at Byrne-Milliron Forest is very narrow and has private property on it. Please drive slowly and carefully on your way in and out.

Land Trust of Santa Cruz County does ask that you register your visit with you can do from your smart phone when you get there.

More Hiking…

Getting outdoors and hiking is easy in Santa Cruz! There are many great hiking spots to visit. Below you will find links to some of our other favorite hiking spots in the area:

Beautiful Ocean Views and Hiking – Wilder Ranch – Santa Cruz, CA

Experience Beautiful Hikes at UC Santa Cruz

Hiking Trails at Nisene Marks – Aptos, CA

Hiking Trails at Pfeiffer State Park – Big Sur, CA

hiking

By

Carrie Marie

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