Butano State Park
Hike Review
Cassie and I hiked in a clockwise pattern around the park. We hiked up the Six Bridges Trail, Mill Jackson Trail, Jackson Flats Trail, Butano Fire Road, Indian Trail, Olmo Fire Road, Doe Ridge Trail, Goat Hill Trail, then back to the car via the Six Bridges Trail.
Of those trails, the Fire Roads were double-track trails that were nicely graded, but which were exposed to the elements. For example, conditions on Butano Fire Road were harsh during our hike—there was a stretch where we were pelted by a deluge of water as well as 40+ mph winds. The other trails were single-track trails which all had lots of vegetation and life. Of note, Jackson Flats Trail had the most amount of newts, as we saw more than 20 on that trail alone. Doe Ridge Trail also stood out to us, as we saw more than 200 banana slugs on this trail alone.
Overall, we saw 337 Banana slugs and 37 California newts during our hike. We were so surprised to see so many, though given that it was a rainy day, perhaps it would not have been surprising to those more familiar with this area.
There was a collection box for the parking fee, which we paid in cash. We did not see any rangers during our time in the park.
What I Learned
Maybe I should have expected it, but 337 Banana slugs was way out of what we thought was possible. It was a rainy day, but we thought we’d be lucky to see 50 creatures in total. Instead, we ended up counting 374 Banana slugs and California newts. Crazy!
One of the key reasons why we hiked Butano State Park was to see the ghost airfield. But when we got there, it was underwhelming. It’s just a quarter-mile (or so) long, flat, and straight landing strip. That’s it. There isn’t much to do except walk on it, which is what we did after a minute or so.
What Happened?
9.8 miles, 4 hrs 38 mins, 1871 ft of ascent
I had hiked Purisima Creek Redwoods the day before, and Cassie wanted to hike among giant redwoods. But I didn’t want to hike the same trail or park in a row, so we decided to head to Butano instead. Here, we thought we’d see a ghost airfield and hopefully see lots of green trees. Unlike the day before, though, the forecast guaranteed rain, so we dressed appropriately and headed to the park.
After a long drive through Santa Cruz, we arrived at an empty park, where we paid our parking fee and started our hike. The hike itself was made especially fun as we lost our minds counting the number of creatures we saw—our counts went higher and higher and we were laughing in disbelief. However, the harsh conditions on Butano Fire Road put a damper on our fun, but it was just an 1-hour stretch. Once we got back underneath trees on Indian Trail, conditions were not so bad and we had fun again.
I would rate Butano highly as despite the wind and the rain, walking in a redwood forest in the rain is just a beautiful thing. Because of the specific conditions in a redwood forest, there always seems to be a fog that one needs to wade through, and it makes the entire enterprise a magical one.
