These two parks are easily combined into the beautiful day hike. There are a lot of variations in the web, and I found that redwoodhikes.com has very detailed trail map with the marked viewpoints, campsites, benches and trailheads. That day I used this one as a reference.

We started the hike from Portola Redwoods State Park headquarters and followed Coyote Ridge Trail – Upper Coyote Ridge Trail – Tarwater Trail – Pomponio Trail to headquarters.
The first two miles we hiked uphill trough the second grown redwoods.


On the upper part of the Ridge as soon as you start to see parallel ridge through the windows in the woods, it will be a sign that you are almost on the very top and soon will reach the entrance to Pescadero Creek County park. There is a nice view over hills up to the wooded ridges.

Then the trail goes to the abandoned shed under the huge eucalyptus.

And then again trail returns to the woods.

We used to hike in 2-3 hours before sunset. It’s a nice opportunity to check sunset in the mountains. The only way to get to the Portola Redwoods is a Portola State Park road from Alpine Road. Both routes are very scenic with a lot of pull offs with awesome breathtaking views.