Garland Ranch Regional Park is a 4,500 acre park near Carmel Valley and the northern end of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range. A variety of landscapes exist, including thick oak woodland, chaparral, grassland, and even a side canyon with redwoods. The canyons are lush and cool while the ridges are exposed and provide spectacular views of the Monterey Bay Area and Santa Lucia Mountains. There is a nice waterfall in this park and I would like to return after a heavy rain to see it in full flow.
On this day, we hiked the Terrace Trail above Garzas Creek and then the Redwood Trail. The Terrace Trail features excellent views of Garzas Creek Canyon and Carmel Valley. In addition, the trail passes through gorgeous oak woodland with lichen draping everything and a ferns covering the understory. The redwood trail travels through a side canyon off Garzas Creek and has mainly second growth redwoods. The lower part of the Redwood Trail follows Garzas Creek and includes four creek crossings. The small wooden bridges are removed in the winter so we had to rock hop to get across to avoid getting wet. Ferns and moss cover everything, and combined with recent rains, the setting was extremely lush and the ambient air was refreshing.
Many more photos after the jump!
Leor Pantilat's Adventures