To celebrate my 71st birthday, wife Billie, daughter Ciara, and dogs Baxster and Tiny joined me for a hike on one of John Springer’s favorite trails. East Weaver Creek Trail follows its beautiful namesake creek, and the scenery never disappoints.
This time of the year, the drive on Highway 299 en route to Weaveaverville is especially enjoyable. On the Redding side of Buckhorn Summit, the roadside flowers included woolly sunflowers and yarrow. Once you cross over the summit, you see deerbrush in bloom and the occasional Pacific dogwood with its large white flowers.
The three flowers which most impressed us on this hike were checker lily, fairy slippers, and California groundcones.
Also impressive were the orange honeysuckle, false Solomon’s-seal, Pacific bleeding hearts, and broadleaf lupine.
To get to the East Weaver Creek Trailhead, drive to Weaverville. Take Highway 3 north by turning right off of Highway 299. Proceed 1.6 miles until you come to East Weaver Creek Road. Turn left and proceed another 1.6 miles until you come to the campground. Here you will find a good trail map on a large sign board. You may begin hiking here or continue to drive another 0.5 miles up the road and park at a pullout on the left side of the dirt road, as we did.
We logged about four miles on our out-and-back hike. There is roughly 400 feet of elevation gain on this well-shaded trail under a canopy of mostly Douglas-firs and ponderosa pines. Look for a creek crossing via a rustic bridge made of local timbers. Be advised that there are several intersecting trails along the way. Just keep to the trail that stays near or parallels East Weaver Creek. -Chris Harvey