Clear Creek Trail in Clear Creek Greenway, Redding, is an easy-access local trail that we were unfamiliar with. So we sought to remedy that on this particular Sunday, despite the short daylight hours and unsettled weather.
We started from Gold Dredge Trailhead, which is ~2.5 miles west along Clear Creek Road from Highway 273. It’s the eastern-most trailhead for Clear Creek Trail, has lots of parking and pit toilets. It also has a lot of trash strewn about, giving it an an unsavory feel. Indeed, the whole section along Clear Creek Road in this vicinity seems battered and abused; we did not have high hopes for this hike.
We are delighted to report that we were very wrong! It turned out to be a wonderfully fun trail. Most of the time, the trail is quite close to the creek, and there are many places one can access the water.
In fact, along one stretch, the trail was under water, probably because of very recent rains, and it was easy enough to find a way around.
It is also a mostly flat trail, except for a place or two where it climbs out of the creek’s flood plain, into hills vegetated with larger riparian trees such as valley and canyon live oaks, and knobcone, ponderosa, and gray pines.
In the flats near the creek grow numerous willows, brambles, and grasses—all in their winter garb now, of course. Close to Gold Dredge Trailhead, there are several restoration plantings in evidence. Some areas appear to be very newly planted, others quite mature. Overall, it felt to us that the work that BLM has done here has not gone to waste!
The rain we expected did not arrive, and we were having such a jolly good time exploring this trail that in a flash we found ourselves at Clear Creek Gorge Overlook and Trailhead, ~4 miles upstream from Gold Dredge Trailhead. This is a very nice and well developed trailhead with paved parking, toilets, picnic benches, interpretive signs, and viewing areas. Even if you don’t hike, this trailhead is worth a stop just to watch Clear Creek as it churns through the narrow, rocky gorge.
About halfway between Gold Dredge and Clear Creek Gorge trailheads, Clear Creek Trail is intersected by a trail from Honeybee Trailhead, which gives hikers many more options in terms of hike lengths. We did not visit Honeybee Trailhead—there was too much to see on Clear Creek Trail without taking a detour!
We highly recommend this local, under-used trail, and we look forward to returning once spring arrives. ~Laurie & Don Burk