My dog Baxster and I did a four-mile, out-and-back hike on the Princess Ditch Trail, Redding. The flowers are spectacular; you should do yourself a favor and walk this trail, too!
To get there, drive west on Placer Street toward Igo until you come to Muletown Road. Turn right and proceed for a bit less than half a mile until you see the Oak Knoll parking area on the left-hand side of the road. Park, then cross the road and begin a beautiful walk on the dirt trail that gradually winds uphill. About a quarter of a mile into the walk, there is a trail sign that shows the Princess Ditch Trail to the left. There is an elevation gain of about 300 feet over the first one and one-half miles before the trail tops out and leads you downward to a small stream. This is about the two-mile mark and is where Baxster and I turned around and headed back.
Some of the flowers I saw (and remember) were Henderson’s shooting stars, hound’s-tongue, Pacific sanicle, scarlet fritillaries, blue dicks, pussy ears, snub peas, chocolate lilies (Fritillaria affinis), common lomatium, showy phlox, purple sanicle, sky lupine, silver lupine, and western redbud.
The shooting stars and hound’s-tongue are fading fast, but other flowers will be blooming soon, I’m sure.
If you are interested in a bit of history concerning the Princess Ditch, type into any search engine on your smartphone or computer, mystery and history of princess ditch. -Chris Harvey
