Sky-Bear Valley Loop

Distance : 10.8miles(17.4km)total This varied hike takes youthrough dense forest, meadows, coastal scrub, and coastal grasslands, starting with an uphill climb on the east side of Inverness Ridge to a ridgetop with ocean views. Follow the forested ridgelineto the coastline, and return on amostlyflat trail through Bear Valley.This area was burned in 2020, when lightning strikes in the Woodward Valley started what became the Woodward Fire . Start at the Bear Valley Trailhead and follow the relatively flat Bear Valley Trail south. A short distance beyond a sign indicating you are entering the Phillip Burton Wilderness , you will get to choose between two routes that will lead you to the Sky Trail along the crest of Inverness Ridge. Turn right on to the Mount Wittenberg Trail 0.2 miles (0.3 km) from the trailhead if you want a more strenuous ascent of about 1,130 feet (~340 m) over a distance of 1.8 miles (2.9 km). While the Woodward Fire burned along most of the length of the Mount Wittenberg Trail, it primarily burned in the understory and left most of the canopy of the Douglas fir forest intact. As a result, there are very few far-reaching views from this trail until you reach the ridge crest. Remain on the Mount Wittenberg Trail at the Z Ranch Trail junction, which is located at the highest point along this route with an elevation of 1270 feet (385 m).* From the crest of Inverness Ridge along the western 0.4 mile-long (0.6-kilometer-long) leg of the Mount Wittenberg Trail, you may be rewarded (weather dependent) with views looking west across the peninsula to the Pacific Ocean. The Mount Wittenberg Trail intersects with the Sky Trail 0.4 miles (0.6 km) beyond the Z Ranch Trail junction and 2.4 miles (3.8 km) from the Bear Valley Trailhead. *From Mount Wittenberg-Z Ranch Trail junction, the 0.3-mile-long (0.5-kilometer-long) Mount Wittenberg Summit Trailleads, as its name suggests, to the summit of MountWittenberg (elevation 1407 feet (426 m). The once unobstructed views from near the summit have, since 2000, become obstructed by dense Douglas fir thickets that sprouted shortly after the 1995 Vision Fire . While the 2020 Woodward Fire burned through much of the forest around Mount Wittenberg, the view-obstructing Douglas fir thickets were largely left unscathed. So, without being rewarded withviews for their effort, many hikers pass on ascending the Mount Wittenberg Summit Trail. Turn right on to the Meadow Trail 0.8 miles (1.3 km) from the trailhead if you want a slightly easier climb over Inverness Ridge. Similar to the Mount Wittenberg Trail, the Woodward Fire mostly impacted the understory of the forest along the Meadow Trail. While the trail does pass through a fairly large meadow (after which the trail was named), views from the meadow are of forested hillsides less than a mile distant. The Meadow Trail ascends about 840 feet (~255 m) over a distance of 1.6 miles (2.6 km) before intersecting with the Sky Trail 2.4 miles (3.8 km)from the Bear Valley Trailhead. The elevation at this intersection is ~1080 feet (~327 m). Both the Mount Wittenberg Trail and the Meadow Trail intersect the Sky Trail at the same large trail junction. Turn left (south) on to the Sky Trail and follow it for 3.9 miles (6.2 km) to its junction with the Coast Trail. Once hemmed in by a ~six-foot-tall (~two-meter-tall) hedge of huckleberry bushes, the Woodward Fire cleared out most of the shrubs and a lot of the lower branches of the trees in this area so that this section of trail feels a bit more open than it did before 2020. And, as a result of the fire, there are many more far-reaching views from the Sky Trail. Turning south on to the Coast Trail leads in 0.5miles (0.8 km ) to the Coast Trail-Bear Valley Trail junction. Turn left on to the Bear Valley Trail and follow it 4 miles (6.4 km) east and north back to the Bear Valley Trailhead parking lot. The Bear Valley Trail has a gentle grade as it first follows Coast Creek to Divide Meadow and then...