Parking
Use the marked Bertsch Avenue trailhead parking area near the west end of Howland Hill Road. Mill Creek Campground is a separate access.
Overview
About Mill Creek Horse Trail
Why go
- A bright old-growth grove and Mill Creek add variety to the long route.
- Ridge sections open views toward Crescent City and Crescent Beach.
Heads up
- Steep grades and switchbacks make the full loop strenuous.
- Seasonal fords change the route, and several junctions need map attention.
Map & elevation
The route
Loading the Redwood map
Full mapElevation171–1,076 ft
Plan your hike
Before you go
Parking
Best time to go
Safety
6 active Redwood alerts
- ClosureBald Hills Road, Mill Creek and 44 Creek restrictionsMentions Mill Creek, referenced in this guideUse caution on damaged Bald Hills Road and plan around Mill Creek and 44 Creek access restrictions.Official details
- CautionU.S. 101 construction traffic controlsExpect construction-related traffic stops and one-way controlled traffic on U.S. 101; allow extra time and drive cautiously. - NPS reports multiple stops between Orick and Crescent City; delays vary.Official details
The highest, rockiest slopes around here are a summer buffet for grizzly bears.
Redwood Tour Guide
Your drive to Mill Creek Horse Trail, narrated.
Parkwolf is a GPS audio tour guide for Redwood National Park. As you drive, it chimes in with what’s ahead: hidden gems, upcoming stops, history, geology, and wildlife, right through your car’s speakers.
See the Redwood audio tourRecorded for this area
A Banana Slug at Work0:00 / 0:29
“If you spot a banana slug on a forest walk, look at what it's moving through. Fallen leaves, fungi, and other decaying material are food for it.”
Plays on the road 0.2 mi from the trailhead in the Parkwolf Redwood Tour Guide.
More stories near here in the app
- Hollow and Still Growing
- The Elk's Second Chew
- The Tsunami That Changed Downtown
- Boy Scout Tree and Fern Falls
- 85 audio storiesacross Redwood’s roads, triggered by GPS as you drive
- Wildlife heatmapsfor Black Bear, Elk, California Condor, and 13 more
- Works offlinemaps, 83 trails, 48 places, and audio download before you lose signal
- CarPlay readysimple controls built for the drive
“Fantastic app with many points of information… It’s great to just turn on while you’re driving and it gives you an audio tour of the national Park. We love it!!!!”
Trail guide
Hiking Mill Creek Horse Trail
A full forest dayMill Creek Horse Trail is a shared-use lollipop loop from the marked Bertsch Avenue access near…
Mill Creek Horse Trail is a shared-use lollipop loop from the marked Bertsch Avenue access near Howland Hill Road. The full route with both Mill Creek fords is about 10 miles; give it five to six hours for the steep grades, switchbacks and stops. It climbs through spruce and second-growth redwoods to the ridge, then drops to the creek and returns through forest and old logging roads. This is a long outing, not a quick grove walk. Published distances range from 7.75 to about 10 miles; this entry maps the longer, two-ford loop, so check the current trail map before starting.
From ridge to creekThe first climb runs through a spruce grove, with a few large redwoods near the top.
The first climb runs through a spruce grove, with a few large redwoods near the top. After a dirt-road stretch, singletrack descends through logged forest; around mile two, the route reaches an upland old-growth grove with salal, huckleberry, ferns and rhododendron. Expect repeated climbs and descents rather than one steady grade. Some junctions join old logging roads to narrow trail, so keep a map or GPS handy even though the route is signed.
Mill Creek and the redwoodsThe two creek crossings bring the route into its most distinctive stretch.
The two creek crossings bring the route into its most distinctive stretch. A short, bright grove of tall, straight redwoods grows on the alluvial flat just before the second ford; elsewhere, young redwoods fill an old logging corridor and screen glimpses of older trees. Mill Creek is salmon habitat, and the seasonal ford closures protect spawning fish. The watershed was protected in stages, with a small area acquired in 1968 and the rest in 2000; that history helps explain the mix of old growth and recovering logged forest. Three picnic areas are marked along the trail network.
Wildlife
Wildlife in Redwood
256 sightingsBlack BearMost seen around 7 PMSighting map
2,389 sightingsElkMost seen around 6 PMSighting map
62 sightingsCalifornia CondorMost seen around 1 PMSighting map
60 sightingsCalifornia Sea LionMost seen around 11 AMSighting map
216 sightingsHarbor SealMost seen around 10 AMSighting map
13 sightingsMountain LionMost seen around 7 PMSighting mapSighting maps show where each species has been reported across Redwood. Wildlife moves, so no sighting is guaranteed.
