Ahwahnee Hills Regional Park
Ahwahnee Hills Regional Park The Ahwahnee Hills Regional Park is a 400-acre nature park in the community of Ahwahnee on Highway 49 in Madera County. It serves as a natural oak habitat resource for recreation and education for Madera County and the surrounding counties. Entrance to the park is free for individuals. Fee required to reserve space or conduct events. The park will be open daily from 8:00 a.m. until dusk Wednesday through Sunday, with pedestrian access Mondays and Tuesdays via the Wasuma gate. Dogs must be kept leashed at all times.
Nelder Grove - Shadow of the Giants
The Nelder Grove's five trails feature many highlights similar to those found in Yosemite's much more heavily visited Mariposa Grove, including a whanging great tree (the Bull Buck Sequoia) that rivals the Grizzly Giant in size; a tree you can walk through (the Chimney Tree); and a variety of second-billing mature sequoias that are not remarkable in any way other than being bigger than 99% of the trees in our solar system and older than the Magna Carta. Hiking the Shadow of the Giants trail is a singularly peaceful experience that doesn't have an equivalent in the Mariposa Grove.
Lewis Creek - Corlieu Falls
Two miles outside of Oakhurst, headed up Hwy 41 towards Yosemite you will find this trailhead. Two waterfalls bookending the Lewis Creek trail. Corlieu Falls, downstream from the trailhead, is an 80 foot (25 meter) series of cascades in a narrow canyon. Red Rock Falls is much shorter, at about 20 feet (6 meters), but compensates in width and concentration of power. The trail is framed by ferns and mossy rocks, evergreens and dogwoods. Its a shady environment on a hot summer day.
Lewis Creek - Red Rock Falls
Red Rock Falls is much shorter, at about 20 feet (6 meters), but compensates in width and concentration of power.
Missing Bridge Alert: Shortly into the Red Rock Falls hike, the trail crosses the creek via a wooden bridge. Or it used to, anyway. The bridge was designated unsafe and removed in 2015; shortly afterwards, someone installed a series of stumps you could walk across. Over the winter of 2015/16, though, the stumps washed away, and now you either have to wade across or try one of a few tenuous log crossings up or downstream. The forest service reports that they hope to install a new bridge in 2016, but they have to wait for the plans to receive NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) approval. Any progress will get reported on the Sierra National Forest’s SOPA (Schedule Of Proposed Actions – government agencies do love their acronyms) page. They don’t intend to replace the stump crossing in the interim, though the original one might not have been their work anyway – the people I’ve talked to at the forest service didn’t seem to know it existed.
Note that this only applies to the Red Rock trail; the Corlieu Falls trail is still intact.
CLOSURE ALERT: The Shadow of the Giants Trail was heavily damaged by the Railroad Fire in the fall of 2017 and the forest service expects it to be closed until at least May of 2019
Our Location & Contact Information
Please call during these hours for questions or to make a reservation.