http://www.everytrail.com/guide/berry-creek-falls-loop-at-big-basin-redwoods-state-park
On sunny weekend in California, I decided to take a hike with some colleagues also visiting from Zurich. I was quite surprised to find a nice forest so close to Mountain View. It was a 1hr drive and the plan was to pick some lunch on the way. If we were going to drive an hour we were going to find a subway or something on the way. But we actually ended up on a windy forest road right as we got out of small town of Saratoga. I was thankful that I had bought chips and whole bunch of bars before starting on the hike. They were going to be very handy for lunch for all 6 of us!
Driving on the windy road was fun, though I missed my Scion tC, it would have been so much fun to drive it on that road, kind of like going to Snowqualmie falls. The Dodge rental was driving like a truck. We still made it safely to the trailhead. We paid the state park fee, and asked about the trail conditions. Some reviews online suggested we do the loop anti-clockwise as it leads to less uphills. The ranger suggested we do it clockwise. We decided to do that as it also gave opportunity to turn back after the falls is people don't feel very strong to make another 6 miles. I was quite glad we did that. First 4 miles were mostly downhill. We saw a lot of huge trees on the way, most with split trunks, perfect places to setup a tent inside! View of the falls was great. I was expecting lot more water due to recent rains. At the falls to very brave souls decided to take a dip in ice-cold water and survived. We took a short food break. Everyone was feeling quite strong, so we decided to march on for another 6 miles.
The loop this way was better because we got to gain major height using stairs next to the falls. All the falls looked great. Once out of the falls we somehow ended up in a open desert-like area, somewhat above the tree line. It was a interesting surprise after walking though wet redwoods. The way back was full of rolling hills. The original description said 1000ft, but I am sure it was more than 2000ft of cumulative elevation gain, but spread over a long distance so it was not so bad. After taking more food breaks, we finally reached back to the trailhead, still smiling.
Driving on the windy road was fun, though I missed my Scion tC, it would have been so much fun to drive it on that road, kind of like going to Snowqualmie falls. The Dodge rental was driving like a truck. We still made it safely to the trailhead. We paid the state park fee, and asked about the trail conditions. Some reviews online suggested we do the loop anti-clockwise as it leads to less uphills. The ranger suggested we do it clockwise. We decided to do that as it also gave opportunity to turn back after the falls is people don't feel very strong to make another 6 miles. I was quite glad we did that. First 4 miles were mostly downhill. We saw a lot of huge trees on the way, most with split trunks, perfect places to setup a tent inside! View of the falls was great. I was expecting lot more water due to recent rains. At the falls to very brave souls decided to take a dip in ice-cold water and survived. We took a short food break. Everyone was feeling quite strong, so we decided to march on for another 6 miles.
The loop this way was better because we got to gain major height using stairs next to the falls. All the falls looked great. Once out of the falls we somehow ended up in a open desert-like area, somewhat above the tree line. It was a interesting surprise after walking though wet redwoods. The way back was full of rolling hills. The original description said 1000ft, but I am sure it was more than 2000ft of cumulative elevation gain, but spread over a long distance so it was not so bad. After taking more food breaks, we finally reached back to the trailhead, still smiling. 
