LET’S GO HIKING – Sequoia Trail: Part 2

By TIM WILCOX

Special to the Alpine Mountaineer

 

Where: Heaps Peak Arboretum

Length: .8-mile loop

Elevation gain: 122 feet (from mid-trail)

Challenge: easy

 

Signaling a break for winter, this will be the last “Let’s Go Hiking” offering until spring 2024. It seems altogether appropriate, then, to revisit the setting where we launched the column last July: the Sequoia Trail at Heaps Peak Arboretum.

Conducting an informal trail census from Silverwood Lake to Green Valley Lake, we can confidently claim that this route has only one rival for the most popular trail in the western San Bernardino Mountains. If you guessed Heart Rock in Crestline, you’re absolutely right. These iconic hiking destinations are the two most frequently visited trails in our area. In particular, the Sequoia Trail is a favorite among local alpine-exercise enthusiasts and dog-walking devotees. Along with its setting, 30-acre Heaps Peak Arboretum (HPA), it draws thousands of visitors each year from down the hill and beyond.

When we last visited, HPA delighted visitors with its usual warm-weather palette of colorful wildflowers, fully leafed deciduous trees and robust evergreens. While the pines and firs have done a lot of seasonal shedding, they remain mostly green. But the wildflowers are gone, and the oaks with their broad-leafed siblings are mostly bare. Still, this is definitely a site worth visiting as fall segues to winter. Increased atmospheric clarity enhances views of nearby ridges, more distant mountains and high-desert communities to the east. And the trail itself, absent spring and summer’s lush foliage of trees and shrubs, feels much more open.

For this encore visit, we won’t share our usual detailed narration of the trail, from start to finish. We’ll simply note that the nearly one-mile, beaten-earth route descends gently to the halfway point (Joe’s Creek Bridge, just past the big boulders), then rises gradually through several switchbacks until it reaches the trail’s No. 1 attraction: the largest grove of giant sequoias (Sequoia gigantea) in the San Bernardino Mountains. These splendid trees are nothing compared to the world-famous sequoias up north, some of which are more than 3,000 years old. Sequoias aren’t native to Southern California, and the arboretum’s stand was planted in the 1930s. That means they’re babies. As you’ll see, however, they’re big babies.

As another “memo,” this is obviously a short trail, and more ambitious hikers are in the habit of tracing its contours two or three times. If you feel inspired to do so, consider changing directions on the loop – clockwise, then counter-clockwise – to make your outing even more interesting.

From dumping ground to mountain treasure

Finally, to augment appreciation for this mountain treasure, here’s a historical sketch that was originally composed for ROWIA by yours truly:

In the late 1800s, the site that’s now Heaps Peak Arboretum was anything but a haven for trees, shrubs, flowers and wildlife. Fred Heaps owned a ranch on this location and, when he died, his nephew built a lumber-harvesting operation – an ironic use of land that would ultimately become the arboretum.

After the devastating Helva-Sugar Fire in 1922, seven acres of land on the Heaps Peak site became the California Forest Experiment Station. Trees from all over the west, both evergreen and deciduous, were planted for field testing along the denuded slopes. That experiment was a resounding success.

A significant investment of time and energy by members of the Lake Arrowhead Women’s Club and also local elementary school students helped restore the remaining 23 acres of the arboretum. Throughout the 1930s they planted countless conifer seedlings provided by the Forest Service. The trees took root. They grew and fostered new trees. That section of the forest was reborn!

Then, in 1982, the Forest Service authorized the Mountain Chapter of the San Bernardino County Museum Association to develop Heaps Peak Arboretum. Community members led by educator George Hesemann worked tirelessly to make their shared dream a reality. Officially opened on June 30, 1984, the arboretum is a beautiful and enduring example of what dedicated volunteers can accomplish.

NOTES: Open daily from dawn to dusk, Heaps Peak Arboretum is located at 29358 Rim of the World Hwy. 18, east of Skyforest and beyond SkyPark about one-half mile. A Forest Service Adventure Pass ($5 daily, $30 annual) is required for parking in the arboretum’s large lot. Weather permitting, volunteers in the site’s information booth welcome visitors from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekends.