Come celebrate Earth Day by hiking to Fairy Falls in Specenville Wildlife Area on Saturday, April 20 from 10am – 2:30pm PST, which includes travel to and from the trailhead. The actual hike will be from 11am – 2pm PST.

This hike is for anyone who is looking to explore our local trails and get outside to appreciate all that nature provides us. This is a great trail in early spring when the waterfall is rushing and the wildflowers are blooming.

Carpooling:

For those who want to carpool, we will meet at 10am to organize cars to drive to the trailhead together. The road to the trailhead is not great, so we recommend carpooling to reduce the impact on the road and for those who have sedans or 2WD cars. For carpooling, we will meet at the downtown Grass Valley Safeway parking lot in the corner where the freeway entrance starts. You will see a group of people gathered with a Sierra Club outings sign. For those who already have a full car or prefer not to carpool, meet us at the trailhead at 11am PST.

Getting there:

The hike starts at Beale Falls trailhead, right off Spenceville Road. There is a parking lot at the trailhead where we will meet. It takes about 35 minutes to get to the trailhead from downtown Nevada City or Grass Valley. From Grass Valley, Take Highway 20 west past Penn Valley. At the Dollar General store on the left, turn left onto Hammonton/Smartsville Road. In about a mile, take the left fork at the ‘Y”. This is Chuck Yeager Road. In several miles, you’ll come to Waldo Road on the left. It’s gravel and usually pretty rough (washboard). Follow past the shooting range, the steel bridge and at he ‘Y’ take the left option again. The trailhead is at the end of the road.

The details:

At 11am we will meet at the parking lot at the Beale Falls trailhead. Please arrive at 11am to have time to sign in and get your gear ready so we can leave on time. We will do a quick introduction to meet your fellow hikers before hitting the trail. It’s 2.5 miles to get to the falls, with blue oak woodlands, rolling green hills, and open grasslands. This time of year the foothills are full of life, and this area is known for its wildflowers and over 175 bird species. Once we reach the falls, we can take a 20-minute lunch break and explore around the falls before continuing on the trail along dry creek with epic views of the falls and canyon below.  The total hike is only 5.2 miles and with very little elevation gain it is rated as an easy to intermediate hike. With a break for lunch, we estimate the hike will take 3 hours. You can find more details, the full route, and photos on Alltrails.

What to bring:

Please bring a water bottle, some snacks and a lunch for the hike. We suggest a small backpack or fanny pack to store food, water, and any other hiking essentials. This is a big wildflower and birding area, so don’t forget your reference books and binoculars if you want to check out the wildlife.

Please feel free to call or text Lauren with any questions about the hike at 630-408-0591.

Click here for more information and to register.