R) Winter Hiking Adventure
U) Moderate five miles round trip
S) Post-hike winery stop
H) Social vibe – All welcome
GET OUT & GO DETAILS BELOW:
Who knows what this weather is going to do, but with so little snow, Rushmore still gets out and goes!
ALL WELCOME to come check out Rushmore, your real life social network of very busy people, as we venture out to the Sterling Mine Trail System outside of Jacksonville.
ALL THE HIKING DETAILS:
WHO: All cool peeps welcome
VIBE: Social – Easy going – Fun
CARPOOL: Schoolhaus Brewhaus in Jacksonville, 10am
HIKE DIFFICULTY: Mostly flat 5 miles round trip
WHAT TO BRING: water, layers, snacks
POST HIKE FUN: Schoolhaus / Quady North Winery
SPECIFIC HIKING ROUTE: we will begin at the Bear Gulch trailhead and travel to the Tunnel Ridge trailhead
and back along Little Applegate Road.
MORE ON THE TRAIL SYSTEM CLICK HERE
THE TRAIL: The Bear Gulch loop is about 5 miles. Start along the creek for less than a mile (feels like more) and then through some oak to the actual ditch trail. There is no longer water in that ditch but… it is level. Level trails are the best. Turn right and go about 2 miles. Before you reach the Tunnel Ridge Trail, the actual tunnel is to your left.
It is 3 feet tall and you can crawl the 50 yards to the other side. No bats or bears. But the trail downhill is also right there. Turn right and you have a mile through grassy hillsides down to the road. Turn right and hike another mile along the road to your car.
DRIVING DIRECTIONS to BEAR GULCH TRAILHEAD: Take 238 E/W for 7.8 miles. Turn left on Upper Applegate Rd. for 2.8 miles. Turn right on Little Applegate Rd. for 9 miles.
Turn left towards Buncom. The Anderson Gulch Trail Head comes up in about 5 miles. A small brown sign on the right points left to “The Sterling Mine Trail”. Turn there and follow the signs for a mile.
Reach the Bear Gulch, continue on Sterling Creek Road and in Buncom (Spoiler Alert – It’s not a town, it’s just an intersection. Don’t even expect a Minute Mart) you dead end into, and turn left on Little Applegate Road. That becomes a gravel road – albeit a very well maintained gravel road – and in 3 miles, on your left, is the Bear Gulch Trailhead.
The Rushmore Society is your real life social network of very busy people on the move through Adventure, Connection and Play. Do More, Live More, Rushmore.
