Skunk Hollow Trail Eldorado County

May 07, 2022

A fairly recently completed trail completes the link between the Folsom Lake area and two big parks to the north.  It is time to check it out.

Salmon Falls Bridge

Boats on both sides of the bridge

Starting out

As expected at this time of year, my camera is called into action right away.

Rose Clover
Sticky Monkeyflower

Western Morning Glory
Summer Vetch

Woolly Sunflower
Woolly Indian Paintbrush

Spreading Hedge Parsley

I already have shot a lot of flowers in just the first few hundred yards of trail.  A couple dozen hikers have been compelled to avoid trampling me as I crouch beside the narrow path.

The smell of creosote confirms a recent construction

On the other side of the bridge, the route takes on a whole new personality

Chamise
Globe Lily

Ragwort
Peninsula Onion

Sonoma Sage
White Pitcher Sage

The route has looped back near the parking lot

From here, the only flowers I see at all for quite a while are some blue dicks.  There being little else to view, this trail has become singularly uninteresting.

I pass a family of six who are stopped on the hot, dusty trail itself for a break and a snack.  The boy is whacking bushes with a stick, for lack of something more exciting to do.

Hard-skinned Puffball

After nearly a mile more of staring at orange bicycle-friendly switchbacks, I lose all interest in continuing.  Cronan Ranch Regional Trails Park is about three miles up the way, but I had not intended to travel that far anyway.  Virtually all that is to be seen on this trail already is in view, and the river is not part of it.

Turning around here

Eventually the flowers return

These two guys are but a quarter-inch wide:

Dovesfoot Cranebill
Hairy Pink

Silverpuffs
Lesser Hawkbit

This was a Silverpuffs
This was a Hawkbit

Start of the South Fork

The end of Folsom Lake

§: Well, beside the creek at the start of the trail, the photo-ops were great; but the party pretty much ended there.  Once the flowers disappear and the temperatures rise, this area will hold interest only for occasional diehard mountain biker heading up to Cronan Ranch.  Anyone hoping for a walk that actually includes the South Fork American River will be highly disappointed.

I am glad that I explored this new trail today, and it had to to be done; but it won't happen again.  My generous hike rating was influenced particularly by the discovery of the exquisite Sonoma Sage.

• Trailhead: Salmon Falls Bridge, 6 miles south of Pilot Hill on Salmon Falls Road
• Distance: 3 miles
• Elevation gain: 380'
• Hikers: 40+
• Rating: 3 (more if you're a flower photographer)

Scenery
Difficulty
Personality
Adventure
Flowers

ADDENDUM

Something wonderful actually did occur here today.  When crossing the bridge back to the parking lot, I found a big set of keys lying on the pavement.  Pressing the button on the remote caused a nearby horn to sound.  Eureka!  I opened the car and placed the keys on the inside floor, together with a calling card and a brief explanation.

Within a few short hours, the car's owner sent an email thanking me for my "uncommon honesty", and that made my day.  I'm guessing that it made hers as well.