Big Basin to Sunset Camp via Sunset Trail is a 5.8 mile moderately trafficked point-to-point trail located near Boulder Creek, California that features a great forest setting and is rated as moderate. The trail offers a number of activity options and is accessible year-round.
backpacking
camping
hiking
nature trips
walking
forest
views
no dogs
This is an absolutely fantastic trail. We started at the park headquarters and too skyline to the sea down to Waddle Beach for the first night. Second day we came back up to Sunset camp and finished the loop on sunset trail back to headquarters. Absolutely beautiful and worth doing the full loop to see all of the waterfalls!!
I did this trip in early April with three other guys. The two days leading up to the trip, there was a decent amount of rain, so there were puddles, and the creeks/waterfalls were really flowing compared to the normal dry landscape of Big Basin.
With breaks included, it took us three hours to get to camp. I’m sure we would have shaved off a lot of time if we kept going the entire way through. There are two sections to set up camp. Campsites 1-6 are right in front of the outdoor bathroom and you have to go down a slight hill to get to campsites 7-10. We stayed at campsite 1 and had two other tents near us.
Once we set up camp, we ate lunch and continued the loop to see three of the four main waterfalls. I would highly recommend taking the full loop on day two. It took a more time to complete, but the views were amazing.
Beautiful trail through both old and new growth Redwood forests taking you to Sunset Trail Camp. Really amazed at the sudden change into a chapparal eco-system near the end of the trail where you can see Madrone growing.