Cathedral Hills 1-11-23

Photos by Francie

Ashland Hiking Home

Today, seven of us drove to Grants Pass to hike in the Cathedral Hills from the Skycrest Trailhead. We saw several people with dogs coming and going, but we took a different trail than what they were using. We went in a clockwise direction around the outer trails starting on the Outback Loop trail then connected to the Hogback Trail. We then connected to the Cloverlawn Loop.

The group humored me to check out each of the main trailheads and we went down the steep Walker Trail to the Walker trailhead, which is not signed, but has a nice parking lot. I don't remember if there is a bathroom there. It is in more of a residential area. We then turned around for our steepest climb of the day and went back up the way we came down.

We again continued on the Cloverlawn Loop to the Lower Hogsback Trail to the Backside Loop. About 2.75 miles into the hike, it started to rain. We then went down to the Epsey Trailhead. This is the most common and busiest trailhead with a parking lot and bathroom. We ate our lunch at a picnic table. We had a short lunch as the rain continued.

We continued around the Outback Loop and connected to the Ponderosa Pine Loop. These trails are shared with mountain bikes and we could see how some of the trails were banked up to make for fun turns on bikes. We connected back to the Outback Loop to the Timberline Trail back to the cars. The group photo was taken after the hike at the Skycrest Trail sign.

This trail system would be amazing to hike in the spring since it is loaded with wildflowers.

Francie