Hart's Cove Trail

From the trailhead, this trail immediately descends into the forest on a set of somewhat steep (but really fun) switchbacks. After finishing the switchbacks, the trail drops into the Cliff Creek drainage and crosses a small creek over a footbridge and continues underneath a thick forest canopy. Sometimes the light breaks through more than other times, but for the most part it is very well-shaded and the trail is well-maintained, although it can get rocky and rooty in places. After getting out of the Cliff Creek drainage, you reach the end of a ridge close to the ocean where you can hear the bellowing of sea lions below, and then you drop back into another drainage (the Chitwood Creek drainage). As the trail nears Chitwood Creek, it becomes a bit more disheveled as the water has obviously taken its toll on the trail, but it's still in pretty good shape. There are some little parts that require scrambling over a large rock or a stump but for the most part it's all doable and soon enough the trail leaves the creek area anyway, and turns back into a nice, dry trail amidst the forest. Just under 2.5 miles in, the trail breaks out of the forest onto a large, steep meadow with incredible views of the ocean, and at this point you can finally see the sea lions you could hear in the forest previously, as they are all generally sitting out on the rocks in the ocean below the visible ridge to the south. If you descend through the meadow you'll be rewarded with a view of Hart's Cove, which has a beautiful waterfall cascading into the emerald green waters of the ocean below.