Quarry Road Trail

On Black Friday, my hiking buddies and I chose to #optoutside which is a campaign ran by REI to get people outside with their loved ones instead of going shopping. I chose to hike Quarry Road Trail in Auburn, CA because it was close to home and the weather changed from rainy to just cloudy! Let me just start by saying that this hike was supposed to be an 11 mile, easy, out and back hike. However, we ended up getting lost, doing 13 miles that weren't all easy, and we never made it to the end of the hike at the Maine Bar Trail. Regardless, we had a great time, burned a lot of those Thanksgiving calories, and still got to revel in nature and all its glory.

How to get here:

To get to Quarry Trail's parking and trail head, navigate yourself to Highway 49 where you will find a bunch of trails to hike different places. I found it easiest to navigate to the "Black Hole of Calcutta Falls Trail head." When you reach the confluence, the navigation will tell you turn right. Turn right and you will find the parking for the Calcutta Falls to your right but you will keep going. Very shortly after you turn right and pass the Calcutta Falls parking, you will see a small hidden parking lot with a sign pictured below which is where you will park if space allows.

To park, you have to pay $10. Bring exact change and a pen! There are porta-potties in the parking area and by the picnic area.

We arrived at the trail head around 7:15AM and began hiking at 7:30. Beautiful views but freezing cold!

We were the first car to arrive. When we were done hiking at 1PM, the lot was almost completely full.

Ready to begin our hike at gate 151.

Pre-hike squad selfie.

We were supposed to go on the Quarry Trail, see Hawver Cave, proceed to the Browns Bar Trail, and end with the Maine Bar Trail before heading back. After a detour, and 4 extra miles, we ended up hitting all of those trails but never made it to the end of the Maine Bar Trail.

The entire hike is easy and fairly flat if you stay on the correct route.

This is where things get interesting. and confusing. After hiking in for about 1.25 miles, you come across a split pictured below. On the left of this split, is a nice picnic area to hang out and enjoy lunch at. To keep on the trail, you veer right and head up the little hill.

After going up this hill, keep left. Keep walking by the loading platform that you will see on the left side. KEEP LEFT. I REPEAT. KEEP LEFT. I thought that we were supposed to veer right after going up and we eventually took a 4 mile detour.

Instead of going left, we went the road less traveled pictured below. This route can be a 1.25 mile detour that takes you to beautiful views of the canyon. If you continue to go on, it will end up being 4 miles of hills that will send you backtracking your steps.

We unknowingly took the detour and found this gem. Apparently, people can rock climb up here. We thought this area was pretty awesome.

Beautiful views from up here.

Me and my bestie.

Basking in nature and all of its glory.

Squad selfie! Because we didn't know we were lost, we kept going up instead of going back down where we came from. MISTAKE. If you get to this area, do not follow the "climbing area" sign and arrow. Go back down and get on the right trail.

Heading back to the right trail.

After backtracking and going on the direction you are supposed too, you will find Hawver Cave.

If you are on the right track, you will see this gate.

Throughout the trail, there are a bunch of waterfalls. You will have to cross over two.

For most of the trail, you will be hiking along the river.

Much more easy trail than the detour.

At a certain point, this trail gets so narrow. I really thought we were just lost again. At mile 8 accounting for our 4 mile detour (one mile from where we were supposed to go), we decided to turn around and head back 4 miles and eat lunch at the picnic tables instead. At this point it was like 10:30. We were supposed to be almost done already!!!!!

On our way back, we encountered other hikers, runners, and deer!!! You can't see it pictured here, but there was definitely at least 3 or 4 of them up there. They crossed the trail and scared my bestie.

You can see them moving here :)

Hiking back to the picnic tables for some lunch.

After we had made it back to the picnic tables and had lunch, we took some #optoutside photos to commemorate this hike. We were too tired and hungry so I didn't take any lunch photos!

After finishing lunch, we headed 1.25 miles back to the parking lot to head home. Although we didn't finish the hike that we had planned, we celebrated finishing an adventurous and fun filled journey that ended up being a little over 13 miles. Post hike selfie with the squad!

Post hike thoughts:

I really enjoyed this hike despite all the confusion. I'm a planner. I love preparing and knowing exactly what i'm getting into. However, with hiking, that doesn't always work. This trail could be better marked but I loved the journey that it provided by not being completely marked. I might not have loved it at that very moment when my legs are burning and my heart is beating so fast, but I always cherish every hike and the memories that it contributes into my life. So with that being said, my post hike thoughts can be best summed up by this conversation that I had with my best friend mid hike:

T: MIMI. WHERE ARE WE GOING?!

M: I don't know Teen.

We'll figure it out.

It's all a part of the adventure.

This adventure was beautiful, it was fun, it was sweaty, it was also cold, it was painful, and it was liberating. It reminded me that I need to always keep an open mind. It was a wonderful reminder to cherish life, the little things, and be thankful for all that is out there. It was everything that being outside encompasses and so much more.

#HikingCalifornia #Hiking #QuarryTrail