Hemlock Trail

Clear Creek Page
Cemetery Ridge Trail
Creekside Meadows Trail
Fern Trail
Prairie Warbler Trail
Sedge Meadow Trail
Tulip Tree Trail

[Common Polypody Fern]
Trailhead Fern Picnic Area
Distance About 2 miles round trip
Description The Hemlock Trail is one of the most challenging trails in the park because you climb the ridge not once, but twice. As you climb up and down the ridge you move back and forth between hemlock groves in the ravines and hardwood forests on the hillsides.

To reach the Hemlock Trail, follow the Creekside Meadows Trail from either the Creekside Meadows Picnic Area or the Fern Picnic Area to the Hemlock Trail intersection between the two picnic areas. The Hemlock Trail crosses Clear Creek Road and follows a meandering stream until the trail begins to head uphill in a series of climbs and switchbacks.

This trail is a good place to spot wild turkeys and whitetail deer and to look for club mosses and ferns. In Spring skunk cabbage blooms along the stream near the trailhead.

The Hemlock Trail ends when it meets the eastern branch of the Fern Trail. Take the Fern Trail down to the Fern Picnic Area, and, if needed, follow the Creekside Meadows Trail back to the Creekside Meadows Picnic Area.



Clear Creek Page