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| Hiking | 7.00 Miles |
1,375 AEG |
| | Hiking | 7.00 Miles | 4 Hrs | | 2.33 mph |
| 1,375 ft AEG | 1 Hour Break | 2 LBS Pack | | |
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| no partners | | I headed out to the Sierra Anchas on an unseasonably warm December day to see how Reynolds Creek was faring after the Billy Fire tore through the range this past summer. I knew it would be rough, but the scope of the burn still hits hard when you're standing in it. Much of the trail signage is either gone or half-scorched, and the forest feels hollowed out. What used to be a shaded, lively canyon is now a skeleton of blackened trunks and bare slopes.
Expect downed logs. Dozens of them. Charred treefalls are scattered across the trail from bottom to top, and by the time you get home your socks will be full of ash whether you tried to avoid it or not. Vegetation is at a fraction of what it used to be, and the contrast is stark if you’ve been hiking this area for years.
All that said, Reynolds Creek still has teeth-gritting beauty left in it.
The creek was flowing impressively well after a wet autumn. Waterfalls echoed through the canyon, and higher up I found delicate icicles suspended over cascades — one of those scenes that reminds you why we keep returning, even when a place is hurting. "The switchbacks", surprisingly, are in great condition. Whoever built them knew what they were doing. They climb cleanly to the rim, where the views are as rewarding as ever.
Navigation takes more attention than it once did. With so much ground cover burned away and many cairns or signs destroyed, the trail blends into the landscape more than before. Seasoned hikers will likely manage fine in daylight, but I wouldn’t recommend venturing up here without a GPX track loaded into Gaia or another mapping app. The large cairn marking the junction with Center Mountain Trail survived, and it remains the clearest landmark on the upper half of the route.
My real concern is what comes next. The slopes above Reynolds Creek, along with nearby drainages like lower Workman Creek, are primed for erosion. Once the first major snowmelt or sustained rain hits, this canyon could see significant washouts, especially on the 410 road, thanks to the bare, scorched terrain left behind by the Billy Fire.
For now, though, the trail is still hikeable, still scenic in its own wounded way, and still very much worth visiting if you want to witness a landscape in the early stages of recovery. Just be ready for ash, downed timber, and a very different Reynolds Creek than the one you remember. |
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Autumn Foliage Observation Light
There were a couple pockets of refuge where I saw the most dazzling Big Tooth Maple leaves changing color. |
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