Home » 2018 Trinity Alps

Canyon Creek Trailhead to the Sinks, CA

Tuesday, September 25, 2018 - 9:30pm by Lolo
3 miles and 1.3 hours from our last stop - 1 night stay

Travelogue

Into the WoodsInto the WoodsAs I mentioned in the overview, our trip itinerary was a 3-night backpack along the Canyon Creeks Trail, with a side trip to Boulder Creeks Lake, about a 22-mile adventure.

The drive from our home to the trailhead for the Canyon Creeks Hike was about 5 hours from our home. Getting there was very well spelled out in the guide books. Before getting to the trailhead, we stopped at the Weaverville Ranger Station to pick up a wilderness permit at the self-serve kiosk right outside the building. Herb had already obtained the required campfire permit online. We also signed a registration book where we listed our planned itinerary.

From the town of Weaverville, which is about 45 miles west of Redding, we continued straight on Highway 299 for 8 miles to the tiny town of Junction City, where we turned right onto Canyon Creek Road, and continued another 13.8 miles to a large parking lot at the end of the road, right next to the Ripstein Campground.

We arrived at the trailhead around 4:00 pm, just enough time to do our 3-mile hike into an area called the Sinks, where we planned to camp for the night. Our neighbors, as well as the guide books, had described this as a good place to stop on a first night.

Our campsite at the SinksOur campsite at the SinksWe did the final checking of gear, loaded our packs on our backs, and set off on the trail for Canyon Creek. After a short distance, we came to a junction, Bear Creek to the right and Canyon Creek to the left.

The trail was pretty nondescript - no big views, just a peaceful forest of dogwood, maple, oak, and Douglas fir. We knew we were supposed to come to the Sinks at about the 3-mile point, so when we saw a spur trail off to the left at 2.9 miles, we took it. During the spring, there is supposed to be a little island nestled between two arms of a creek, but now everything was bone dry. We followed a dry creek bed until we found a spot flat enough to camp for the night.

I wasn’t particularly impressed, but Herb said that it was probably quite nice in the spring when water was flowing. We set up the tent and made dinner before it got dark.

Canyon Creek Trailhead to the Sinks location map in "high definition"

Javascript is required to view this map.