Garden of Eden

Hike Review:

From Highway 9, we took a path that was shorter and near a large parking lot, marked on Gaia GPS, to go down to Ox Trail Path. We then took that path down to the Garden of Eden swimming hole. That short path ended up being a very steep trail.
Ox Trail Path is basically a flat trail the runs along the train tracks. At the Garden of Eden, there are park signage that make it clear that you’re at the fabled swimming hole.
On the way back, we decided to take the Ox Trail Road back to the car, which only had a 20-30 ft section of slippery, sloped trail.
The trail was packed dirt for the most part, but it still had a top layer of foliage and loose dirt, which made the footing slippery. The Ox Trail Path next to the train tracks was mostly gravel and hard packed dirt.
There were pieces of trash here and there, but the Garden of Eden (and the trails leading to it) were mostly free from garbage. Still we picked up a few pieces of trash here and there (including a not-sharp broken piece of glass). We did see a big pile of trash on Highway 9 (alcohol bottles, wasted food, etc).
There was plenty of parking on a weekday, but I could see how on a weekend, it could get really packed.

What I Learned

I love my Bedrock Sandals. I feel like they have better grip than lots of shoes on slippery surfaces, yet it works so well with water. Just the best.

Friends Made

I took Harmon and he surprised me with how well he handled the slippery trail. He’s definitely grown up from when he was younger. He also really enjoyed the watering hole, as well as our post-outdoor ritual of getting yummy drinks and snacks.

What Happened?

~2 miles, 2 hr 42 mins, 200 ft of ascent

I had heard about Garden of Eden years ago, and it was finally time to check it out. Since Harmon was free, he tagged along.

We found the main parking lot to be pretty full, so I followed the Gaia GPS map to find a second parking lot with what seemed to be a legitimate trail down to the main trail. What we found was a very steep trail that was slippery, but really fun to go down. Well, I had fun, but I don’t think it was very fun for the younger kids. Still, Harmon and I guided them down the steepest parts and we all made it safely down to the train tracks.

When we got to Garden of Eden, we found it to be beautiful and it wasn’t too full of people. We quickly setup a towel, took off our shoes, and jumped in. Anna and I ended up exploring a bit more up the creek, while Kaylee and Harmon hung out together. We all had lots of fun, and after about an hour of water time, we headed back to our spot on land and dried off while snacking.

We then hiked back to the car the long way, which meant a lot less steep trails, though there was a short steep section.

The place was as beautiful as its namesake and is a place I know I’ll be coming back to for years to come.