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Old Rubicon Trail
(28 miles from G.T.)
Long day hike/Overnight trip
This
is one of the best trails for exploring, with some sections easy to
follow, some difficult to follow, and some almost lost. The trail was
well established before the Hell Hole flood of 1964 wiped sections out.
The trail follows along the south/east side of the river canyon and used
to cross the South Fork of the Rubicon on a suspended footbridge. This
bridge, along with another that linked the Frey Trail, were wiped out
when the coffer dam upstream collapsed from record rain.
On the oldest available maps, (Sierra Nevada Folios of the Geologic
Atlas of U.S., 1894-1900), a trail is shown going from Uncle Tom’s cabin
down and over to Ellicott’s Ranch, up to the present rim road, back down
again near Hales Crossing, then up the Deer Creek drainage to Ice House
Road. The Deer Creek trail is still there, as is the Ellicott’s
Trail.
The trail
starts near the S/E side of Ellicott Bridge. Park near here and look for
a fisherman-detour trail that climbs up from the north end of the old
parking area. This trail climbs up and around a large rock outcrop
before dropping back down to the old Rubicon Trail. The trail there is
easy to follow, apparently built by the CCC’s in the 1930’s to deluxe
standards (level and wide). Some great rockwork is in evidence.
This trail can be followed to the South Fork where it rounds a bend
before abruptly ending where the bridge once stood high above the river.
Hikers must make a difficult crossing at this confluence to intercept
the old trail continuing upstream.
The South Fork Trail can be found just upstream from the
confluence climbing up from a sandy bar that is usually overgrown with
vegetation. It soon clears and climbs as a good trail up a half mile to
a junction where you can go east up along the South Fork Rubicon to the
South Fork Campground on Ice House Road, or stay L and continue up river
along the old way. This trail is easy to follow all the way to Hales
Crossing Trail as it winds in and out each crossing creek drainage.
Great old growth trees here.
We sometimes do a loop hike, going up the Hunter’s Trail to cross
the river at Hales Crossing, then down the Old Rubicon to South Fork
trail, cross back over the main river then return on Hunters. Total
distance is about 11-12 miles, (the better part of a summer’s day but an
awesome hike!).
About a half mile downstream of Hales
Crossing you find the Deer Creek Trail cutting east out of the canyon.
It goes all the way to Ice House Road and is abused by motorcycles
regularly enough to be easy to follow.
Continuing beyond Hales, the trail is a
challenge to follow but well
defined in some places with
rockwork and many blazes. It goes about 4 miles up to Parsley Bar. From
there it apparently found its way up Gerle Creek, according to old maps,
but I’ve never been able to find any remnant of the trail there.
To really explore the Old Rubicon trails
you should stay overnight, as there are just too many miles of trail to
find and follow in a single day. “So many trails—and so little time.”
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