Pope-to-Putah Hike October 1, 2022
Nate Lillge • October 25, 2022
The Pope-to-Putah Trail, just west of Lake Berryessa in Napa County, is a 10-mile, challenging trail that takes hikers from Pope Creek to Putah Creek where they flow into Lake Berryessa. At the start, the trail winds through chaparral for the majority with a few oak woodlands near Putah Creek. The area was burned in the 2020 LNU Complex fire.
On October 1, Tuleyome led a hike on the trail – our first event on this trail since the fire. The scenery has changed – chaparral completely burned, trail covered by burned and fallen vegetation, hillsides eroded. In many places, the trail could not be found. GPS units and accurate maps were required to stay within the trailway and on public land.
Despite the difficulty finding the trail in places, it was a beautiful hike. The area is already starting to “green up” – vegetation is coming back. Due to the condition of the trail, Tuleyome will be scheduling some work days to make the trail easier to follow. Right now, DO NOT hike the trail without an accurate GPS track and map. Please contact us before heading out.
Check out photos from the day on our Flickr page.
-Nate Lillge; nlillge@tuleyome.org
Adventures and Engagement Director
Certified California Naturalist
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