The Hike:

Starting from the Cowboy Camp parking area, head south along Bear Creek along the trail. After crossing the creek near Craig Canyon, follow the trail up Craig Canyon. The hike will take you up the canyon, across Thompson Creek, up and back down the hill until you hook into the main trail from Lynch Canyon. You'll head south, uphill, until you get to the area where the ponds are located. You'll head east, past the swimming pond, then cut back down to Thopmson Canyon. Once you get to the bottom of the canyon, you'll follow Thompson Creek until the trail heads north, crosses over a small saddle, and drops you back to Bear Creek. From there, you walk back to the Cowboy Camp Parking Area.

Distance:

From the Cowboy Camp parking area, the hike is 10 miles.

How to get there: 

From Yolo county, Woodland and Davis, take Highway 16 up the Capay valley.  Once you pass the town of Rumsey, you begin to enter the Cache Creek Canyon.  The road will narrow and you will be driving with the creek on one side and the canyon walls on the other.  Continue on Highway 16, past the Yolo/Colusa county line, crossing into Colusa county, until you reach the sign identifying the Cowboy Camp parking Area at Colusa County Mile Marker 1.0. 

GPS track of trail route only (.gpx format)

What is .gpx?

GPS track (.gpx format)

Contains all tracks in the Bear Creek Unit of the Cache Creek Natural Area.

What is .gpx?