Length: 2.6 miles round trip
High Point: 2200 feet
Elevation Gain: 300 feet
Difficulty: easy
When to Hike: year-round; occasional winter snow
Controlling Agency: Castle Crags State Park, P.O. Box 80, Castella, CA 96017; (530) 235-2684; www.parks.ca.gov
Special Features: natural and human history; views of Castle Crags; Indian Creek
Directions to the Trailhead: Take the Castella exit off I-5 about 6 miles south of Dunsmuir. Go west and enter Castle Crags State Park (entrance fee). Park on the left side just beyond the headquarters building.
Description and Comments: Grab the brochure at park headquarters that explains what you will find at the numbered posts along the Indian Creek Trail. Reach a trail fork and go left. Climb gently, cross Indian Creek, and then go left at .5 mile onto the Flume Trail. This path parallels an old wooden flume that brought water from Castle Creek. Travel through a ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forest to another fork at .7 mile, where you turn left and drop down to environmental campsites near Castle Creek Road.
Return back to the Indian Creek Trail. Head left to complete the loop and end the hike back at the parking area.
Maps: USGS 7.5′ Dunsmuir, USFS Castle Crags Wilderness.