The Roy Branch Creek Trail (Waterfall Trail and ends at the historic Stagecoach Bridge)
The Roy Branch Creek Trail is one of the oldest trails in HW. It is a short trail along the Roy Branch Creek that flows under the famous StageCoach Bridge where the trail comes out.
This short trail is one of my favorites because of the waterfalls along it, however, this trail has many small stumps that people often trip on until I get around to removing them. This trail also has a steep dirt hill that may be a challenge for some.
The map for this trail was taken from an app I used on my cell phone as I walked that day. This map will take some explaining.
The left side of this map is simply what the neighbors on this loop call the Short Loop to walk as it's just all of Starfire, the east third of Tierra Trail, and a part of Hazy Hills that my wife and I live on. In fact my wife walked this 3/4ths mile loop with me that day is the only reason it is there.
The upper right of this map is where the famous StageCoach Bridge is, just to get your bearings.
The far-right side of this map is what I called the Canyonwood Trail that deadends at a Canyonwood gate.
The bottom left side shows the HOA trail over hill 4 from the near end of Iron Willow Loop by Roy Branch Road to the far side of Iron Willow Loop by the middle spur (Cactus Wren Court) where the Cactus Wren Trail can take you to the famous StageCoach Bridge also.
The upper left side of this map (the section below hill 5 on the top of this map) is the Lower Red Trail that follows the Roy Branch Creek that the Roy Branch Bridge goes over.
If one stays on this Lower Red Trail, it leads you straight onto this Roy Branch Creek Trail (only you'll see no red marks as this was an original old trail prior to HW being here). I hope I don't have you thoroughly confused now, but this is currently the best map I have of this Roy Branch Creek Trail (that we call the River Route).
Basically, that Roy Branch Creek that flows under the StageCoach Bridge has a loop one can take that follows both sides of this creek, only the HOA trail side is further from the creek so one doesn't realize the creek is there.
One more point, when our HOA rebuilt the StageCoach Bridge, they were going to throw away the old timbers and a HW resident came up with an idea to use one of the old timbers but didn't know how to get his truck close enough. Being who I am, I wanted to find the easiest way to get a truck near the StageCoach Bridge and discovered that off from Canyonwood Drive one could get to Roy Branch Court near the bridge (in fact drive right up to the bridge, with a truck, from the end of Roy Branch Court). SOOO, I thought, Roy Branch Court & HW Roy Branch Road must mean this must be Roy Branch Creek that flows under our Roy Branch Road and StageCoach Bridge.
My last thought, if you get on the Lower Red Trail from the pumping station and follow the ditch, you'll notice that the ditch you cross is dry until you get behind my home where water seeps out of the ground from a natural spring and the creek begins to flow really well by the time you get to the old Roy Branch Creek Trail.
No, this is my last thought about this Roy Branch Creek Trail, since the construction of the last phase (HW Phase 3) of HW, both ends of this trail flood after a heavy rain as water from the new water reservoirs for Phase 3 drain down both the HOA trails perpendicular on both ends of this trail but this trail is fine as it is high enough not to be affected but to get to it may be a challenge after a hard rain.
You can actually loop the Roy Branch Creek by crossing the Stagecoach Bridge on the downstream side and jumping over Roy Branch Creek on the upper side. The Hazy Hills side of the creek is further from the creek so one does not even realize the creek is there. This side also has a lake of water over the trail after a hard rain but if you go toward the creek (downstream on the lake) it narrows enough to jump over the flow of the lake to Roy Branch Creek. I hope to make a high rock path across the lake in the near future when I get help moving to Big Foot Rock Garden to this part of the trail and renaming this side of the loop around Roy Branch Creek the new Big Foot Trail.
This short trail is one of my favorites because of the waterfalls along it, however, this trail has many small stumps that people often trip on until I get around to removing them. This trail also has a steep dirt hill that may be a challenge for some.
The map for this trail was taken from an app I used on my cell phone as I walked that day. This map will take some explaining.
The left side of this map is simply what the neighbors on this loop call the Short Loop to walk as it's just all of Starfire, the east third of Tierra Trail, and a part of Hazy Hills that my wife and I live on. In fact my wife walked this 3/4ths mile loop with me that day is the only reason it is there.
The upper right of this map is where the famous StageCoach Bridge is, just to get your bearings.
The far-right side of this map is what I called the Canyonwood Trail that deadends at a Canyonwood gate.
The bottom left side shows the HOA trail over hill 4 from the near end of Iron Willow Loop by Roy Branch Road to the far side of Iron Willow Loop by the middle spur (Cactus Wren Court) where the Cactus Wren Trail can take you to the famous StageCoach Bridge also.
The upper left side of this map (the section below hill 5 on the top of this map) is the Lower Red Trail that follows the Roy Branch Creek that the Roy Branch Bridge goes over.
If one stays on this Lower Red Trail, it leads you straight onto this Roy Branch Creek Trail (only you'll see no red marks as this was an original old trail prior to HW being here). I hope I don't have you thoroughly confused now, but this is currently the best map I have of this Roy Branch Creek Trail (that we call the River Route).
Basically, that Roy Branch Creek that flows under the StageCoach Bridge has a loop one can take that follows both sides of this creek, only the HOA trail side is further from the creek so one doesn't realize the creek is there.
One more point, when our HOA rebuilt the StageCoach Bridge, they were going to throw away the old timbers and a HW resident came up with an idea to use one of the old timbers but didn't know how to get his truck close enough. Being who I am, I wanted to find the easiest way to get a truck near the StageCoach Bridge and discovered that off from Canyonwood Drive one could get to Roy Branch Court near the bridge (in fact drive right up to the bridge, with a truck, from the end of Roy Branch Court). SOOO, I thought, Roy Branch Court & HW Roy Branch Road must mean this must be Roy Branch Creek that flows under our Roy Branch Road and StageCoach Bridge.
My last thought, if you get on the Lower Red Trail from the pumping station and follow the ditch, you'll notice that the ditch you cross is dry until you get behind my home where water seeps out of the ground from a natural spring and the creek begins to flow really well by the time you get to the old Roy Branch Creek Trail.
No, this is my last thought about this Roy Branch Creek Trail, since the construction of the last phase (HW Phase 3) of HW, both ends of this trail flood after a heavy rain as water from the new water reservoirs for Phase 3 drain down both the HOA trails perpendicular on both ends of this trail but this trail is fine as it is high enough not to be affected but to get to it may be a challenge after a hard rain.
You can actually loop the Roy Branch Creek by crossing the Stagecoach Bridge on the downstream side and jumping over Roy Branch Creek on the upper side. The Hazy Hills side of the creek is further from the creek so one does not even realize the creek is there. This side also has a lake of water over the trail after a hard rain but if you go toward the creek (downstream on the lake) it narrows enough to jump over the flow of the lake to Roy Branch Creek. I hope to make a high rock path across the lake in the near future when I get help moving to Big Foot Rock Garden to this part of the trail and renaming this side of the loop around Roy Branch Creek the new Big Foot Trail.
