Bear Canyon Trail, Homer

I thought I'd hiked every trail in Homer, but this summer I noticed a hand-made sign at the intersection of East End Road and Bear Creek Drive:  Hike Bear Canyon.

Hm. A hike I'd missed?! One nice, summery day I dragged my husband off on a treasure hunt.  Following the signs up Bear Creek Drive, we ended up in the "new" yurt village (where the yurts are made), and followed the instructions on more handmade signs to "park here" and "trail starts past the yurts".

It was a typical Alaskan trail in that it was very grown over and brushy, particularly at the lower elevation. It takes a lot of work to keep back the frenetic growth of summer:  pushki, devil's club, alders, elderberry bushes, grass and more. 

This is a section of trail that is not overgrown!

I was grateful for occasional signs continuing to point out that this was indeed a trail, although the one pictured below was near the end of the trail as we could recognize it.

Bear Canyon is an impressive canyon, and we got occasional glimpses of it through the trees. In all these years, I'd never realized it was there. There were also the scattered Kachemak Bay views.

A rare meadow and view up the Bear Canyon Trail

After getting to the point of no more trail, we turned around and took a different (maintained!) loop back. It took us through the Canyon Trails subdivision, and, truth be told, likely the reason for the existence of this trail:  advertisement for these lots. Taking a different way back meant walking on the Bear Creek Drive a ways to get back to the yurt village and our car, which wasn't bad as there was very little traffic and the neighborhood was interesting.

Heading down a road in the Bear Canyon subdivision

Guess I'm doing my part to advertise this subdivision!

So while this wasn't a difficult hike, it was a steady uphill the whole way and had the added challenge of wading through some tall undergrowth. It was something different, but not a hike I'd want to do every day.