Canyon Loop Trail, Fernandez Ranch, February 2024 Fernandez Ranch, one of the many properties acquired and managed by the John Muir Land Trust, spans nearly 1,200 acres of open pastures and bay/oak woodlands in the hills above Franklin Canyon, between Hercules and Martinez in northern Contra Costa County. The property was acquired over the course …
Category: East Bay
Hikes in Brushy Peak Regional Preserve
West Side Loop Trail, Brushy Peak Regional Preserve, January 2023 Brushy Peak Regional Preserve is set in the hills just below its namesake, a scrubby round top that rises above a largely treeless section of the Diablo Range in eastern Alameda County. The recovering pasture lands in the 1,979-acre park sure feel like the very …
Claremont Canyon & UC-Berkeley Hikes
The Big "C," UC-Berkeley, January 2024 When Berkeley residents talk about walking on the “fire roads,” chances are they are referring to the network of hiking and biking trails in Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve or on adjacent lands owned by the University of California, Berkeley. Together this milieu of paths crisscrosses woody and scrubby terrain …
Top 5 Hikes in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
Belgum Trail, Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, March 2020 The wilder and more rugged cousin to neighboring Tilden Regional Park, Wildcat Canyon Regional Park spans nearly 2,800 acres of the Berkeley Hills, San Pablo Ridge, and Wildcat Creek watershed in the East Bay. Whereas Tilden is woodier, Wildcat Canyon has more open, windswept pastures with wide-reaching …
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Hikes in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
Mezue Trail, Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, May 2020 Abutting neighboring Tilden Regional Park to the south, the East Bay’s Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is lesser-known but arguably wilder and more dramatic, subbing out Tilden’s woodier landscape for treeless, windswept pastures with wide-reaching views. Access is by way of El Cerrito, San Pablo, and Richmond to …
Top 10 Hikes in Tilden Regional Park
Wildcat Peak, Tilden Regional Park, May 2021 Of the 73 parks in the East Bay Regional Park District, Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park is certainly one of the best-known and most-visited. Sure, part of that is convenience and close proximity to the bustling hubs of Berkeley and Oakland. But the real draw of this scenic …
Hikes in Tilden Regional Park (South)
Vollmer Peak Trail, Tilden Regional Park, September 2021 Note: This is part three of a three-post effort to chronicle short day hikes in the East Bay’s Tilden Regional Park. The focus of this post is on the central part of the park, namely the sections located roughly between the Tilden Nature Area to the north …
Hikes in Tilden Regional Park (Central)
Wildcat Gorge Trail, Tilden Regional Park, April 2020 Note: This is part two of a three-post effort to chronicle short day hikes in the East Bay’s Tilden Regional Park. The focus of this post is on the central part of the park, namely the sections located roughly between the Tilden Nature Area to the north …
Hikes in Tilden Regional Park (North/Tilden Nature Area)
Wildcat Peak, Tilden Nature Area, Tilden Regional Park, May 2021 Note: This is part one of a three-post effort to chronicle short day hikes in the East Bay’s Tilden Regional Park. The focus of this post is on the northern reaches of the park, mainly the section known as Tilden Nature Area. Charles Lee Tilden …
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Cerro Este & Little Yosemite Loop (Sunol Regional Wilderness, CA)
Cerro Este Overlook, Sunol Regional Wilderness, December 2021 Spanning 6,859 acres of the northern Diablo Range, Sunol Regional Wilderness is a hiker’s paradise close to home in the East Bay, wedged between the massif of Mission Peak (2,517’) to the west and Ohlone Wilderness and Rose Peak (3,817’) to the east. This terrific loop hike …
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