Little Baldy, Sequoia National Park, July 2024 A granite dome with a panoramic 360-degree view, Little Baldy in Sequoia National Park is a more satisfying destination than the higher but more pedestrian Big Baldy Ridge. Views extend from the Central Valley to the west to the Silliman Crest, Kings-Kaweah Divide, and Great Western Divide to …
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Mist Falls, Kings Canyon National Park, July 2024 Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia’s adjacent sister park to the north, boasts skyscraping mountains, majestic granite formations, serene valleys, and spectacular wilderness best explored on a multi-day backpacking trip (such as the Deadman Canyon Loop, Rae Lakes Loop, or John Muir Trail). But for those without the …
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Tokopah Falls, Sequoia National Park, July 2024 Visitors to California’s Sequoia National Park come for the namesake trees but stay for the miles of epic, rolling granite (see, for example, my previous post on the Deadman Canyon Loop). Hikes into this granite wonderland tend to be long and strenuous, but one can get a short …
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Founders' Grove Nature Trail, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, June 2024 A scenic centerpiece of Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Founders’ Grove is the most popular redwood stand in the park and easily explored on a well-trodden ½-mile loop trail. The most famous attraction is, of course, the 364-foot Founders’ Tree, which was once thought to be …
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Drury-Chaney Loop, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, June 2024 Situated in the northern reaches of California’s Humboldt Redwoods State Park, the level and easy Drury-Chaney Loop spends its entirety in a beautiful old growth redwood forest adorned with ferns and redwood sorrel. These are not the largest coastal redwoods in the area (those are found further …
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Bull Creek Flats Trail, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, June 2024 Outside of iconic Redwood National Park, about an hour and a half north on Highway 101, there is perhaps no better place in the world to view California coast redwoods than Humboldt Redwoods State Park, a massive, 53,000-acre tract with about 17,000 acres of old-growth …
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Twin Ponds Trail, Diablo Foothills Regional Park, March 2020 Covering a portion of a scenic hogback fanning out westward from Mount Diablo, Diablo Foothills Regional Park is—at 1,060 feet—relatively small and has only one peak that exceeds 1,000 feet. Yet, at least in winter and spring, the area is exceptionally picturesque. The terrific trail network, …
Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline, Eastern Unit, March 2024 An eight-mile channel used as a highly-trafficked shipping lane, Carquinez Strait is the gateway from the Sacramento River Delta to San Francisco Bay and separates Solano and Contra Costa counties. While much of the shoreline is residential or industrial, some portions have become protected parklands, including a …
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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 …
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 …
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