Wildcat Peak, Tilden Regional Park, May 2021 Truly unobstructed panoramas with views in all directions are a relative rarity in the Berkeley Hills of California’s East Bay, but Wildcat Peak in Berkeley’s Tilden Regional Park offers one of them with excellent vistas of the San Francisco Bay, the Carquinez Strait, the Briones Hills, Mount Diablo, …
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Upper Yosemite Falls Trail, Yosemite National Park, April 2021 At 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls is the tallest waterfall in North America* and an iconic destination in California’s Yosemite National Park. The entire height from base to crest can be tackled via the very strenuous Upper Yosemite Falls Trail, one of the most challenging day hikes …
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Lower Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, April 2021 At 2,425 feet, Yosemite Falls is widely heralded as the tallest waterfall in North America* and an iconic destination in California’s Yosemite National Park. During its high-water season in spring, the roar of the two-tiered falls can be heard across Yosemite Valley, while hikers in close vicinity …
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Carlon Falls Trail, Yosemite National Park, April 2021 Starting just outside Yosemite National Park, the Carlon Falls Trail is off the usual tourist track but features a lovely, 30-foot waterfall along the South Fork of the Tuolumne River. Mostly level as it hugs the north banks of the river, the trail climbs abruptly near the …
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Merced Grove, Yosemite National Park, April 2021 While Mariposa Grove is the most spectacular of the bunch, Yosemite National Park also sports two other small groves of giant sequoias, the world’s largest trees. Tuolumne Grove near Crane Flat receives a steady stream of visitors, but the lesser-visited Merced Grove is arguably more impressive. To reach …
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Tuolumne Grove, Yosemite National Park, April 2021 Giant sequoias, close cousins of coast redwoods, are the largest trees (by total volume) on earth and grow naturally only in 75 groves on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California. Three such groves can be found in Yosemite National Park: Mariposa, Merced, and Tuolumne. Situated …
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Foresta Falls, Yosemite National Park, April 2021 It is a testament to the spectacular bounty of waterfalls in California’s Yosemite National Park that terrific Foresta Falls is routinely neglected by visitors in favor of even taller and higher-volume waterfalls nearby. In perhaps any other park, the 60-foot Foresta Falls would be a centerpiece, yet the …
Mother's Trail, Mount Diablo State Park, March 2021 Rising more than 3,000 feet above the valley floor, Mount Diablo (3,849’) is perhaps the most iconic peak in the East Bay, a behemoth for which the broader Diablo Range—which extends around 200 miles south into central California—is named. Most visitors reach the peak by way of …
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Fern Creek Trail, Muir Woods National Monument, April 2021 Sure the towering California redwoods are lovely, but Muir Woods National Monument on the Marin Peninsula has become almost comically crowded, mobbed by throngs of locals and visitors to the San Francisco Bay Area alike. Visitors must now have advance reservations to park at the main …
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Rancheria Falls, Yosemite National Park, March 2021 In early spring, even as much of the Sierra Nevada remains blanketed in snow, the Hetch Hetchy area of Yosemite National Park is often snow-free, making it an attractive spot for early-season hiking and backpacking. One of the more popular routes is the 5-mile out-and-back to Wapama Falls, …
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Live and Let Hike 