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 …
Continue reading Cerro Este & Little Yosemite Loop (Sunol Regional Wilderness, CA)
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, …
Continue reading Wildcat Peak via Laurel Canyon & Jewel Lake (Tilden Regional Park, CA)
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 …
Continue reading Mount Diablo via Macedo Ranch (Mount Diablo State Park, CA)
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 …
Continue reading Fern Creek – Dipsea – Sun Trail Loop (Muir Woods National Monument, CA)
Pacheco Falls, Henry W. Coe State Park, March 2021 Central California’s Henry W. Coe State Park is a popular destination for Bay Area backpackers seeking to condition during the winter/spring season for trips to the Sierra Nevada later in the year. In fact, the terrain at Henry Coe is so rugged and challenging that it …
Continue reading Kelly Lake, Coit Lake, and Pacheco Falls Loop (Henry W. Coe State Park, CA)
China Hole, Henry W. Coe State Park, March 2021 The second-largest state park in California, Henry Coe State Park spans 87,000 acres of rolling hillsides and stream valleys in the central Diablo Range. Most visitors stick to the “Western Zone,” accessed from the Coe Ranch Headquarters and Campground on Pine Ridge. A number of full-day …
Continue reading Madrone Soda Springs – China Hole Loop (Henry W. Coe State Park, CA)
Middle Ridge Trail, Henry W. Coe State Park, March 2021 At 87,000 acres, Henry Coe State Park is the second largest state park in California and offers a beautiful landscape of rolling hills and woody ridges in the Diablo Range southeast of the Bay Area. Lacking any towering peaks, Henry Coe is nonetheless extremely rugged, …
Continue reading Middle Ridge – Manzanita Point Loop (Henry W. Coe State Park, CA)
Lafayette Ridge Trail, Briones Regional Park, March 2020 The East Bay’s Briones Regional Park is a hiker’s paradise, with dozens of interlocking trails traversing a scenic stretch of hills between the suburban centers of Lafayette, Orinda, and Pleasant Hill. Lafayette Ridge—a lengthy spine that stretches southeast from the Briones Hills—is especially beautiful in spring, when …
Continue reading Lafayette Ridge Trail to Russell Peak (Briones Regional Park, CA)
Ridge Top Trail, Shell Ridge Open Space, February 2021 Winter and early spring is far and away the best time of year to hike in the East Bay, when temperatures are good and the rolling hillscapes—typically brown, dusty, and dry in summer—are lush and verdant. The jade-colored hues in springtime make the Diablo Foothills in …
Continue reading Ridge Top – Indian Creek Trail Loop (Shell Ridge Open Space, CA)
Crown Lake, Hoover Wilderness, July 2020 Well, what a strange year it has been. In the early days of 2020, it was hard to imagine that, by March, much of the world would be dealing with a global pandemic that would take the lives of millions and usher in lockdowns, mask mandates, and economic recessions. …
Live and Let Hike 