Mount Tamalpais Big hill looming over the southern end of Marin County. You can park near the peak and hike less than a mile to the top, but it’s more fun to walk up from one of Mount Tamalpais State…
Trails
Wildflower Festival 2009 at Sunol Regional Wilderness
by tom • April 8, 2009 • 2 Comments
It’s starting at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, April 11. From the East Bay Regional Parks events page: SUNOL – It’s time to celebrate the birds, bees, flowers and trees during the 7th annual Wildflower Festival. Join us as we celebrate the…
Quickie wildflower walk at Briones Regional Park
by tom • April 6, 2009 • 5 Comments
Spent about as much time driving to Briones as I did hiking yesterday; didn’t get out of the house till after lunchtime so I figured I’d go to the most accessible trailhead and see what turned up. Conclusion: The trailhead…
Bay Nature video at Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve
by tom • April 3, 2009 • 1 Comment
Beth from Bay Nature magazine posted a link to this video in a comment to my post about the possible reopening of Mount Umunhum. The guide points out many of the things blooming in the South Bay at this time…
One for my to-do list: Briones Regional Park
by tom • April 1, 2009 • 5 Comments
Lots of open hills and sunshine makes Briones Regional Park worth checking out in the springtime. I’ve heard tell of massive California poppy blooms here in years past. I’ve driven around Briones once but haven’t gotten around to hiking it…
Latest hike: Montara Mountain/McNee Ranch State Park
by tom • March 30, 2009 • 8 Comments
Bring a windbreaker. Leave your expectations of what a state park oughta be at home. McNee Ranch State Park has perhaps a half-dozen picnic tables, a similar number of dedicated parking spaces, one porta-potty, a couple old fire roads for…
Sunol with a scramble
by tom • March 23, 2009 • 5 Comments
The idea was to see what the wildflowers were like at Sunol Wilderness. I saw a few but it might be a little early for the bloom there. What Sunol has lots of now is water: Alameda Creek is roaring…
If you want to see Grant Ranch in the worst way
by tom • March 11, 2009 • 1 Comment
You have to check out the Washburn Trail at Joseph D. Grant County Park (AKA Grant Ranch). It’s the meanest trail in a park that has an abundance of leg-burners. I saw a bunch of California poppies blooming on the…
Readers: Don’t be hatin’ on Harvey Bear Ranch
by tom • March 10, 2009 • 1 Comment
A couple years back I took an underwhelming stroll along the paths at Harvey Bear Ranch, which was Santa Clara County’s newest park at the time. Harvey Bear Ranch isn’t so bad — it’s got rolling hills, wacky oaks and…