Hiking the San Francisco Bay Area: A Guide to the Bay Area's Greatest Hiking Adventures

by Linda Hamilton

Overview

Lace up your boots and sample forty of the finest trails the San Francisco Bay Area has to offer. This guide covers every corner of this beautiful and diverse region, leading you to roaring waterfalls and wind-whipped mountaintops, verdant forests and wildflower-covered meadows. See majestic redwoods in the nature lover's cathedral in Muir woods, watch for whales along Lighthouse Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore, or wander through military history in The Presidio. Veteran hiker and Bay Area native Linda Hamilton will introduce you to these trails and many more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493029839
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	06/01/2018
Series:	Regional Hiking Series
Edition description:	Second Edition, New Edition
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	668,154
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

A native to the Bay Area, Linda Hamilton was elated to rediscover the incredible beauty of her home region, beyond the crowded highways. Her first (of so many) solo hiking adventure occurred at age four, when she happily wandered off alone to explore nature, scaring the daylights out of her family. After nine years of teaching high school English, drama, and college composition, and with an MA in English under her belt, she set out to achieve the daunting goal of writing for a living. Her work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, American Heritage of Invention and Technology Magazine, MyFamily Travel newsletters, Americaslibrary.gov, and many online business sites. When not on foot or hugging her laptop, Linda is singing, drawing, traveling, kayaking or laughing with her husband Doug in their Oakland home.

Table of Contents

Meet Your Guide ix

Five Bay Area Hiking Tips x

Map And Icon Legends xiii

Trail Finder xiv

Top Five Hikes xviii

Before You Hit The Trail xx

The Hikes

Point Reyes 1

1 Point Reyes National Seashore: Mount Wittenberg and Bear Valley to the Sea Loop 2

2 Point Reyes National Seashore: Tomales Point 7

3 Point Reyes National Seashore: Lighthouse and Chimney Rock Trails 12

4 Point Reyes National Seashore: Palomarin Trailhead to Alamere Falls 17

5 Tomales Bay State Park: Heart's Desire Beach to Shell Beach 22

6 Samuel P. Taylor State Park: To the Top of Barnabe Peak 27

Bonus Hikes: Point Reyes

A Point Reyes National Seashore: Inverness Ridge 32

B Kule Loklo & the Earthquake Trail 35

Mount Tamalpais and its Foothills 36

7 Muir Woods; Bootjack Trail to Dipsea Trail Loop 37

8 Phoenix Lake: Tucker and: Bill Williams Trails 43

9 Steep Ravine Loop to Stinson Beach 48

10 Mt. Tamalpais: East Peak Loop 54

11 Marin Headlands: Miwok Trail to Point Bonita 60

12 Marin Municipal Water District: Kent Trail along Alpine Lake 66

13 Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve 71

14 Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve 76

Bonus Hikes: Mount Tamalpais and Its Foothills

C China Camp State Park: Shoreline-Bayview Loop Trail 82

D Cataract Trail 83

San Francisco and the Bay 84

15 Angel Island State Park: Mt. Livermore 85

16 Golden Gate National Recreation Area: San Francisco's Lands End 90

17 Sweeney Ridge: San Francisco Bay Discovery Site 95

18 San Bruno Mountain State Park: Summit Loop Trail 100

Bonus Hikes: San Francisco and the Bay

E Golden Gate Park 105

F The Presidio: Lovers' Lane and the Ecology Trail 106

San Mateo County Coastline 107

19 Pescadero Marsh Trail 108

20 Butano State Park 113

21 Año Nuevo State Park 119

22 McNee Ranch at Montara State Beach 124

23 James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve: The Tide Pool Loop 129

24 San Pedro Valley County Park 135

Bonus Hikes: San Mateo Coastline

G Mori Point 140

H Crystal Springs Regional Trail 141

The Northern Santa Cruz Mountains 144

25 Big Basin Redwoods State Park: Berry Creek Falls Trail Loop 145

26 Castle Rock State Park: Saratoga Gap/Ridge Trail/Castle Rock Trail 152

27 Portola Redwoods State Park: Slate Creek/Summit/Iverson Loop 158

28 Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve: Craig Britton and Purisima Creek Loop 164

Bonus Hikes: The Northern Santa Cruz Mountains

I Huddart County Park and Phleger Estate 169

J Wunderlich County Park 171

K Windy Hill Open Space Preserve 172

L Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve 173

M Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve 176

N Monte Bello Open Space Preserve 177

O Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve and County Park 180

P Pescadero Creek County Park 181

Q Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park 182

Mount Diablo and Las Trampas Foothills 184

29 Las Trampas Regional Wilderness 186

30 Mount Diablo State Park: Donner Canyon to the Falls Trail 191

31 Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve 196

32 Mount Diablo: Rock City to the Summit 201

Bonus Hikes: Mount Diablo and Las Trampas Foothills

R Las Trampas Regional Wilderness: The Eugene O'Neill Loop 208

S Mount Diablo State Park: Wall Point-Pine Canyon Loop 210

T John Muir National Historic Site: Mount Wanda 211

U Brushy Peak Regional Preserve 214

Three Ridges: San Pablo, the Oakland/Berkeley Hills, and Sunol Ridge 215

33 Tilden Regional Park: From Jewel Lake to Wildcat Peak 216

34 Briones Regional Park 222

35 Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve 227

36 Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve 233

37 Redwood Regional Park: Stream Trail, from East Ridge to West Ridge 239

38 Joaquin Miller Park: Sequoia Bayview Trail and Big Trees Loop 245

39 Anthony Chabot Regional Park

40 Sunol Regional Wilderness 249

Bonus Hikes: Three Ridges: San Pablo, The Oakland/ Berkeley Hills, and Sunol Ridge 255

V Mission Peak Regional Preserve 260

W Coyote Hills Regional Park 262

X Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve 265

Y Tilden Regional Park-Greater Tilden 266

Z Briones Reservoir 267

Local Interest Trail Finder 271

Hike Index 275