The Creaky Knees Guide Northern California, 2nd Edition: The 80 Best Easy Hikes

by Ann Marie Brown

Overview

Explore the beauty of Northern California’s natural landscape with this guide to 80 of the best easy-to-walk day hikes located throughout Northern California.

From hikes just outside of San Francisco to long strolls in the Sierra Nevada, here are the 80 best easy day hikes in Northern California, perfect for aging baby boomers, seniors, those traveling with small children, and anyone else interested more in a stroll than a climb.

Hikes include: 
Lady Bird Johnson Grove • McCloud Falls Trail • Pomo Canyon Trail • Table Rock • South Yuba Independence Trail • Tomales Point Trail • Purisima Redwoods Loop • Sardine Lakes Trail • Devils Postpile • Rainbow Falls • and more!

Written in a personal but informative tone by outdoors expert Ann Marie Brown, The Creaky Knees Guide Northern California is a perfect resource anyone can use to explore the beauty of Northern California without breaking too much of a sweat.

In addition to a full-trip description, each hike includes:
• Clear, up-to-date driving directions
• Elevation gains
• Topographical map
• Mileage and estimated hiking time
• Trail conditions, effort level, best season, map references, exploring options, access, permits required, and where to find more information.

Other titles in Creaky Knees easy hike series include Creaky Knees Oregon, Creaky Knees Washington, and Creaky Knees Arizona.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781632173584
Publisher:	Blue Star Press
Publication date:	03/02/2021
Series:	Creaky Knees
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	1,030,620
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

ANN MARIE BROWN, a California outdoors and hiking expert, is the author of 14 guidebooks and hundreds of magazine articles about hiking and outdoor recreation. Her expertise ranges from the best waterfalls to the most outstanding biking routes, and her writing has been featured in Sunset, VIA, Travel + Leisure, Backpacker, AFAR, San Francisco Chronicle, and the Los Angeles Times. She lives in South Lake Tahoe, California.

Read an Excerpt

Thirty years ago, I worked very long hours behind a desk five or six days a week, putting in plenty of overtime and spending way too much time indoors. On my precious days off I tried to get outdoors as much as possible,
but with all of life’s demands, I rarely had more than a few hours each week to get out in nature. On top of that, I was frequently plagued with injuries to my knees and hips—likely due to my chained-to-theoffice lifestyle.
But one day I made a decision to commit more of my life to the beauty of the great outdoors, and I started scheduling my hiking time with the same level of commitment as I scheduled my business meetings and social obligations.
I began my new, nature-focused life on the trails in this book. Yes, I
got more exercise when I hiked these paths, but they are by no means arduous or strenuous. Some trails may present a few gentle challenges for those who are less fit, but all of them were chosen for their scenic beauty and fun factor. Feel free to bring along your children, your grandma, or your spouse who thinks the “great outdoors” is nothing but mosquitoes and poison oak. Every trail in this book was chosen because it offers a good payoff—a reason for going besides just exercise. These eighty hikes lead you away from pavement, exhaust fumes, and crowds,
to places where you’d rather be: sparkling waterfalls, scenic viewpoints,
and peaceful forests.
To choose these hikes, I walked every trail in this book, most of them many times over. I also hiked plenty of other trails that didn’t make the cut, often because they were too difficult or too dull to ensure that everybody would have fun. I also made extensive use of “field testers”: I
brought along my eighty-year-old mom. I forced my not-so-enthusiasticabout-
hiking friends to traipse along with me. I even made my friends’
kids tag along (and usually they were way out in front).
During my travels, what I found out is that there are plenty of Northern
California trails designed for ordinary people, not just the hardcore outdoors enthusiast. And when ordinary people hike those trails, they feel happy.
I look forward to seeing you (and your children, grandmas, and spouses) out there. . . .
—Ann Marie Brown

Editorial Reviews

You’ll soon find that [The Creaky Knees hiking books] will be your go-to guides for enjoyable jaunts in the great outdoors.”
—Trailblazer Girl

From the Publisher