Redwood Regional Park in Oakland is an incredible redwood grove in Oakland. I wrote about it a few years ago here. And now…ladybugs! Bay Nature magazine, a Bay Area natural journal, recently wrote an article about these winter clusters of ladybugs. They say, “Convergent ladybugs—among the most common of California’s 175 native ladybug species—have overwintered …
Muir Woods is notoriously difficult to visit. Parking is such a problem and there are so many people pouring into it that the National Park Service had to implement a reservation system–even before COVID. But COVID has actually been good for this popular park. Parking reservations are required, as are your time slot, and the …
This walk is SO easy and SO nice. It’s honestly one of the very best East Bay secrets. There are a few different trails on the Carquinez Strait Shoreline park you can take, but this one is by far the nicest, easiest, and prettiest. It’s an easy loop for kids, dogs, and those with ankle …
Bishop Ranch is such a small, out of the way part of the East Bay Regional Park district, that it isn’t often listed in the trail books. And with possible good reason. Almost from the moment you enter the park, you’re faced with the steepest climb ever– I’m talking K2 scaling here– but the views …
March, 2017 The day before spring started, we decided to make a return visit to Black Diamond Mines in Antioch for a second hike (see the first here). Our reasoning for this was twofold: one, it was spring and therefore the hills are green and it would not be baking hot out there. Two, they …
Point Pinole is a vastly understated park in the East Bay Regional Park District, with 2,315 acres located at the tip of Richmond/San Pablo/Pinole. Getting to it is not terribly straightforward but the result is worth it because this park has incredibly long trails and stunning views of the bay. As well, it’s flat enough …
The Verna Dunshee Loop is pretty much at the very top of Mt. Tam and it’s hands down one of the best kept secrets of the Bay Area. Circling the East Peak of Mount Tamalpais, the loop is about a mile long total and paved. It offers spectacular views of the Bay Area seen in few …
March 2017 In early September, we continued our foray into the vast open space areas available in Solano County. This time it was Lynch Canyon Open Preserve in Solano County, just off Highway 80 between Vallejo and Fairfield, which has 1,039 acres of rolling grasslands and plenty of wildlife. Popular with hikers, horseback riders, and …
Neary Lagoon used to be a small little set of boardwalks, weaving their way through an impossibly magical set of waterways, through which a host of wildlife would travel. I visited often when I was a little girl, especially when my father played tennis at the courts. There used to be one of the best …
We began this trip by attempting to get to Muir Woods — but the parking situation for Muir Woods is so atrocious that we gave up. There simply isn’t enough parking to get in there, and with two small kids we didn’t want to walk along a winding road with no sidewalk and a scant …