For this family walk, we headed into the endlessly amusing Golden Gate Park for two very specific pursuits: the search for the mysterious fairy door, and also a paddleboat and walk around Stowe Lake. Both combined to make the first ever family walk in which my four year old didn’t complain once; that’s how good …
Rush Ranch is another excellent Solano County adventure in an area where there seems to be plenty of wonderful hikes to choose from. Rush Ranch is a 2,070-acre open space area bordered on one side by the Suisun Marsh and has superb bird watching and nature opportunities. It’s easy to get to and open year …
Black Diamond Mines is a supremely amazing park. The hikes are easy, the scenery breathtaking, the history interesting. And where else can you walk into a salt mine? It’s worth it, too — the mine is deliciously cool. Just take a look at these stark, striking views: The area is very historic, and was the …
Years ago, before we had kids, Ken and I went mountain biking at Rockville. That was the kind of thing we did back then, before we fell hopelessly out of shape and had kids, which made mountain biking a less likely leisure activity of choice. I remember Rockville as an extraordinary park that had an incredible payoff …
What kid doesn’t love playing with the paint swatches at Home Depot while you’re trying to pick up brushes and wait for your custom-matched color to be mixed and shaken? Heck, I love the paint swatches. While I love the nature scavenger sheets I find everywhere (Last week, Mt. Diablo had some simple ones in …
Any walk that involves a volcano is a hit. Even if it’s a 10-million-year-old one. That said, I didn’t have huge expectations for Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve because I thought it was going to be small and hot. Boy, was I wrong. Sibley, part of the East Bay Regional Park District, straddles Oakland and is …
Wilder Ranch is a wonderful state park just on the outskirts of Santa Cruz on Highway 1. Offering challenging mountain biking trails on one side of the freeway, and one of the most beautiful coastal paths on the other, Wilder Ranch is a treat. It also has a working historic farm with horses, goats, sheep, …
Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland hills, part of East Bay Region Park District, is one of those rare pockets of land that make you forget you’re in an urban area. Its redwood grove is absolutely gorgeous and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were on the coast, two hours away from …
I won’t lie to you: Martinez Regional Shoreline park is not typically on a Bay Area hiker’s radar in terms of walks. And normally I wouldn’t waste a weekend hike on it. But honestly, it does have the hallmarks of a great walk with kids: nice, wide paths, great things for the kids to do, and …
Mt. Diablo State Park, located out past Walnut Creek, has over 150 miles of hiking trails and fire roads, and 56 campsites, all surrounding the massive mountain, which is elevation 3,849 feet. As to be expected from a mountainous state park, there is lots to do here, the least of which is to see the view from the …