See the best hiking trails in California
Guides and Trips in California
Trips
HQ to Mississippi Lake via Little Long Canyon
Madrone Soda Springs, California, United States
Mountain biking | 28 miles
Mountain biking | 28 miles
Working on our hit every trail in Coe project. Started out from HQ at 7:15am(already warm), headed down Poverty Flat and down into the Narrows. Saw a very healthy Coyote go bounding up the side of the canyon. Took a side trip up Little Long Canyon, quite pretty with a lot of wildflowers still. Big long slog up Bear Mountain. Up on County Line Road we spotted a beauty of a Horned...
Part of a larger long term project to hit every trail in big Henry Coe. This is a long ride out to the eastern most point with stops at Mustang Peak(probably my favorite spot in the park), Raven Pond(for FrogWater), Purple Pond(nicer than Raven) and Yellowjacket Pond. Parked at Dowdy and started the ride down Kaiser Aetna road, got to County Line road fairly quickly then started the nice ride up this...
A nice hike around the canyon with good friends. Stopped in at Hwy 1 brewing Co which had some decent beers.
Great ride on one of the warmest days this year. Saw quite a few turtles in Kelly Creek(?) and surprised a beautiful big bobcat coming out on Grizzly Gulch. Pretty decent wildflowers this year too, surprised with the lack of rain we've had. Took a side trip up to Willson Tower to check out the view on this wonderful clear day.
A trifecta of lakes: Kelly, Hoover and Coit
Old Gilroy, California, United States
Mountain biking | 30 miles
Mountain biking | 30 miles
A wonderful day in Coe. Mid 70s, breezy and clear as a bell. Saw four snakes, two dead(one rattler) and two young gophers with a cool green tint. Laurent spotted a large Horned Toad on Willow Ridge. Made it out to Hill 2615 before deciding Miss Lake was just a little too far for today. Lakes are low, Hoover is down 8 feet from last time I was there in April, Kelly...
Campbell Perc Ponds to Soda Springs Rd.
Lexington Hills, California, United States
Mountain biking | 17.6 miles
Mountain biking | 17.6 miles
Amazing flowers and no one on the trail all day. Oh and fair warning... there's no free parking at Coyote Creek entrance thanks over zealous Sheriff's that are responding to complaints from tour buses full of kids that can't turn around. Shame as I've parked here since 2005 with no issues until today.
Coe - Mahoney Ridge to Los Cruzeros and China Hole
Madrone Soda Springs, California, United States
Hiking | 15.6 miles
Hiking | 15.6 miles
A quick hike to check out the wildflowers in this end of the park.
Took the pooch out for a walk to check out the wildflowers. Lots of variety but the plants aren't very large with the lack of rain.
We arrived to an empty lot around 9am on a Friday with temps forecast to reach near 80F. The descent toward Manzanita Point rewarded us with ubiquitous woodpeckers of all varieties and an assortment of early spring wildflowers.We headed down the Cougar Trail(steep) to Poverty Flat. After a few easy creek crossings in this dry winter you pick up Middle Ridge and are rudely reminded that you're still in Coe with its steep...
Drove up from San Jose to hike some different scenery. We made good time getting up to the top and enjoyed the wonderful views. Saw a gray fox on the way up which was a treat for me as I haven't seen one that I can remember. After quite a while hanging around on the summit we made a quick descent and headed over to Russian River Brewing Co for some wonderful...
A quick hike to check out the new trail and see how the wildflowers are doing. Looks like a slow year so far but this trail shows promise for a decent show in April/May. Nice new trail layout, probably my favorite in the park now.
My first time in the park. Went to the airplane crash site then bushwhacked up to the Simas Peak trail. Made our way over to the peak proper then back down on the Pipeline trail. Unfortunately it's not well signed that it's bikes only at the top so we missed the connector to the hiking only trail. Cool trail, was wishing I had my Bullit.
A brisk January morning hike with some friends. Highlight was the 50+ newt orgy at the Day Tunnel Pond. Good times!
One of my favorite hikes on the nicely graded more civilized trails in this area ;-) A chilly start with temps dipping down to 39F, Willson Peak was in the clouds. We headed up the Jim Donnelly trail on the new routing until the last top section where we took the good old fashioned Coe trail that runs perpendicular to the contour lines. A nice break at Willson Peak with some cool...
I've been longingly looking at Tie Down Peak ever since I attended my first Backcountry Weekend back in 2005. As you drive down Kaiser Aetna road toward Orestimba Corral during this once a year event you can't help but notice this peak. It's not very tall, in fact it's lower than the Dowdy Ranch Visitor Center, but after you make the "summit" there will be no arguing its status as a peak...
