60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: San Francisco: Including North Bay, East Bay, Peninsula, and South Bay
60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: San Francisco: Including North Bay, East Bay, Peninsula, and South Bay
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Overview
It’s Time to Take a Hike in San Francisco, California!
The best way to experience San Francisco is by hiking it. Get outdoors with local author and hiking expert Jane Huber, with the full-color edition of 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: San Francisco. A perfect blend of popular trails and hidden gems, the selected trails transport you to scenic overlooks, wildlife hot spots, and historical settings that renew your spirit and recharge your body.
Take in the beautiful beaches of Point Reyes National Seashore. Explore the redwood canyons of Big Basin state park. Hike to the top of Mount Davidson, the highest point in San Francisco. Enjoy the spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge from Baker Beach Trail. This guide offers stroller-friendly jaunts for the entire family, challenging treks for adventurous hikers, and everything in between. With Jane as your guide, you’ll learn about the area and experience nature through 60 of the city’s best hikes!
Each hike description features key at-a-glance information on distance, difficulty, scenery, traffic, hiking time, and more, so you can quickly and easily learn about each trail. Detailed directions, GPS-based trail maps, and elevation profiles help to ensure that you know where you are and where you’re going. Tips on nearby activities further enhance your enjoyment of every outing. Whether you’re a local looking for new places to explore or a visitor to the area, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: San Francisco provides plenty of options for a couple hours or a full day of adventure, all within about an hour from San Francisco and the surrounding communities.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781634041270 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Menasha Ridge Press |
| Publication date: | 06/09/2020 |
| Series: | 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 36 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Point Reyes National Seashore: Muddy Hollow
- Length: 7.4 miles
- Configuration: Loop
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Scenery: Coastal scrub and ocean views
- Exposure: Full sun except for a few pockets of shade
- Traffic: Light
- Trail Surface: Dirt fire road and trails
- Hiking Time: 3 hours
- Season: Muddy in winter, otherwise wonderful whenever
- Access: Free. Park is open daily from sunrise to midnight.
- Map: Pick up the free official Point Reyes trail map at the Bear Valley Visitor Center, or download it at https://www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/upload/map_trailsnorth.pdf.
- Facilities: None at this trailhead
- Special Comments: No dogs allowed
- Contacts: 415-464-5100; nps.gov/pore
- Driving Distance: 39 miles from the Golden Gate Bridge toll plaza
Description
Lonely Muddy Hollow is the starting point for a number of loop hikes. You can trek up Bucklin Trail and return via Drakes View Trail, a 7-mile loop. For a 9-mile loop, string together Bayview, Laguna, and Coast Trail, finishing up on the gravel road past the hostel and down to Muddy Hollow. Or extend the featured hike by remaining on Muddy Hollow Road at the junction with Glenbrook. Turn left on White Gate Road, left on Estero, and then turn right at the junction with Glenbrook and continue the featured hike.
The area around Muddy Hollow offers exceptional wildlife viewing. You may see tule elk; some of the herd from Tomales Point have been relocated to this part of the seashore. Songbirds and hawks are common and rabbits (and rabbit fur) may be glimpsed throughout the coastal scrub. Fox, coyote, bobcat, and even mountain lion also roam these lands. Berry enthusiasts hiking in summer may find themselves in purple-stained finger heaven. Blackberry brambles sprawl across hillsides, thimbleberries hide in the shade on Estero Trail, and salmonberries, rare in the bay area, line Muddy Hollow Trail.
From the parking area at the trailhead, start in front of the trail markers at the junction of Muddy Hollow Road and Muddy Hollow Trail. Walk north on Muddy Hollow Road (toward Bayview Trail), open to equestrians and hikers only. After a few steps on the wide trail you’ll cross a creek then step into coastal scrub. At 0.1 mile, Bayview Trail heads uphill to the right at a signed junction. Continue straight on Muddy Hollow Road. Some cypress, bush lupine, ceanothus, and Bishop pine grow near the junction; coyote brush is the dominant trailside plant. Muddy Hollow Road climbs gently, with a forest of Bishop pines continuing to march across the hillsides burned in the Mount Vision fire. Look to the right for a rocky outcrop on the side of the hill. At 0.9 mile, Muddy Hollow Road meets Bucklin Trail at a signed junction. Continue straight/left on Muddy Hollow Road.
The trail bends right and begins to descend gently through coastal scrub. This segment replaces the old fire road, shifting traffic away from Greenbrook Creek’s damp upper basin, instead traveling across hillsides to the north of the old section. This is a very quiet part of the park. You are likely to see wildflowers blooming in every month of the year, from ceanothus in winter to monkeyflower in autumn. Muddy Hollow Road (though here a narrow path) crosses a bridge and begins an easy climb through grassland and pine. The trail crests and meets Glenbrook Trail at a signed junction at 2.3 miles. Turn left on Glenbrook.
The trail, closed to cyclists, climbs easily through coyote brush and pine. You might see pussy ears, clover, iris, California buttercup, and blue-eyed grass in spring. As Glenbrook levels out and heads south toward the ocean, on a clear day look back to the north for views of Mount Vision, and east to recap the hike so far. Glenbrook is straight and the trail surface is grassy. Hawks and harriers swoop overhead, searching for cottontails. I’d say from the amount of rabbit fur along the trail, they are frequently successful. At 3.0 miles, Glenbrook Trail ends at a signed junction with Estero Trail. Remain straight, now on Estero Trail.
From here it’s a lonely 4 miles to the next trail junction. Estero continues at a slightly descending pace. Limantour Estero is visible to the right. You might hear sea lions or harbor seals beached on Limantour Spit. Ignore any side paths as Estero turns left, away from the ocean, and heads back to the north. Estero Trail descends gently, passes a few eucalyptus, then turns and crosses Glenbrook Creek on a bridge. Meandering through an enchanting little pocket of alders, thimbleberry, nettle, and salmonberry, look for huge cow parsnips towering over 5 feet, while miner’s lettuce and candyflower nestle close to the damp ground. After passing through the pocket of green near the creek, Estero Trail, now shrunken to a narrow path, steps back out into coastal scrub. Spring flowers include iris, blue-eyed grass, paintbrush, lupines, and checker-bloom—watch out for poison oak here. Elk are now common in this part of Point Reyes, and you may see them (usually in herds) or at least their scat. On an October hike I startled a herd that were munching at the edge of the marsh. They ran off in a hurry, with aquatic plants streaming from their heads like green wigs. The trail bends left (the old trail segment which went south to Muddy Hollow is fenced off and closed) and begins to climb along the slope of a long hill. Bishop pine line the trail but grassland still dominates here (but for how long—the trees grow fast!). Iris are gorgeous in spring, and in summer you may see a variety of butterflies, including buckeyes, checkerspots, and mylitta crescents. Estero Trail keeps climbing, but the grade is easy, and before long you’ll be cresting the hill. A bench on the left offers great views past sloping grassland and coastal scrub north to Chimney Rock. Now the sandy path descends, bisecting a crowded Bishop pine forest. If these young trees thin, a new understory may fill in, including huckleberry and salal. Once through the forest, the trail drops into Muddy Hollow and ends at 7 miles. Turn left onto Muddy Hollow Trail.
The wide alder-lined fire road offers an easy return to the trailhead—it’s just 0.4 mile back to the parking lot.
GPS Trailhead Coordinates N38° 2.884' W122° 52.157'
Directions Leave San Francisco on northbound US 101 and use the Golden Bridge toll plaza as your mileage starting point. Drive north on US 101 about 10 miles, then take Exit 450B, Sir Francis Drake/San Anselmo. Stay to the left toward San Anselmo, and drive west about 20 miles on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to the junction with CA 1. Turn right and drive 0.1 mile, then turn left onto Bear Valley Road. Drive 1.8 miles, then turn left onto Limantour Road. Continue about 6 miles, then turn right onto the signed road accessing Muddy Hollow. Drive 0.2 mile to the parking lot at the end of the road.
Most Point Reyes visitors know that Limantour Road leads to the hostel and is a quick route to a gorgeous beach. A number of the seashore’s lesser-known and most primitive trailheads are reached from the Limantour area as well, like this loop from Muddy Hollow.
Table of Contents
Overview Map
Overview-Map Key
Acknowledgments
Foreword
Preface
60 Hikes by Category
Introduction
North Bay (Marin, Sonoma, and Napa counties)
- Angel Island State Park
- China Camp State Park
- Jack London State Historic Park
- Marin Headlands
- Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve
- Mount Tamalpais: Cataract Falls–Potrero Meadows Loop
- Mount Tamalpais: Matt Davis–Steep Ravine Loop
- Mount Tamalpais: Mountain Home–Muir Woods Loop
- Mount Tamalpais: Phoenix Lake
- Point Reyes National Seashore: Muddy Hollow
- Point Reyes National Seashore: Tomales Point
- Ring Mountain Open Space Preserve
- Samuel P. Taylor State Park
- Sugarloaf Ridge State Park
- Tolay Lake Regional Park
- Tomales Bay State Park
- Trione-Annadel State Park
East Bay (Contra Costa and Alameda counties)
- Anthony Chabot Regional Park
- Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve
- Briones Regional Park
- Coyote Hills Regional Park
- Fernandez Ranch
- Garin Regional Park
- Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve
- Las Trampas Regional Wilderness
- Mission Peak Regional Preserve
- Morgan Territory Regional Preserve
- Mount Diablo State Park: Donner Canyon Waterfall Loop
- Mount Diablo State Park: Mary Bowerman Trail
- Mount Diablo State Park: Mitchell Canyon–Eagle Peak Loop
- Redwood Regional Park
- Round Valley Regional Preserve
- Sunol Regional Wilderness
- Tilden Regional Park
- Vargas Plateau Regional Park
Peninsula and South Bay (San Mateo, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties)
- Almaden Quicksilver County Park
- Ano Nuevo State Park
- Big Basin Redwoods State Park: Waterfall Loop
- Castle Rock State Park
- Devil’s Slide Trail
- Edgewood County Park and Natural Preserve
- Joseph D. Grant County Park
- Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
- Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve
- Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve
- Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve
- Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve
- San Bruno Mountain State and County Park
- San Pedro Valley County Park
- Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve
- Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve
- Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve
- Sweeney Ridge
- Uvas Canyon County Park
- Windy Hill Open Space Preserve
City of San Francisco
- Golden Gate Park: Stow Lake
- Lands End
- Mount Davidson
- The Presidio: Batteries to Bluffs Trail
- Sutro Forest
Appendixes and Index
- Appendix A: Hiking Stores
- Appendix B: Map Stores
- Appendix C: Hiking Clubs
- Index
About the Author
Map Legend
Acknowledgments