Best State Parks
1. Castle Rock State Park - This is a boulderer's paradise! Short , challenging climbs are plentiful, and there are plenty of top rope setups for beginners and experts alike.
2. Mount Diablo State Park - While a bit off the beaten path, Diablo is home to the highest mountain in the Bay Area, and has a road that takes you nearly to the top.
3. Big Basin Redwoods State Park - With ancient redwoods, stunning waterfalls and views of the ocean, this park is the appropriate home for the popular Skyline to the Sea Trail.
4. Mount Tamalpais State Park - Perfect for North Bay residents, Mount Tam offers some of the best views anywhere in the Bay Area. Hikes are abundant and the summit is accessible by car, except for the last quarter mile.
5. Sunol Regional Wilderness - Rolling hilltops are characteristic of this relatively undiscovered gem. While the 20-mile roundtrip hike to the top of Rose Peak (second highest in the Bay Area) may seem daunting, the views are absolutely worth it. Don't be surprised to see some trail runners training for ultra-marathons.
6. Muir Woods National Monument - A beautiful, accessible natural museum of redwood trees with easily-graded hiking trails and information on the ecology of the area.
7. Tilden Regional Park - An Urban Oasis, this park offers spectacular views of the ocean, the city, and the entire bay, and is very accessible to Berkeley and Oakland residents
8. Golden Gate Park - This is a San Francisco classic and adjacent to the Pacific Ocean.
10 Comments
Please feel free to add more. I know I have already mentioned some of these, but I wanted to map them out formally. It only took me six months to figure out how to use this function!
Is Muir Woods considered a state park? If so, it's gorgeous and should be added to your list. And isn't Golden Gate Park a state park? I know it's a National park, not sure if that's the same thing here. There are a bunch of parks and hiking trails in Los Altos hills, but not sure if they are state parks or not.
I am, of course, a fan of Tilden Park, but that may be more a matter of proximity rather than quality. It is surrounded by urban areas so that has its drawbacks I guess, but it also makes it easy to go and come back in easily. I guess it depends what we mean by "best".
That Skyline sounds really great. I would love to try that one some time. One of the things I fell in love with in northern California was the sea coast. I took a drive all the way to Port Angeles in Washington when I graduated highschool, and my favorite part of the coastline was north of SF to Fort Ross--just amazing geographical features.
All of that is a long way around to say that I really like hiking by the ocean. The cool breezes and great views make it easy going, even on the way back up hill.
@Nightowl - Fort Ross area is awesome! I've been on a few coastal climbing trips there, and while I prefer climbing in the Sierras to the Sonoma Coast, the area has to be one of the most scenic I have ever seen. I posted a few of my favorite pictures of the area.
@Flowergirl, I added Tilden Regional Park.
@Tracypie, I added Muir Woods (which is near Mount Tam, which I added) and Golden Gate Park. I don't know much about the place because I've only driven through and have yet to visit. I'm not picky about whether something is technically a state park or not :)
The list is looking pretty good, just about somewhere to hike in every direction. Good job!
By the way, I dug the pictures--you're like a daredevil! I say enviously
Thanks, @Flowergirl. I'll try to add more soon! It's nice to get a visual of some of these places.
I just went to Point Reyes Seashore Park last week. It was beautiful. Lots of hiking trails in Point Reyes.
Point Reyes is great, I've heard. I know a lot of people who go there for multi-day backpacking trips. I just posted an extensive report of my hike up Half Dome in Yosemite National Park on the hiking thread as well as in a review I wrote of Yosemite. That has to be my favorite place on the planet.
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