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Hiking Project
Hiking Project
Redwood 4-H Hiking Project is continuing into it's 16th year with a monthly hike at the best nature areas around the San Francisco Bay. Most 3rd Saturdays of the month we will hike a new nature trail, each selected for its special natural features and suitability for the club’s hikers and the season. Learn about the trails and ecology of several parks in the Bay Area. Good Hiking Practices will be taught and we encourage members to take photographs and bring healthy snacks. Trail levels range from easy to moderate in difficulty and are usually Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm including breaks. All destinations are within a driving radius of 1 hour or less from Castro Valley. Some destinations require an entry fee. On some of the hikes dogs are allowed too.
Age: 5-18
Limit: no limit
When: ~2nd Saturdays from 10am-1pm
Bring: Water, snacks, suitable hiking attire and closed toe comfortable shoes
Where: 1 hour or less from Castro Valley (Project Leader will send location and any date/time changes)
Cost: mostly free, some parking fees
Project Leaders: Talila Golan
Project requirements:
Redwood 4-H Hiking Project is open to members of all ages. Primary members ages 8 years and younger are required to have an adult chaperone. Members ages 9 years and older can hike without a chaperone, but family members are more than welcome to join in.
Youth hikers are encouraged to carry their own water and snacks. All hikers are required to abide by 4-H rules, local park’s rules, and hikers safety and leave no trace etiquette.
October 10: Rodeo Beach and Battery Townsley in the Marin Headlands are the perfect destination for the 4-H year’s opener. It’s a lovely place for a fall hike with great views, wildlife, and excellent record of perfect autumn weather. The trail is a mildly moderate 3.5 miles loop. The location is about 50 minutes drive from Castro Valley.
November 14: The height of the fall bird migration is in the month of November. We will go to the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve in west Hayward for a nice birding hike of about 3 miles loop, level easy. The destination is about 15 minutes drive from Castro Valley.
December 12: Garin/Dry Creek Regional Park is one of the best places in the East Bay to see the mushroom bloom. On a nice 3.5 miles loop trail we will hike through the oak savanna hills moving between areas of open, sweeping views and creek gullies with water flow and beautiful mushrooms. Moderate level, about 15-20 minutes drive from Castro Valley.
January 9: Mori Point in Pacifica is one of the special places I like to bring people to. This lovely coastal park has both interesting history, gorgeous nature with estuary wetland, sweeping ocean views with rich wildlife and even a chance of whale sightings, and some interesting cultural anecdotes. The trail is about 2.5 miles, mildly moderate. About 50 minutes drive from Castro Valley.
February 6: The highest trail in the East Bay, the Mary Bowerman Trail surrounding the summit of Mount Diablo offers sweeping views and fascinating vegetation and geology. This is a short, easy 1 mile loop trail, to which we will add a downhill only descent on a beautiful slope of chaparral and oak woodland to Juniper Campground, for a total of 2.5 miles, level easy plus. This hike is one way - at the end I will take drivers back up to the starting point to bring down the cars. Hike is about 45 minutes drive from Castro Valley, and there is a 10$ per car park entrance fee.
March 13: March brings in the early wave spring wildflowers to the Peninsula, and we will hike a beautiful, easy 3 miles loop trail in Arastradero Open Space Preserve near Palo Alto, about 40 minutes drive from Castro Valley. Expect lots of wildflowers and wildlife on this one!
April 10: With spring bloom at its peak, our April hike destination is one of the best Bay Area wildflowers hotspots - Edgewood Park in San Mateo. There we will hike a 4 miles moderate level loop trail through a stunning display of colors and views.
May 8: Our end of 4-H year hike will be a sunny and sweet lollypop trail in Shadowcliffs Regional Park in Pleasanton, featuring a beautiful creek lagoon, heron nesting trees, dragonflies and blackberries. We will finish the hike and the year with our traditional watermelon picnic at the lovely Shadowcliffs swim beach.
Hike details will be emailed to the group about a week before each hike.
Hike dates and/or destinations may be changed due to weather, or other unforeseen causes.
Questions? Contact Project Leader Talila at talilagolan @ gmail.com (remove spaces around @)
2025-2026 Project Plan:
October 11: Devil’s Slide and Pedro Point, Pacifica, 2.5 miles, mildly-moderate. Featuring breath-taking ocean views and if it’s a warm day there’s a beach in the end.
November 15: Tilden Regional Park, Berkeley. 3 miles, moderate. Featuring a beautiful forest and great views. If you want extra at the end, Little Farm and the Nature Center are right there by the trailhead.
December 13: Ukraina Trail, Garin Regional Park, Hayward. 3 miles, easy. Features an interesting historical site, sweeping views and good chances of observing wildlife.
January 10: Almaden Quicksilver Park, San Jose. 4 miles, moderate. One of the most fascinating hikes in the Bay Area, featuring an old mine with a ghost town, a rich wildlife habitat, and a beautiful forest.
February 7: Sycamore Grove Park, Livermore. 3.5 miles, moderately easy. This beautiful part features historical farmland with relic orchards, open grassland hills, a flowing river and many birds.
March 14: Santa Teresa County Park, San Jose. 3 miles, mildly-moderate. Features a pretty open space of grassland hills and beautiful views. A nice early spring bloom is expected.
April 11: Mitchell Canyon at Mt. Diablo State Park. 2.5 miles, easy. Featuring one of the best spring bloom places in the Bay Area!
May 9: Presidio of San Francisco, San Francisco. 3 miles, moderately easy. A fascinating mixture of San Francisco’s military history, modern landscaping, and gorgeous coastal nature. The perfect place of the end of year hike and our traditional watermelon picnic.
2024-2025 Project Plan:
10/12/24: Point Pinole Regional Park, 2.5 miles, easy (Richmond). A pretty park by the Bay with interesting history and great views.
11/9/24: Don Edwards NWR Alviso Unit, 4 miles, easy (San Jose). The best place to catch the fall bird migration. Offers a side view of the Drawbridge ghost town.
12/14/24: Foothill Regional Preserve, 3.5 miles, mildly moderate (Palo Alto). Beautiful nature area with forest, chaparral, and a pond, with lots of wildlife.
1/11/25: Anthony Chabot Regional Park, 2.5 miles, moderate (Oakland). The less explored side of the park, north of the lake, inside a redwood forest alongside a creek featuring a seasonal waterfall.
2/8/25: Sunol Regional Wilderness, 3.5 miles, moderate (Sunol). Rolling hills, deep canyon with cascading falls at the best part of the Alameda Creek, which would be running highest in this season.
3/29/25: Brushy Peak Regional Preserve, 4.5 miles, moderate (Livermore). A lovely nature preserve, home to many amphibians and other wildlife, and great views.
5/10/25: China Camp State Park, 2.5 miles, easy, ends at the beach (San Raphael). A beautiful park by the north shore of the Bay, with a lovely forest, wildlife, and great bay view. There is beach access at the end of the hike.
2023-24 Project Plan:
10/14/23 Pillar Point Bluff, Half Moon Bay
11/11/23 Mt. Diablo State Park, Danville, $10 per car park entry fee
12/9/23 Point Bonita Lighthouse, Sausalito
1/13/24 Foothill Nature Preserve, Palo Alto
2/10/24 Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline, Martinez
3/9/24 Vargas Plateau Regional Park, Fremont
April no hike this month
5/11/24 Joseph D. Grant County Park, San Jose, $6 per car entry fee
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