Life with ArielThe best time to hike in East Bay is spring. The weather is perfect with the right amount of sunshine and breezes from the bay. Mountains are in dewy green standing under the clear blue sky, decorated by colorful wildflowers. They wake up from winter hibernation and change from dull winter colors into new spring clothes. I listed my top hiking trails below in the order of preference, and my criteria are detailed in this blog.
1. Coyote Hills Regional Park
This park is my No. 1 in the East Bay area because of its versatility. Trails there don’t have much elevation, but there are many of them with various lengths. So you will get a good work-out. I would consider this park a year-round hiking spot as well. In spring, there are many types of wildflowers. The yellow oilseed rape is particularly beautiful. In summer and fall, thanks to the breeze from the bay, it’s not super hot even though the trails are not shaded. The downside is that the park is always busy and you may not like the strong sulfur smell on the bay side. My favorite trail there is Bayview and Meadowlark Trail Loop. You will go from the mountain side to the bay side and be able to see everything.
2. Las Trampas Regional Wilderness Preserve
Las Trampas Regional Wilderness Preserve has many trails with great elevation and beautiful grassland views especially in spring time. The park is pet friendly but has no shade. It will be quite hot in summer. One of the most popular trails is Rocky Ridge View and Elderberry Loop Trail. You will have to climb about 1,000 feet in the first mile. Then it’s all downhill from there. Views on this trail are stunning and expansive if you are a fan of mountains. You will feel energized and refreshed by the greens.
3. Vargas Plateau Regional Park
Vargas Plateau is gorgeous in spring with green meadows and grasslands. The plateau doesn’t have much trees, like the Mission Peak Regional Preserve in the South Bay, and thus provides expansive and clear views of the Fremont Hills. My favorite trail is Golden Eagle Trail to Upper Ranch Trail, 3.6 miles long and about 460 feet in elevation. The first half of trail can be crowded because View Point is a popular vista lookout for East Bay cities and the bay. There’s no shade in this park. The grass dries out fast as soon as summer starts. It can be too hot and boring to hike in summer.
4. Lake Chabot Regional Park
Lake Chabot Regional Park is not only a good spot for hiking activities. You can also go boating and kayaking on Lake Chabot. The lake is a reservoir of 315 acres. The trails around the lake are partially paved, overlooking the lake and its surrounds woods. The Lake Chabot Trail loops the entire lake and is 8.7 miles long with 800+ feet of elevation. If this’s too strenuous to you, you can still enjoy the lake view by taking the East Shore Trail or the West Shore Trail.
5. Del Valle Regional Park
Similar to Lake Chabot Regional Park, Del Valle Regional Park’s centerpiece is a lake. Unlike Lake Chabot, Lake Del Valle is a natural lake of 5 miles long, which means you can do a wider variety of water activities. It is in a deep valley framed by oak-covered hills, super green in spring but drying out quickly in summer. I took the East Shore Loop to Lake Del Valle in late April. Some wildflowers remained. The view was great, overlooking Lake Del Valle from different directions. But it had no shade and was already too hot for Ariel. Grasses had been turning yellow.
6. Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area
Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area features Horseshoe Lake, Rainbow Lake, and the beach and picnic areas around them. It’s a very popular spot for local people to enjoy a laidback weekend. Other than designated areas, water activities are not allowed on the lakes. However, you will still be able to get close to the water as the hiking trails are built around the lakes. None of the trails are long or highly elevated. So in order to get a decent workout, you will have to jog or hike on all the trails at once.
7. Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park
Dry Creek Pioneer Regional, along with Garin Regional Park, encloses 5,800 acres of open space and provides panoramic views of the East Bay Area. My favorite trail is the Pioneer Trail. It starts with views of mountains and grasslands and transits into overlooks of cities and residential areas downhill. During sunset, the golden rays outline the sky and light up the entire area. However, similar to all the other trails mentioned above, this park also dries out easy in summer and has no shade.
