Hiking
The Silicon Valley area offers hundreds of miles of trails managed by various open space agencies, as well as state, county, and city parks. Hikers can explore trails through coastal regions, redwoods, grasslands, and scrublands throughout the Bay Area. Explore the personal impressions of hikes in the area.
Things to Look For on Your Winter Hike
Cooler months bring fungi, bright berries, moving wildlife, and winter migrant birds to Santa Cruz Mountain hikes.
Fog Sipping Coastal Redwoods
The tallest trees in the world, the coastal redwood trees of Northern California, have a remarkable ability to use fog as a source of moisture.
Forest Bathing in the Coastal Redwoods
Coastal redwoods offer a unique blend of sensory, emotional, and physiological benefits that make them a wonderful place for forest bathing.
What Those Orange and White Striped Signs Mean
Paddle markers are signs that point down to the location of a natural gas pipeline buried underground.
Clarkias: Summer blooms in the Santa Cruz Mountains
As spring wildflowers fade from Bay Area preserves, one group of native plants continues to add color well into summer.
Hiking the Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail
Available only by reservation, the 11-mile Fifield-Cahill Ridge Trail hike offers coastal views, windswept Douglas-firs, and guided entry into a protected watershed.
Guided Wildflower Hikes at Máyyan ‘Ooyákma
Spring weekend guided hikes at Máyyan 'Ooyákma–Coyote Ridge let visitors see native wildflowers, Bay checkerspot butterflies, and tule elk.
Wildflowers in Silicon Valley
Open space preserves in the Silicon Valley are popular destinations for hikers wanting to see wildflower blooms in the spring.
McAbee Trailhead: Birding at Almaden Quicksilver County Park
Almaden Quicksilver County Park's oak woodlands and grasslands are great for hiking and birding in the spring.
Thornewood Preserve: a Short Redwood Hike
Thornewood Open Space Preserve features a short hike through a second-growth redwood forest in the Santa Cruz Mountains near Woodside.
