Natural History Wanderings

Updated and Expanded April 2013

Where is the best place to do a wildflower hike in the Bay Area? Here is a list of lists for favorite wildflower hikes including: Bay Area Hiker, Two-Heel Drive, Marin Trails, Trail Center, Every Trail and my own favorites.  I have also included a link to a Bay Area Wildflower article in Sunset Magazine.

There is no one website that posts all of what is in bloom in the Bay Area.  A good way to find current information is to contact the individual parks directly.   The local California Native Plant Society sites are another possible source of information. I post wildflower bloom updates,  my own wildflower explorations and am glad to post other people’s findings so submissions are encouraged. You can find these at Wildflower Bloom Reports

Here are the best wildflower destinations by region and parks. The East Bay hills and Point Reyes are tops by far:

Best Bay Area Wildflower Hikes by Tom Stienstra at SF Gate

East Bay hills

• Sunol: Sunol Loop to Cerro Este, 4.75-mile round trip, at Sunol Regional Wilderness, near Sunol.
• Tilden: Seaview Trail at Tilden Regional Park, 1.5-mile round trip, in Berkeley hills (Wildcat Canyon Road access).
• Chabot: Grass Valley Loop from Bort Meadow, 2.8-mile round trip, at Chabot Regional Park near Castro Valley.
• Briones: Briones Crest Loop, 5.6 miles, at Briones Regional Park near Pleasant Hill.
• Black Diamond: Jim’s Place Loop, 6 miles, at Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve near Antioch.
• Mount Diablo: Mitchell Canyon Loop, 8.1 miles, Mount Diablo State Park, near Clayton.
• Morgan: Volvon Loop to Bob Walker Ridge, 5.7 miles, Morgan Territory north of Livermore.

Contacts: East Bay Regional Park District, (888) 327-2757, ebparks.org (maps, brochures, park phone extensions).

Point Reyes National Seashore

Point Reyes has 18 percent of the flowering plant species found in California, believed by rangers to be more than anywhere else in the state. At Chimney Rock at peak, 90 blooms were counted in one-mile stretch.

• Chimney: Chimney Rock Headlands, 2.8-mile round trip.
• Limantour: Beach parking area, with option of hike into Muddy Hollow.
• Burn area: Woodward Trail (above Coast Camp) in area of ’95 wildfire, 7.5-mile round trip.
• Sky: Sky Trail from Limantour Road Trailhead to Sky Camp, 2.6 miles round trip.
• Abbotts: Abbotts Lagoon, 3.2-mile round trip.
• Palomarin: Coastal Trail out of Palomarin Trailhead near Bolinas north to Bass Lake, 5-mile round trip.

Contact: Point Reyes National Seashore, (415) 464-5100, www.nps.gov/pore.

Bay Area Hiker List of favorite wildflower hikes: http://www.bahiker.com/extras/best.html
North Bay:

• Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve
• Mount Tamalpais/MMWD: Phoenix Lake
• Mount Tamalpais State Park: Matt Davis-Steep Ravine Loop
• Point Reyes National Seashore: Chimney Rock

East Bay:

• Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve
• Briones Regional Park
• Mount Diablo State Park: Mitchell Canyon-Eagle Peak Loop
• Sunol Regional Wilderness

Peninsula and South Bay:

• Coal Mine Ridge
• Henry W. Coe State Park
• Edgewood Park and Preserve
• Joseph D. Grant County Park
• Monte Bello Open Space Preserve
• Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve
• San Bruno Mountain County Park
• Stile Ranch Trail
• Sweeney Ridge

Two-Heel Drive, Hiking Blog: http://www.tommangan.net/twoheeldrive/index.php/2008/02/09/wildflowers-best-bay-area-locales/

• Henry W. Coe State Park.
• Point Reyes National Seashore.
• Joseph D. Grant County Park
• Pinnacles National Monument
• Sunol Regional Wilderness
• Calero County Park

Marin Trails: Top 7 Wildflower Areas in Marin County

1. Chimney Rock at Point Reyes The best displays run from March to May
2. Ring Mountain on the Tiburon Peninsula Great variety and abundance of flowers from late March to June.
3. Coastal Trail at the Marin Headlands The Coastal trail, from Conzelman Rd to Bunker Rd offers great wildflowers in March and April
4. Benstein Trail on Mt. Tamalpais Benstein trail from the Rock Spring area late March or April.
5. Abbotts Lagoon and Kehoe Beach at Point Reyes Both of these areas offer abundance and variety of flowers, especially in April
6. Baltimore Canyon in Larkspur Trillium, in March.
7. Pumpkin Ridge near the lakes on Mt. Tamalpais best display of iris

Trail Center: San Francisco Bay Area Wildflowers Hikes

By Tim Oren http://www.trailcenter.org/newsletter/2000/spring2000/spring2000-01.htm

• San Pedro Valley County Park (San Mateo County)  A 2-mile loop for coastal flowers (April)
• Pulgas Ridge Open Space Preserve (Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District) Woodland flowers along the Polly Geraci Trail (March-June)
• Wilder Ranch State Park A yellow explosion on coastal bluffs (late May to mid-June)
• Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve (MROSD)  Great flowers and killer views, (mid-April to early June)
• Joseph D. Grant County Park (Santa Clara County)  Hamilton Range grasslands (early April)
• Sunol Regional Wilderness (East Bay Regional Parks)  More East Bay flower meadows (late March to early April)

Sandy’s Personal Favorites:

• Steep Ravine on Mt. Tamalpais in early spring
• Abbott’s Lagoon and Chimney Rock at Pt. Reyes
• Falls Trail at Mt. Diablo

Bay Nature Magazine (See full article with more details at: Bay Area wildflowers Bay Nature)

• San Bruno Mountain, San Bruno
• Edgewood Preserve, Redwood City
• Henry Coe State Park, Morgan Hill
• Chimney Rock, Pt. Reyes
• Coastal Trail, Marin Headlands
• Sycamore Grove, Livermore