Mission Peak

Near: Freemont
Trip Type: Hike
Distance: 5 miles
Elevation: 400 - 2500 ft
Vegetation: Pasture
Surface: Dirt
Last Visit: Sometime in 2014

Mission Peak Regional Preserve is no pristine wilderness.  It's yet-another-East-Bay-dirt-road-grass-and-cows experience.  Still, its proximity to Bay Area population centers and its satisfying prominence make it worth a visit when you're in the mood for a substantial climb, but not a substantial drive.   It's also the far western terminus of the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, so this is the place to start if you want to go on a 28-mile trek into the East Bay hills with several thousand feet of climbing.  Personally, if I'm going to do that much work, the Sierras or Trinity Alps better be involved, but if you live in the SF Bay and want to go backpacking with a dog on a strict carbon-footprint budget, then the Ohlone is the trail for you.

Rodeo Beach, Wolf Ridge Loop, and Costal Trail from Muir Beach

Near: Sausalito
Trip Type: Hike
Length: 5 miles
Elevation: 0 - 800 ft
Vegetation: Coastal scrub
Surface: Paved and dirt
Last Visit: 8/20/16

Rodeo Beach and Muir Beach are some of the most scenic beaches north of San Francisco and both are dog friendly and the trails around these beaches are the nicest of the few dog friendly options in the Marin headlands.  The most natural circuit is to climb up and around "hill 88" above Rodeo beach and explore the old WWII fortifications guarding the Golden Gate (voice control OK on this loop).  For the best sweeping ocean views, start at Muir Beach and hike south along the Costal Trail (leash required).

Tells Peak

Near: Placerville/Hwy 50
Trip Type: Hike
Length: 11 Miles
Elevation: 6,500 ft - 8,900 ft
Vegetation: Forest and Meadows
Surface: Dirt
Last Trip: 8/13/16

Last weekend we wanted to find a dark spot to watch the Perseid meteor shower, so we headed up to Loon Lake campground west of Lake Tahoe.  After watching the stars on Friday night, we spent Sunday hiking up to Tells Peak.  A modest peak compared to many of it's neighbors, Tells Peak nevertheless makes a satisfying day hike capped with spectacular views.  The trail is mostly easy to follow, but the higher bits require a bit more attention to follow a cairn chain to the ridge.  So most hikers will find the navigation no challenge, but it's not the best trail to let your mind drift absently.

Redwood Regional Park

Near: Oakland
Distance: 5 miles
Elevation: 500 - 1,000 ft
Vegetation: Redwood Forest
Last Trip: August 2018

On warm summer days, Redwood Regional Park offers some the coolest most shaded paths in the East Bay.  It's not quite Muir Woods, but the park has several nice stands of relatively mature redwoods.  In particular the stream trail along the creek in the deep central valley of the park and the french trail along the southwest slope of that valley are almost entirely covered in redwoods.  On balance this park might be the best place in the state to get your fill of these stately trees with a dog.

Dicks Peak from Eagle Falls

Near: South Lake Tahoe
Trip Type: Day Hike
Length: 16 Miles
Elevation: 6,600 - 10,000 ft
Vegetation: Pine Forest to Moonscape
Surface: Mostly dirt to Dick's Pass, Rock and Scree to Dick's Peak
Last Visit: 7/23/16

Dicks Peak is the highest point in the Desolation Wilderness or anywhere on the west side of Lake Tahoe.  Best hiked as an overnight or long day hike from trailheads on Emerald Bay or Fallen Leaf Lake.  It's a long haul for a day hike as we did it, but our route offers several options for shorter turnaround points at Eagle lake (2 miles, round trip), an overlook (4 miles), Dick's Lake (8 miles), or Dick's Pass (12 miles).  Be warned, though, the final ascent requires some rocky scrambling that's no trouble for most primates, but will beyond many dog/human combinations.  Don't attempt the summit unless your dog is relatively spry and obedient, and you're confident you can hoist them down a few 4-foot drops on the descent.  If that sounds fine and you enjoy a little scrambling and a great view, Dick's Peak makes for a very satisfying summit.