Camping and Backpacking | Climbing | Gardening | Kids and Nature | Paddling | Point Reyes Walkabout | Trails

The Summit Loop Hike

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This strenuous 5.3-mile hike circumambulates Mount Diablo’s summit, and traverses many of the mountain’s geological and botanical features. When I was there in early April 2006, the air was startlingly clear, and the snowy masses of the Sierra Nevada and … Read more

Bay Area Pond Walks

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With the heat of summer not yet upon us, now is the best time to take stock of ponds all over the Bay Area. In every part of the Bay Area, there are great hikes that take you to a … Read more

Bay Trail Resources

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Richmond isn’t the only place where the Bay Trail is coming together. In fact, one of the longest continuous segments of Bay Trail will open later this year at the Eden Landing Ecological Reserve. A three-mile section now under construction … Read more

Native Plant Garden Tours

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It’s no longer a secret to readers of this magazine that native plant gardens can look as beautiful as those stocked with showy exotics, while at the same time providing habitat for native insects and birds and conserving water and … Read more

Outdoor Summer Camp Resources

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Too much homework? Bully picking on you at school? Perhaps not, but have you stopped to wonder if your children are yearning for a breath of fresh air? Sometimes, even the ol’ backyard isn’t enough backcountry for a cooped-up kid, … Read more

Tracking Richmond’s Bay Trail

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On an overcast day this winter, seven of us met for a bike ride through Richmond on the Bay Trail. We rode along Cerritos Creek, under two busy freeways, and out to the shoreline. At Point Isabel Regional Shoreline, we … Read more

Visiting the Regional Parks Botanic Garden

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The Regional Parks Botanic Garden, in Tilden Regional Park, is a 10-acre landscape of plants native to California. The garden includes ten sections corresponding to ten geographic regions of the state, all woven into a beautiful naturalistic landscape of trees, … Read more

Got Wheels?

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Purisima Creek Preserve The shaded understory at uncrowded Purisima Creek Redwoods Preserve on the Peninsula is a delicious place to ramble in hot weather, especially when berries start to appear in early summer. Mature second-growth redwoods, mingled in places with … Read more

Low Vision, High Adventure

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As a sighted person, I take in most of my information about the world through my eyes. So I’m wondering how my fellow travelers perceive this journey when they can’t see the backdrop to our adventure: the impressive green of … Read more