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Around here, it’s always a great time to get outside. But each season, certain landscapes really put on a show. With this hiking calendar, you’ll know just where to go every month of the year. You’ll also find fun facts about local plants and animals!
We hope you get some inspiration from this guide and try out the trails with family or friends! Looking for an organized group hike? Check out our events calendar.
Since 1977, POST has been hard at work protecting open spaces on the Peninsula and in the South Bay for the benefit of all. So far, we’ve safeguarded more than 83,000 acres of land — places for wildlife to thrive and for us to reconnect with nature.
The trails await!
Sequoia Audubon Trail
Pescadero Marsh Nature Preserve
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 1.5 miles out and back
- Elevation Change
- 65 feet
- Hiking Time
- Less than 1 hour
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
Kick off 2023 with a tranquil stroll through one of the largest wetlands on the San Mateo Coast. This trail’s a birder’s paradise. You’ll likely see some showy flocks, so bring your binoculars!
All Month:
- Steelhead return to spawNing grounds
- Blood currant bloom
Castle Rock Falls
Castle Rock State Park
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 3 miles round-trip
- Elevation Change
- 1100 feet
- Hiking Time
- 2-3 hours
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
From high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, this park boasts many stunning attributes. You’ll spy black oaks, knob-cone pines and coast redwoods, as well as unusual sandstone rock formations. At the top of the falls, a wooden platform offers sweeping forested vistas.
All Month:
- BOBCATS MATE
- SNOWY EGRETS NEST
- COTTONWOOD BLOOM
Rancho San Vicente
Calero County Park
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 5.4 miles out and back
- Elevation Change
- 500 feet
- Hiking Time
- 3-4 hours
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
On this hike through the South Bay countryside, you’ll see views of wooded hills and Mount Umunhum. Be on the lookout for vivid displays of spring wildflowers! A wide variety thrive in the area’s serpentine soil. Looking for more ways to view some blooms? Check out our Wildflower Walks guide.
All Month:
- gray foxes born
- acorn woodpeckers mate
- marbled murrelets nest
Edgewood Preserve
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 3.15 miles round-trip
- Elevation Change
- 500 feet
- Hiking Time
- 2 hours
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
Thanks to its serpentine soil, Edgewood Park has wildflowers galore, and this loop is a great place to see dazzling blooms. There’s also plenty of wildlife to watch for. Now a threatened species, the Bay checkerspot butterfly calls this park home.
All Month:
- MANZANITA BLOOM
- LADYBUGS MATE
- MARSH WRENS SING
Mockingbird Loop
Almaden Quicksilver County Park
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 3.9 miles round-trip
- Elevation Change
- 600 feet
- Hiking Time
- 3 hours
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
Less crowded than other entrances to this popular San Jose park, Mockingbird Hill is a great place to set out on a scenic half-day trek. This hike begins with an uphill climb, but the stunning South Bay views are well worth the ascent.
All Month:
- great blue herons hatch
- black-tailed deer born
- doug fir bloom
Grasshopper Loop
La Honda Open Space Preserve
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 1.3 miles round-trip
- Elevation Change
- Mostly flat
- Hiking Time
- Less than 1 hour
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
This path’s claim to fame is the diversity of landscapes it traverses. In just over a mile, you’ll see rangelands with grazing cattle, coastal grasslands, oak woodlands and redwood forests. Look for the trail’s pair of grasslands-dependent namesakes: grasshoppers and grasshopper sparrows!
All Month:
- Fence lizards lay eggs
- red-tailed hawks nest
- buckeyes bloom
Henry Cowell Redwoods
Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 2 miles out and back
- Elevation Change
- Flat
- Hiking Time
- 1 hour
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
Over a century ago, this park’s towering old-growth redwoods inspired local conservation efforts. This trail winds along the San Lorenzo River, a prime place to spot herons and steelhead trout. The cooling atmosphere is a welcome reprieve in the summertime.
All Month:
- mountain lion kittens born
- badgers mate
- california quail born
Bean Hollow State Beach
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 1.6 miles out and back
- Elevation Change
- 250 feet
- Hiking Time
- Less than 1 hour
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
Just south of Pescadero, this cool beach offers a terrific starting point for a self-guided nature walk along a section of the California Coastal Trail. You’ll enjoy an almost undisturbed landscape of native coastal plants. You’ll also get a gander of colonies of harbor seals and shorebirds.
All Month:
- Rattlesnakes born
- coyotes born
Huddart Park
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 4.6 miles round-trip
- Elevation Change
- 400 feet
- Hiking Time
- 2-3 hours
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
This shaded hike is a plant enthusiast’s paradise. You’ll meander through redwoods, oaks, manzanita, California coffeeberry, Douglas fir and assorted ferns. A downhill section features a stroll along Union Creek as it winds through second-growth redwoods.
All Month:
- big leaf maples change color
- Tarantulas mate
Wavecrest Trail
Wavecrest Open Space
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 1.5 miles round-trip
- Elevation Change
- Flat
- Hiking Time
- Less than 1 hour
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
If you enjoy coastal views and plentiful shorebirds and raptors, Wavecrest is the place for you. This flat trail is perfect for a gentle stroll with your pup (on leash, of course!). Top off your day with some time on the nearby beach.
All Month:
- coho spawn in pescadero creek
- grasshopper sparrows migrate south
- acorns ripen
Sam McDonald’s Cabin
Sam McDonald County Park
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 2.8 mile round-trip
- Elevation Change
- 608 feet
- Hiking Time
- 2 hours
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
Towering trees, a humble historic cabin, California newts and banana slugs make this hike one of our favorites. Once home to prominent local figure Sam McDonald, the park features two distinctive environments. You can explore both a lush growth redwood forest and open ridge grassy knolls.
All Month:
- valley oak leaves fall
- red-legged frogs breed
- Toyon berries ripen
San Vicente Redwoods
- Location
- [hike.location]
- Length
- 1.5 miles round-trip
- Elevation Change
- Flat
- Hiking Time
- Less than 1 hour
- Difficulty
- [hike.trail_type]
Celebrate the one-year mark of these trails being open! You’ll get a fascinating glimpse of a forest that is actively recovering from the 2020 wildfires. From fire-resilient oaks to yerba santa, there’s plenty of plant-life to observe on this hike.
All Month:
- anna’s hummingbirds mate
- monarch butterflies roost
- northern elephant seals mate
The land in POST’s working area has been home to many distinct communities of Native people since time immemorial. We work to conserve and care for these lands — the ancestral territory of at least four contemporary Indigenous communities: the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Muwekma Ohlone, Ramaytush Ohlone and Tamien Nation. These groups have survived centuries of oppression and displacement, and are the past, present and future caretakers of this land.
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