Hiking Calendar Cover

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

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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!

January 2023
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All Month:

  • Steelhead return to spawNing grounds
  • Blood currant bloom

Castle Rock Falls

Castle Rock State Park

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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. 

February 2023
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29
30
31
1
2
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9
10
11
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All Month:

  • BOBCATS MATE
  • SNOWY EGRETS NEST
  • COTTONWOOD BLOOM

Rancho San Vicente

Calero County Park

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

March 2023
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All Month:

  • gray foxes born
  • acorn woodpeckers mate
  • marbled murrelets nest

Edgewood Preserve

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

April 2023
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31
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All Month:

  • MANZANITA BLOOM
  • LADYBUGS MATE
  • MARSH WRENS SING

Mockingbird Loop

Almaden Quicksilver County Park

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

May 2023
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All Month:

  • great blue herons hatch
  • black-tailed deer born
  • doug fir bloom

Grasshopper Loop

La Honda Open Space Preserve

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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!

June 2023
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29
30

All Month:

  • Fence lizards lay eggs
  • red-tailed hawks nest
  • buckeyes bloom

Henry Cowell Redwoods

Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

July 2023
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All Month:

  • mountain lion kittens born
  • badgers mate
  • california quail born

Bean Hollow State Beach

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

August 2023
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31
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All Month:

  • Rattlesnakes born
  • coyotes born

Huddart Park

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

September 2023
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31
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30

All Month:

  • big leaf maples change color
  • Tarantulas mate

Wavecrest Trail

Wavecrest Open Space

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

October 2023
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31

All Month:

  • coho spawn in pescadero creek
  • grasshopper sparrows migrate south
  • acorns ripen

Sam McDonald’s Cabin

Sam McDonald County Park

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

November 2023
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M
T
W
T
F
S
29
30
31
1
2
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10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
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25
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29
30

All Month:

  • valley oak leaves fall
  • red-legged frogs breed
  • Toyon berries ripen

San Vicente Redwoods

  • Hiking
  • Dogs
  • Horses
  • Fishing
  • Biking
  • Camping
  • Handicap Accessibility
  • Swimming
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.

December 2023
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M
T
W
T
F
S
26
27
28
29
30
1
2
3
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5
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12
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14
15
16
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18
19
20
21
22
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24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31

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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