All Stories from Peninsula & South Bay

Hill of a Good Hike
Located just off Highway 17 in the Los Gatos hills, St. Joseph’s Hill packs a big panorama within this 3.5-mile loop. This beautiful preserve has hiking and biking trails, and beautiful vistas.
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Up Umunhum
Rising from the Santa Cruz Mountains, Mount Umunhum is one of the Bay Area’s highest points, reaching an impressive 3,486 feet. With the new 7.4-mile (round-trip) addition to the Bay Area Ridge Trail, locals can finally step up to its peak.
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Bike Ride to Bountiful
The Guadalupe River Trail in San Jose makes an excellent bike ride with minimal hills, gardens, parks, and easy access to food, art, and entertainment along the entire 10-mile stretch of trail.
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Feather Fanfare
Feathery birds swing and swoop on the edge of the San Francisco Bay, surrounded by the Diablo Range and Santa Cruz Mountains. See it all from a levee in serene Ravenswood Preserve.
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Quicksilver Confetti
There’s something extra wild about Almaden Quicksilver County Park these days: wildflowers! They’re exploding like confetti amid the grasslands, and you can see them on this 5.7-mile loop hike.
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Coyote Calling
A rainbow of wildflowers, grass-green hills, and beautiful views make Coyote Valley Open Space Preserve a wonderful hike in springtime. The park’s signature hike is the 4-mile Arrowhead Loop.
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Sponsored
Wildflower Hiking Guide
California’s wildflowers will be lovely this spring! So how do you find the best in bloom? Check out POST’s complimentary Wildflower Guide to find the best hiking trails with wildflowers.
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Thornewood In Your Pocket
Hints of wildflowers, a ravine of redwoods, and vistas over the San Francisco Bay and Diablo Range. Thornewood Preserve in Woodside packs a lot into its tiny space. An early morning start has perks.
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Gone With the Windy
You don’t have to trek far to enjoy a hiker’s high at Windy Hill Preserve on the Peninsula. Its panoramic attraction is easily accessed via the 0.7-mile Anniversary Trail, and it’s magnificent at sunset.
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Best Foot Forward
Foothills Park has 15 miles of trail surrounded by misty valleys, tender oak trees, seasonal creeks, a peaceful lake, and beautiful Bay Area vistas. Plan ahead because it's new, and very popular.
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Santa Cruz Epic Views
Redwoods, wildflowers, and ocean vistas offer the best of the Bay Area at Upper La Honda Creek Preserve in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Take a 3.75-mile loop through the preserve's highlights.
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Find Your Flow
Far back in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Uvas Canyon County Park is a compact, tree-filled delight with hiking trails and several waterfalls bunched into a loop along Swanson Creek and amid lush forest.
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Serenity at Sunrise
El Sereno Preserve's namesake mountain rises to majestic views spanning the Diablo Range, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Santa Lucia Mountains. Do a sunrise hike to a new bench on the Aquinas Trail.
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Big Wave Hiking
Pillar Point Bluff's amazing trail system is a coastal haven most popular for being the best spot to watch the famed Mavericks surf break in winter. But this place is beautiful year round for hiking.
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Sponsored
2021 Hiking Calendar!
Ready to kick off 2021? (Like we have to ask.) Literally kick it off, with a hike! Download the 2021 POST Hiking Calendar (complimentary)—with recommended trails for every month of the year.
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It Takes a Hidden Villa
Adorable farm animals and peaceful hiking trails: Visit Hidden Villa in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains, hike to South Bay vistas and see animal cuteness.
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Hiking Forecast: Windy
Fall colors on your mind? Put Windy Hill Preserve in the South Bay on your hiking list. We recommend a 6.2-mile loop that starts and finishes at its namesake summit, where sunsets dazzle.
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Light of Los Trancos
In autumn, Los Trancos Open Space Preserve lights up with orange-red maples, yellow hazelnut, and deciduous oaks, making this 2.5-mile hike in the Santa Cruz mountains a wonder-fall destination.
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Forest Bathe Under the Redwoods
Giant Douglas firs and a peaceful madrone- and tanoak-studded forest make the hiking at Sanborn County Park sublime, but there’s an added majesty here thanks to the Todd Creek Redwoods Grove.
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Hike and Seek
This 2.1-mile hike in McClellan Ranch Preserve near downtown Cupertino has quiet nature, historic ranch buildings, wildlife-watching, fall color, and Stevens Creek.
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