This great hike in Novato, CA at the north end of the San Francisco Bay Area takes you through 4 different parks, starting at Ohair Park, onward to Little Mountain OSP, a short stroll through Verissimo OSP and on through Indian Trees Open Space Preserve.

Great spring hike in Mount Burdell Open Space Preserve offering miles of trails, scenic hilltop views and wildflowers galore. Watch for cow patties.

A great trail in spring, the Sonoma Ridge Trail is part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail offering wildflowers, butterflies, historic sites and some great views.

A beautiful and serene hike from Aetna Springs to Wildlake through Napa County in late winter.

A beautiful historic hiking trail along an old wagon wheel rutted road which once led to Oat Hill Mine where material for quicksilver was mined until the 1960s.

Free parking at Lincoln Park in Napa for the trailhead of the River to Ridge Trail in Napa offers a good hike with lots of options for loops through Skyline Wilderness Park.

The hike to Traverso Homestead in Bothe-Napa State Park gives visitors a taste of everything the Bothe-Napa State Park has to offer.

Find a nice day and take a hike on the short Matin’s Path trail to the Pacific Ocean near Stinson Beach.

Marin offers this great coastal hike in Northern California on the Steep Ravine Trail. Gorgeous redwoods, ocean views, and a cool sea breeze welcome you.

Summer camping at Lake Mendocino in Northern California with plenty of water to play in, and a disc golf course nearby!

A hike on the Lake Hennessey Trail in northern Napa county offers wildflowers, lake views and an abrupt end at a No Tresspassing sign.

Hiking along serene San Francisco Bay wetlands converted from a landfill and salt production area. This is a birder’s paradise with a large amount of wildlife, both winged and not.

Took a very short hike along the beach at Limantour Beach in Point Reyes. The beach is very long and not all that crowded. The beach’s proximity keeps the waves fairly small here.

Great camping at Samuel P. Taylor State Park tucked in the Marin hills and kept cool by big redwood trees and a nearby creek.

One of my personal favorites, the hike on Tomales Point Trail in Point Reyes is almost ten of the most scenic miles you’ll ever find yourself hiking. Tule Elk, wildflowers galore and breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean in northern Pt. Reyes.

A fairly strenuous 11 mile hike on Napa Land Trust parklands, the John Hoffnagle Trail starts at Poppy Flats and takes you along Deer Lake, Wild Lake and Rattlesnake Ridge.

Gorgeous hike in Archer Taylor Preserve takes you to the top of Maggie’s Peak for a great view of the San Francisco Bay Area and to Devil’s Well and a number of other waterfalls while hiking among pines, maples and redwoods.

A 10 mile loop trail through Santa Rosa’s Anndel State Park offers great northern California meadow views, Ilsanjo Lake, and lots of red clay trails with a number of boulders scattered about.

Healdsburg Open Space Preserve offers a fairly new network of trails with several loops and a small pond (Fox pond) for hikers with views of Healdsburg Simi Valley and the Russian River.

A short hike with good views overlooking the city of Sonoma and into the San Francisco Bay, the Sonoma Overlook Trail offers a few miles of single track trails and a couple loop choices.

This little-known trail takes hikers above Rector Reservoir on Department of Fish and Game land with excellent views of the Napa Valley from the east.

A historic hike from Bothe Napa State Park on the History Trail to Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park. Several biomes, an old cemetery, and a grist mill are on the agenda with this hike.

A short hike around trails through Tomales Bay State Park. Fern-covered forests and several beaches await.

Two separated hikes along the Napa River Trail offer 10+ miles of hiking with two very different feels. Eventually this trail will be contiguous with a middle section added to connect them.

A hike through Knoxville Wildlife Area leading to a little known seasonal North San Francisco Bay Area Waterfall offers solitude and poison oak!

A hike to the top of Bald Mountain (2729 ft) in Sonoma County’s Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in Kenwood offers a multitude of biomes, excellent wildlife viewing, and supreme views of the North San Francisco Bay Area.

Timberhill Park offers a nice serene hike among grassy hills and oak trees on the west side of Napa, CA. Bring your cowbell and you’ll fit right in. Take a side journey to a fun rope swing.

This fairly long loop trail takes you to the top of Sugarloaf Peak in Skyline Wilderness Park in Napa, CA. The elevation change is about 2200 feet and this hike treats you to excellent views and a number of varying terrains

A gorgeous vertical hike along the Cataract Falls Trail on Mt. Tamplpais in Fairfield, CA. Seemingly endless waterfalls cascade along this wooded out and back trail. The hike ends with gorgeous views of the Pacific Ocean overlooking Bolinas.

A very short but bird-filled hike through Napa Ecological Reserve east of Yountville and north of Napa, CA.

Table Rock and the Palisades Trail offer an excellent wine country hike just outside of Calistoga, CA from the same parking lot as the hike to Mount Saint Helena. This trail heads South and East from the lot along rocky peaks visible on the drive up.

Breathtaking views from the top of Mt. St. Helena, the highest peak in the Northern San Francisco Bay Area. And how can you beat free entry into Robert Louis Stevenson State Park.

A great hike in Napa Valley to Bothe Napa Valley State Park (on the closure list). This hike was to Coyote Peak and a couple other trails to make a loop through Ritchey Canyon.

Skyline Wilderness Park is a county park in Napa with a lot of different activities including two of my favorites: Hiking and Disc Golf. Play an 18 hole course or hike one of the eight trails through the park.

A very dog-friendly park on the west side of Napa with an off-leash area. Several short trails to choose from, this is a very wide open park with very few trees surrounding a wine vineyard.

A vast number of shorter distance single track and fire road trails await among rolling hills, oaks and mossy rocks in Napa.

An excellent winter hike through Muir woods including the Bootjack trail, Troop 80 trail, Panoramic trail, Sierra Trail and the Camp Eastwood trail. Views of flowing creeks, the Pacific Ocean, Redwoods, ferns and mushrooms.

Poison Oak aside (I got it REALLY bad here), this was a great little campground in Guerneville which provided an excellent place to pass out after the nearby 8th Annual Russian River Beer Revival and BBQ Cookoff at the Stumptown Brewery.

Long holes, good hiking, scenic, challenging and sometimes a little muddy. Stafford Lake in Novato is home to a giant hole 8 at 1,044 feet.

Treat yourself to a day in the far North Bay for scenic discing at Skyline Wilderness’s 18-hole course in Napa, CA. Best in winter or spring while the grasses are green and the heat index low.