Big Baldy (Sequoia-Kings Canyon)

View of the foothills and High Sierra from Big Baldy

6 miles round trip, 1150 feet elevation gain

Difficulty: Easy-moderate

Access: Paved road to trailhead, Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park entrance fee required

Big Baldy is a high granite dome with far-reaching views of the Sierra Nevada in California's Kings Canyon National Park. At over 8200 feet, this summit towers over the Sierra foothills and lies further west from the Sierra crest than other such domes, making it an excellent place to view the length of the mighty Sierra. A rolling hike with a series of ascents and descents accesses the summit after an enjoyable ridge walk and an informal trail past the summit leads to an extraordinary, wide-open viewpoint of the Great Western Divide and the canyons of the many forks of the Kaweah River. While not an exceptional hike for the Sierra Nevada, the scenery is excellent and the hike is quite enjoyable, delivering a classic Sierra Nevada granite dome experience with just a fraction of the people you'd see at the Yosemite domes or at Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park.

I hiked Big Baldy during a brief day trip to Kings Canyon National Park on a July weekday. Big Baldy is in the Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park, which is nearly four hours from the San Francisco Bay Area but just an hour and a half out of Fresno. From Fresno, I followed California Highway 180 east as it turned from freeway gradually into a mountain road, passing by Squaw Valley and then climbing from near sea level to over 6000 feet above. After entering Kings Canyon National Park at the Big Stump entrance, I came to a junction with Highway 198 (Generals Highway) shortly; here, I turned right and followed Generals Highway for 6 miles until I came to the Big Baldy Trailhead on the right (south) side of the road. There is no parking lot here, just a wide shoulder with enough parking for 15 to 20 cars.

From the trailhead, the trail wanders south along the ridge, flat for the first two hundred meters before beginning a switchback climb upon encountering the first of multiple knolls along Big Baldy Ridge. The trail then swung around the west side of the knoll, offering the first views of the hike down into neighboring Redwood Mountain Grove in the valley below and the foothills beyond that.

The trail tackled two such knolls in the first mile and a half of the hike, ascending and descending each, with each knoll involving 250 feet or less of elevation gain. The terrain varied between a more open ridgetop walk and more densely forested saddles between the knolls. Manzanita grew copiously along the trail and some pockets of blooming lupine and paintbrush remained, although spring wildflowers had largely faded in the hot summer weather.

Trail along Big Baldy ridge

The top of the second knoll was slightly bald, providing more westerly views of the foothills and Redwood Mountain Grove. From here, the summit of Big Baldy was also visible to the south, its exfoliating granite dome rising above the surrounding forest on the ridge.

Big Baldy

After passing the second knoll at about a mile and a half into the hike, a side trail joined from the Montecito Lake Resort, a lodge on national forest property just beyond the border of Kings Canyon National Park. I ignored this side trail and continued south along the ridge. The next climb to the summit was the most extended ascent of the hike, with 400 feet of uphill between the saddle and the summit. As I ascended along this ridge, the trail frequently broke out onto the granite cliffs defining the west face of the mountain. From these cliffs, there were excellent views of the domed summit of Big Baldy ahead and the first views of the summits of the High Sierra to the north. 

Exfoliating granite on Big Baldy

A final uphill push brought me to the 8200-foot summit of Big Baldy, which up close felt more like a long granite fin than a dome. Trees partially obscured views to the east but there was only air below me to the west. Closer in, Redwood Mountain Grove formed the heart of the view, nestled in the valley directly below. Redwood Mountain Grove is the largest remaining grove of Giant Sequoias in the world, now preserved as part of Kings Canyon National Park. The trees below may be difficult to appreciate from this far up, but looking down to the sides of Redwood Creek I could see the long, red trunks of a few giant sequoias. On top of the opposite ridge, I could see a collection of almost pure giant sequoias that's known as the Sugar Bowl. Redwood Mountain Grove is also home to the Roosevelt and Hart Trees, two of the larger known giant sequoias; those are not easily visible from Big Baldy.

Redwood Mountain Grove

Sequoias of Redwood Mountain Grove

The Great Western Divide was visible to the east, though trees still rose high enough here that the view was interrupted in spots. The Central Valley lay beyond the foothills to the west, but as usual it was shrouded in smog. On clear days, one can see across the Central Valley to the Coast Ranges, but those days are now rare. The southern end of the Central Valley- defined by the San Joaquin Valley and the Tulare Basin- were once arid and desert-like, but European Americans built an extensive irrigation system here after evicting the native peoples of California through genocide. The result was one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, a valley that now accounts for half of the US's total output of fruits, vegetables, and nuts. However, the topography of the valley traps air pollutants and the heavy use of fertilizer in farming creates copious particulates, which combine to make the Central Valley one of the smoggiest areas in the United States; air quality here is bad to an unrivalled degree in this country.

To the north were good views towards Kings Canyon. The canyon itself was not visible, blocked by the closer forested ridge of Buck Rock Lookout, but many prominent peaks in the park were visible. Massive Spanish Mountain was closer by, its summit rising to over 10000 feet, an 8200 foot differential from the Kings River below in the canyon. By some measures, this makes Kings Canyon the deepest canyon in North America, although Hells Canyon on the Oregon-Idaho border contests that claim; having been to both, I still have to tip my hat to Hells Canyon as the drop from He Devil Peak to the Snake River is soul-shakingly dramatic.

To the east of Spanish Mountain was the Obelisk, a high granite dome; further to the east were the peaks of the High Sierra, including the prominent pyramid of Mount Goddard.

View towards Kings Canyon from Big Baldy's summit

While the views at the summit of Big Baldy were nice, especially the northerly views to Kings Canyon and Redwood Mountain Grove, I wanted better views to the south and east so I continued along the ridge past the summit. A better viewpoint lay at the end of the ridge about 2/3 of a mile further; while the official trail ended at the summit, an informal but easy-to-follow trail continued from here to the granite outcrop at the south end of the ridge.

This social trail continued south along the ridge, dropping from the summit and passing some communications equipment to the east before climbing briefly to the top of a massive granite outcrop. Hiking past the high point of the outcrop, I came to an incredible view.

Granite dome at the end of Big Baldy ridge

The Great Western Divide formed a wall along the eastern skyline here, its jagged peaks thrusting into the sky. This was my first return to the area since a visit to Sequoia-Kings Canyon with my parents in 2005, so I took a little while to remember the peaks here. Nearby, I spotted Mount Silliman and Alta Mountain, two outlying granite peaks west of the divide. I spotted the Watchman rising above Tokopah Valley, a granite valley at the foot of Alta Mountain in the Lodgepole area of Sequoia National Park. Along the Divide itself, I only recognized the sharp profile of Sawtooth Peak, an impressive granite wall rising above Mineral King Valley. Castle Rock stood opposite Giant Forest and Moro Rock on the south side of the Middle Fork Kaweah drainage. Slightly closer in from the Divide, I could see Little Baldy, a granite dome that is the lesser sibling to Big Baldy; I had hiked this dome during my 2005 visit. Even closer in, a great granite outcrop stuck out from the lower ridges of Big Baldy, towering over the North Fork Kaweah River far below.

Great Western Divide from the end of Big Baldy ridge

Mount Silliman and Alta Mountain

One of the most magical parts of this view, though, was seeing the full development of the Sierra Nevada from the Central Valley to its high crest. I could catch just a glimpse of the green fields in the valley, which faded into the brown foothills of the range. The foothills then transitioned steeply into rugged, forested ridges which at midday were struggling to emerge from the sea of smong. Above these ridges were the broader shoulders of the high peaks that are home to giant sequoias, the largest living things on earth. These forests then faded into the shining granite of the Great Western Divide, the shimmering rock that made the Sierra Nevada into John Muir's Range of Light.

The foothills above the Kaweah River watershed

There were about 10 cars parked at the trailhead on a nice weekday, so expect some company and difficult parking if you come on a weekend. However, although I occasionally passed other hikers on the route to the summit, I saw only one couple on the social trail between the summit and the outcrop at the southern end of the ridge: hike out to the best view and you'll avoid most of the hikers on this trail. On top of that, there's plenty of room to spread out at the far outcrop and enjoy views, while the summit has limited space. This is a good hike in Kings Canyon National Park for views of the Sierra Nevada, but make sure you get to see the best it has to offer by continuing past the summit to the outcrop at the end of the ridge.

General Grant Tree

General Grant Tree

0.5 miles loop, 50 feet elevation gain

Difficulty: Easy

Access: Paved road to trailhead, Sequoia-Kings Canyon entrance fee required

The General Grant Tree, a giant sequoia in California's Sierra Nevada, is the second largest tree in the world by volume and one of the highlights of Kings Canyon National Park. The giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada already reach unbelievable sizes; Grant Grove contains some of the most incredible specimens of these gargantuan living beings, outdone only by the General Sherman Tree in Giant Forest in neighboring Sequoia National Park. The short, paved hike to this iconic tree is very easy and can be done by just about everyone, making this a requisite stop for any visit to Kings Canyon. While you'll run into plenty of other visitors here, crowds are still a little thinner than Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park.

I visited the General Grant Tree during a brief day trip to Kings Canyon National Park on a July weekday. Grant Grove is nearly four hours from the San Francisco Bay Area but just an hour and a half out of Fresno. From Fresno, I followed California Highway 180 east as it turned from freeway gradually into a mountain road, passing by Squaw Valley and then climbing from near sea level to over 6000 feet above. After entering Kings Canyon National Park at the Big Stump entrance, I came to a junction with Highway 198 (Generals Highway) shortly; here, I stayed on Highway 180 and soon I arrived at Grant Grove Village. Driving past the visitor center, I turned left onto the Grant Tree Road (signs indicated the direction for the General Grant Tree) and followed it downhill to the parking area for Grant Grove.

I didn't even have to leave the parking lot to see some extraordinarily impressive giant sequoias: a row of four giants lined the eastern edge of the parking lot. The trail itself left from the north end of the lot, a half mile paved loop visiting the General Grant Tree. While there are longer trails in the Grant Grove area, many of the most impressive trees are close to this loop. I chose to hike the loop counterclockwise, taking the right fork at the start. There were massive giant sequoias along the entire half mile length of this hike. I quickly came upon the Fallen Monarch, a toppled giant sequoia that has been hollowed out into a trail; the diameter of the trunk is far more than wide enough to accomodate hikers passing through and in the past had been utilized as a residence and stables for the US Cavalry. The inside of Fallen Monarch was drawing plenty of visitors so I chose to skip it during a time of social distancing.

Visitors walking through Fallen Monarch next to the 11th largest sequoia

If you find the giant sequoia rising right next to Fallen Monarch to be particularly impressive, you've successfully identified the second largest sequoia in Grant Grove and the 11th largest tree on the planet. This tree is still officially named after Robert E. Lee, but Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Park finally removed signage in the area identifying the tree as such in 2020 during the aftermath of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis police.

I continued along the loop, taking the left fork at the next trail junction. I soon arrived at the base of the massive General Grant Tree. A branching trail led to the right to see the fire scar on the east side of the tree; I stuck to the main trail to see this glorious tree from its base. Visitors collected on the stretch of trail nearest the base of the tree to take photographs, so I didn't stay there for too long.

General Grant Tree

The General Grant Tree is the second largest giant sequoia and thus the second largest tree on Earth. Only the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest is slightly larger by volume. The tree was initially thought the largest in the world, prompting its preservation in General Grant National Park in 1890 as the nation's third national park (only Sequoia and Yellowstone National Parks precede it). Later measurements showed both the General Sherman Tree and the Washington Tree in Giant Forest to be larger; however, the Washington Tree's crown largely collapsed in the early 2000s, making the Grant Tree the world's second largest. The Grant Tree has a 29-foot diameter at breast height, the widest of all giant sequoias by that measure, and is 267 feet tall and over 1600 years old. The lowest of the tree's branches is over 120 feet above ground and its volume is equivalent to one and a half Boeing 747s.

The tree was designated the Nation's Christmas Tree by Calvin Coolidge and declared a national shrine to America's war dead by Dwight D. Eisenhower, making this perhaps the most venerated tree in this country. It was named shortly following the Civil War after the Union's best-known general, Ulysses S. Grant, who defeated the Confederate armies of Robert E. Lee in campaigns across Virginia to bring an end to state-sanctioned slavery in the United States. 

The impact of Grant's work upon the lives of the enslaved is undeniable, but it is still a little ironic that this large tree today carries his name. The very species name of these majestic titans seems somewhat inappropriate: Sequoyah was a member of the Cherokee people in the American South who developed a syllabary for his people, leading to widespread literacy among the Cherokees. Despite his exemplar accomplishments, Sequoyah was completely unaffiliated with the trees that now bear his name two thousand miles to the west. An Austrian botanist ultimately bestowed Sequoyah's name upon trees found only in California. Today there is no discussion of the names that native peoples of California might have once used for these trees, in part because those native Californians were subject to a brutal genocide brought upon them by the very same government that had fought to end slavery in the South. I admired these soaring trees, but these other thoughts were difficult to push out of my mind, especially in 2020, as I contemplated the complicated role that race relations have played on all of America's landscapes.

General Grant Tree

I continued along the paved trail to the Gamlin Cabin, where the Grant Tree Trail intersected with the North Boundary Loop. I took the left fork to stay on the paved Grant Tree Trail, passing by the small log cabin once inhabited by the Gamlin brothers, who homesteaded here and grazed after filing a timber claim for this forest. We're lucky that the brothers did not get to cutting down these trees; after General Grant National Park was established here in 1890, the cabin was used by US Cavalry who served as the nation's initial park rangers. General Grant National Park was later incorporated into Kings Canyon National Park when the latter was established in 1940.

The return leg of the loop passed by some massive clusters of sequoias, making it the most scenic and enjoyable part of the hike. Many other visitors skipped this segment of trail, choosing to return from the Grant Tree via the way they came; I encourage you to make sure you remember this leg of the loop!

Giant sequoias of Grant Grove

The trail passed to the right of Centennial Stump, the remains of a logged 24 foot-diameter giant. European American settlers in California in the 19th century were initially awestruck by the size of these trees and had difficulty convincing residents of eastern states that giant sequoias were real. To send some evidence, this once massive tree was cut down, cut into parts, shipped east, and then reassembled at the 1876 Philadelphia World's Fair. Attendees of the Centennial Exposition refused to believe their eyes, dismissing the reassembled giant as the "California hoax." Many great trees suffered similar fates in a misguided effort by early European settlers to prove a point.

The final stretch of trail passed by the other end of Fallen Monarch as well as a few more massive trees before depositing the constant stream of visitors back at the parking area.

Grant Grove

This grove contains some of the largest trees on Earth and is not to be missed, even though the area is frequently crowded with tourists. Come early, late, or on weekdays to enjoy these majestic giants in peace.

Mindego Hill

Poppies blooming at Mindego Hill

5 miles round trip, 1000 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy-moderate
Access: Paved but windy road to trailhead, no fee required

Mindego Hill is a grassy hilltop with pretty ocean views and nice spring wildflowers in the Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve of California's San Francisco Bay Area. The summit can reached by a descent down a fire road and then an ascent along a single track trail through pastures frequented by grazing cows. This hike is comparatively quieter than nearby destinations like Windy Hill or Borel Hill, even though it's just a slightly farther drive from the population centers of Silicon Valley. This hike is best in the spring when the hills are green and the wildflowers are blooming; during summer and fall the hills of California are usually brown.

I hiked Mindego Hill on an early May day. Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve is just outside Palo Alto and is most easily accessed from other parts of the Bay Area via I-280. Unfortunately, the drive up Page Mill Road to reach this trailhead is one of the windiest roads in the Bay Area, packing over 100 turns in a little over 5 miles. To reach the trailhead, exit I-280 onto Page Mill Road in Palo Alto and then follow Page Mill Road south into the Santa Cruz Mountains. The road becomes progressively more windy and narrow as it climbs up a ridge of Black Mountain until it finally intersects with Skyline Blvd; at the junction, continue straight, with Page Mill Road becoming Alpine Road here. Follow Alpine Road for another windy mile and reach the small parking lot for the Mindego Hill Trailhead on the right side of the road.

From the trailhead, a short, paved walkway leads to a viewpoint of Mindego Hill and Butano Ridge commemorating Audrey Rust, a former president of the Peninsula Open Space Trust, the organization that works to acquire lands for preservation and public recreation as open space preserves on the San Francisco Peninsula. The main trail departs to the left (south) of the parking lot, briefly paralleling Alpine Road before reaching the trail to Mindego Hill, a fire road.

Here, I turned right onto the fire road, which began to descend steeply. In the next half mile, the trail dropped 400 feet along a ridge. Oak forests to the right of the trail and occasional views of grassy Mindego Hill ahead provided some distraction from the descent. It's important to note that you'll have to ascend this hill at the end of your hike if you descend it now.

At the end of the descent, the trail came to a junction with the Charquin Trail at a saddle. Leading to the right, the Charquin Trail connected with the main trail system of Russian Ridge Open Space. I stayed on the Mindego Hill Trail, continuing to follow the fire road straight ahead along the ridge.

The next stretch of trail was extremely enjoyable, following the open ridge linking Mindego Hill to Russian Ridge. Over the next mile of fire road, I enjoyed views of green Mindego Hill rising ahead, Borel Hill and the other bumps along Russian Ridge to the north, and the redwood forests below Butano Ridge in the Pescadero Creek basin to the south. 

Mindego Hill

The California poppy, the small orange flower that is the state flower of California, was blooming in copious patches along the trail. Some scattered owl's clover was blooming as well. While enjoyable, the flower show here at Mindego Hill was not nearly impressive as the one on neighboring Borel Hill in May.

California poppies

At 1.7 miles from the trailhead, the trail passed a cattle pen and then passed through a cattle gate to arrive at a junction at the base of Mindego Hill. The fire road continued straight and became the Council Trail; the Mindego Hill Trail split off to the left, heading uphill. I took the left fork, passing through another gate and beginning the final ascent. The trail quickly transitioned from a fire road to a single track leading through beautiful grassy meadows with blooming wildflowers. As the trail wrapped around a small ridge, nice westerly views of tiny Mindego Lake below and grassy Langley Hill nearby emerged.

Mindego Lake and Langley Hill

The next stretch of ascent was a sheer joy to hike as the trail cut across lush, open meadows. At times, cows graze on these slopes, so if you're unlucky you may have to deal with cow manure on or near the trail; this problem is compounded in the winter when rains turn the trail here into a muddy mess. But during my springtime visit, the grass was green, the trail was dry, and there was little cow poop in sight, making my hike very enjoyable. Views improved as I ascended: the grassy hills of Russian Ridge to the north were especially scenic.

Russian Ridge

The trail briefly left the open meadows with a switchback climb through lovely oak forests on the north slopes of the peak. The woods here included a number of massive old oaks that were quite impressive; beware the presence of poison oak here as well. 

Old oaks on Mindego Hill

Emerging from the woods, the trail did a final victory lap around the summit, circling the meadow-crowned peak for views in all directions. Repeat views of grassy Russian Ridge and redwood-coated Butano Ridge were joined by views of the shimmering blue Pacific Ocean in the distance.

Butano Ridge and the Pacific Ocean

The trail ended 2.5 miles from the trailhead at the hill's high point, which delivered a lovely view east to the green rolling hills of La Honda reaching down to the Pacific. Mindego Hill's views of the Pacific are particularly nice on this part of the Peninsula as it juts out a bit farther to the west than many of the other high grassy hilltops.

Green hills of La Honda and the Pacific Ocean

The light green of the meadows contrasted with the dark green of the extensive forests in the Pescadero Creek Valley between here and Butano Ridge. Along with Big Basin further to the south, the Pescadero Creek area holds some of the largest tracts of old growth redwoods in the Bay Area, although past logging in the area means that much of what you see today from above is actually second growth.

Redwood forests of Pescadero Creek from Mindego Hill

On a weekday morning, I had the summit all to myself; I didn't see other hikers until I was returning to the trailhead. On weekends, this hike is a bit more popular but you can often still find parking at the Mindego Hill lot even after the main Russian Ridge parking lot fills. While not exceptional, the views and wildflowers of Mindego Hill make it an enjoyable place to spend time outdoors during spring.

Mount St. Helena

Mount Diablo and Napa Valley from Mount St. Helena

10.5 miles round trip, 2100 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate
Access: Windy paved road to trailhead, no fee required

Multi-peaked, 4341-foot Mount St. Helena can be seen from most corners of California's Napa and Sonoma Valleys, so it's only natural that the views from the summit also encompass much of California's most famous wine-producing region. The mountain is the tallest point visible from San Francisco Bay; on a clear day, not only can you see back to the Bay but the view may encompass Mount Diablo, Lassen Peak, and the Sierras as well. Such great views and proximity to the Bay Area and the Napa wineries means that Mount St. Helena is a well-loved trail, with plenty of hikers following the fire road that winds to North Peak, its highest point. The views justify the crowds though; even with plenty of company, this is still an enjoyable and scenic hike an hour and a half out of San Francisco. This steadily ascending hike, which lies in Robert Louis Stevenson State Park, also provides an opportunity to visit the site where the famous author once honeymooned.

Mount St. Helena from Calistoga

I hiked Mount St. Helena on a clear May day. From the San Francisco Bay Area, I took US 101 north to Santa Rosa, leaving the freeway at exit 488B for Highway 12. I followed Highway 12 until the freeway ended and then turned left onto Farmers Lane, which I followed north through town for a mile before turning right onto 4th St. I followed 4th St east 2.5 miles to the junction with Calistoga Road; here, I took turned left and followed Calistoga Road over a low mountain range to Calistoga; at the junction with Highway 128, I turned left and circled to the north around the town by taking Tubbs Lane to reach Highway 29. I turned left onto Highway 29 and then followed it north through a series of intense turns and switchbacks until I reached the trailhead for Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. The trailhead was marked by gravel parking areas on either side of Highway 29 at the top of the pass over the Mayacamas Range. I parked on the west side of the road here, as the Mount St. Helena Trail starts from that side. It's also possible to reach the trailhead by taking Highway 29 north from Vallejo through Napa Valley and Calistoga.

From the trailhead, a path led past a grassy flat clearing with a picnic table and then began a steady ascent through the forest. This first mile of the hike connects the trailhead parking lot with the fire road running to the summit and it was the only singletrack portion of trail in the hike. The trail switchbacked as it ascended through forests of oak and madrone, gaining elevation constantly but at a reasonable grade. After four-fifths of a mile of uphill, the trail made a sharp right turn into a shaded gully. Here I found a stone monument dedicated to Robert Louis Stevenson, the Scottish novelist who wrote Treasure Island and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Stevenson and his wife Fanny honeymooned in a cabin at this site in 1880, an experience that inspired Stevenson to write The Silverado Squatters. The cabin is gone today: all that remains is a small flattened clearing.

Robert Louis Stevenson Monument

After passing the Stevenson Monument, the trail made two quick switchbacks to gain the top of a small ridge. This stretch was the rockiest part of the hike: the trail along the ridge was especially rocky and uneven compared to the fairly smooth trails utilized along the rest of the hike.

A mile after leaving the trailhead, I came to an intersection with the fire road leading to the communications towers spread out among the summits of Mount St. Helena. I turned left here and followed the fire road uphill. Be sure to remember this junction on the way back, as it's easy to miss the sign for the trail back down and continue down the fire road.

The fire road quickly took me from the green, forested eastern slopes of the mountain out onto the charred, fire-scarred southern slopes of Mount St. Helena. The open slopes littered with burnt trees delivered the first views of the hike: I could see south down the length of Napa Valley. The forested Sonoma and Mayacamas Mountains bounded the vineyard-filled valley on either side and the twin peaks of Mount Diablo rose above the valley in the distance.

Napa Valley view, Mount Diablo in the distance

Nearby, there was a good view of the Palisades and Table Rock, a collection of columnar basalt formations in the eastern portion of Robert Louis Stevenson State Park. Views of these odd rock formations improved as I continued along the fire road, which ascended at a constant but gentle grade as it made a number of long switchbacks on the mountain's southeast slopes.

Table Rock and the Palisades

The higher that the trail ascended, the better the views were. Soon, I could see neighboring Sonoma Valley and the Pacific Ocean beyond that. The distinctive peak of Mount Tam was also distinguishable, although I could not yet see the water of San Francisco Bay or the city skyline.

Sonoma Valley and the Pacific Ocean

The massive cliffs of Mount St. Helena's southern aspects towered above the trail. The peak is made of uplifted volcanic rock from the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, a large geologically active area just to the north. Eruptions from the Clear Lake Volcanic Field laid down lava flows and pyroclastic flows that today form Mount St. Helena's impressive cliffs. This volcanism is also responsible for the many volcano-related features in northern Napa Valley, including the Petrified Forest on the way to Calistoga and Old Faithful of California, a rare geyser in Calistoga.

Mount St. Helena trail

The fire road switchbacked on the southeastern slopes of the mountain for two miles, yielding ever better views of the Palisades, Napa Valley, Mount Diablo, and the ocean before making a turn to the north. Here, the trail left behind the earlier views and returned to a more forested setting. The trail continued to ascend gently as it cut across the east side of the mountain. Occasionally, there were views to the east of the Vaca Mountains nestling Lake Berryessa.

After 3.5 miles of hiking from the trailhead, the fire road came to the saddle between the South and Southeast Peaks. A branching road led to the summit of the South Peak, which was topped with communications towers; I continued straight in the direction of East Peak, which had communications equipment of its own on its summit. Here, the trail reentered the burn area. The trail dropped slightly to reach a saddle between the Southeast and East Peaks before beginning a steady ascent and wrapping around the East Peak.

Here, the trail passed through swaths of terrain that were denuded. In 2017, the western and southern slopes of Mount St. Helena were burned by the Tubbs Fire, one of the worst wildfires in California history. In addition to burning half of Mount St. Helena, the Tubbs Fire destroyed vast swaths of Napa and Sonoma Valley. Most notably, the fire advanced south from Calistoga to Santa Rosa in a matter of four hours, sweeping into the city of Santa Rosa and setting hundreds of houses ablaze after jumping over US 101. About five percent of residences in Santa Rosa burned during the fire, making this one of the deadlier and more damaging fires in recent California history.

Fire-ravaged, transmission tower-topped peaks of Mount St. Helena

Views to the east were excellent as I ascended up the side of the East Peak. Snowy Lassen Peak rose above the forested plateaus marking the junction of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascades on the horizon. On very clear days, it's said that the view from Mount St. Helena extends as far as Mount Shasta, over 190 miles to the north.

Mount St. Helena cliffs and Lassen Peak

More and more of Lake Berryessa became visible to the east. I also spotted smoke from a small wildfire, a reminder that the landscape in this part of California has been indelibly reshaped by fire in the past few years.

Fire burning near Lake Berryessa

The trail wrapped around East Peak and began heading west, passing through a saddle between East Peak and North Peak before beginning the final climb to the summit of North Peak. On this final ascent, views opened back up to the south and San Francisco Bay finally came into view. The Peninsula was surrounded by the Bay on one side and the Pacific Ocean on the other; however, the view to the south was a bit too hazy to see the San Francisco skyline. A last uphill push brought me to the broad summit area, with a gravel lot and communications towers at the center of the summit and a row of columnar basalt providing views to the north.

Mount Tam, the Peninsula, and San Francisco Bay from the summit of Mount St. Helena

From this basalt summit outcrop, I savored the views to the north. The Mayacamas Range continued stretching to the north: the next major peak was Cobb Mountain, a volcano of the Clear Lake Volanic Field. Beyond Cobb Mountain was Mount Konocti, another volcano on the shore of Clear Lake; Clear Lake itself was not visible from Mount St. Helena. Even farther in the distance was 7050 foot-tall Snow Mountain, one of the first higher peaks in the Coast Ranges north of the Bay Area. Cobb Mountain and the Sonoma Mountains to the west were brown, having been devastated by the 2017 Tubbs Fire as well. The fires of 2017 affected The Geyers geothermal field on Cobb Mountain, which can be seen from the summit of Mount St. Helena. A large building on the slopes of Cobb Mountain with many steam towers is part of The Geysers, a geothermal project that harnesses the energy of the Clear Lake Volcanic Field; this is the largest geothermal energy project in the world and renewably provides a majority of the electricity needed along the California Pacific Coast north of the Golden Gate.

Columnar basalt at Mount St. Helena

Cobb Mountain, Mount Konocti, and Snow Mountain from Mount St. Helena

I sat at the summit and enjoyed the views. On a weekday, there were only a handful of other hikers at the summit, but this hike's excellent views draw plenty of hikers on weekends. If you decide to come, spring is a good time while the hills are green and the weather isn't too hot yet. Even though the hike is never very steep and is thus not terribly difficult, be sure to bring plenty of water as the fire road is constantly in the sun and the mountain can become quite hot on spring and summer afternoons.

Pine Mountain Shoulder (Clear Lake, CA)

Mount Konocti and Clear Lake from the slopes of Pine Mountain

0.5 miles round trip, 150 feet elevation gain

Difficulty: Easy

Access: Paved but steep road to trailhead, no parking fee

California's Clear Lake is one of the oldest lakes in North America and one of the largest lakes in the state, but hiking in the region remains very underdeveloped; thus, answers are elusive when hikers wonder where they can find the best views of this great lake. While I do not have the local expertise to answer this question definitively, I can at least recommend a great short hike for an amazing view of the lake: a short jaunt up the shoulder of Pine Mountain on the lake's north shore. While lacking the far-reaching views of Mount Konocti across the lake, this very lightly-used trail does deliver stunning views of the entirety of Clear Lake that far surpass the lake view from Konocti. 

This not an official trail and I am uncertain of the land's current ownership, although there are not any signs here that explicitly forbid entry. Konocti Regional Trails, an organization that is building and promoting a trail network around Clear Lake, has expressed interest in developing this mountain into a sanctioned hiking area. During my visit, I only ventured a short distance up Pine Mountain but it does seem possible to continue a mile further to the summit, which would likely deliver even better views.

I visited Pine Mountain after hiking Mount Konocti on a nice June weekend, driving up from the San Francisco Bay Area. Unmentioned in any real hiking literature except Summitpost, I found this area while scrolling through Google Maps. To reach the trailhead from the town of Clearlake, I followed California Highway 53 north from town until it met California Highway 20, then followed Highway 20 west along the lakeshore past Glenhaven and Kono Tayee. Views of the lake along the drive were excellent, with many lakeshore spots featuring views of Mount Konocti rising on the other shore of the lake. 

Mount Konocti rises over Clear Lake near Kono Tayee Point

Soon after passing Kono Tayee, I turned right onto Bruner Drive. This road was paved but extremely steep; I followed it as it quickly ascended the slopes of Pine Mountain until intersecting with Pearl Court at the top of Pine Mountain's main ridge. Here, I turned left and drove to the cul-de-sac at the end of Pearl Court. There are no houses or signs at this cul-de-sac, just a water tower and a grassy unpaved road that left the cul-de-sac and began wrapping around the ridge. Although there was no indication that this was public land or a trail, I did not see any no trepassing signs or any other indication that parking or hiking here was prohibited. I parked here and followed the grassy gravel road to start the hike.

There were views from the trailhead: from the cul-de-sac, I could already see great Konocti rising above the expansive waters of Clear Lake. Once I hit the trail, which traveled through open, grassy slopes, the views improved: soon, the whole northern half of the lake was visible.

View of northern Clear Lake from the slopes of Pine Mountain

This was a short hike, so just a quarter of a mile after leaving the parking lot I approached a small shoulder on the hill. Ahead, the road passed through a fence and then continued ascending towards the summit of Pine Mountain; I walked out onto a broad, flattened shoulder of the mountain, what might once have been a parking area or a platform for a house or other structure. From here, there were views up and down the length of Clear Lake more impressive than any other views that I saw that day. Mount Konocti rose across the lake and Mount St. Helena was visible rising over the other peaks of the Mayacamas to the south. The many islands and peninsulas that defined the rugged shoreline of the southern lake were visible: Buckingham Point, Anderson Island, Windflower Point.

Although Clear Lake is a scenic and enjoyable outdoors destination, the hiking trails in the area are still severely underdeveloped; only Mount Konocti on the lake's southern shore has any trail system to speak of. However, with so many mountains on the lake's north shore, it's clear that there are many more beautiful spots and lake views that haven't been developed into formal hiking trails yet. This is one of those spots.

Southern Clear Lake from Pine Mountain

As far as I could tell, there were no pines on Pine Mountain: just a handful of oaks on otherwise grassy and dry slopes. However, the views were extraordinary- the best that I saw in a day of exploring around the lake- and the walk up to the viewpoint is easy, so this is a must-see when you're in the Clear Lake area. Hopefully, outdoors organizations, local government agencies, and other relevant stakeholders on this mountain will move to develop a formal system of trails here to make these sweeping views of the lake more accessible to everyone; but before that happens, visit and you'll likely have this secret spot for yourself.

Mount Konocti

Clear Lake and Buckingham Peak from Wright Peak

6.5 miles round trip, 1800 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Moderate
Access: Good gravel road to trailhead, no parking fee

At 4,300 feet tall, Mount Konocti dominates the shoreline of California's Clear Lake, the largest natural lake entirely within that state's borders. This five-peaked mountain is at the heart of the Clear Lake Volcanic Field, a geothermally active region just north of the Napa/Sonoma Wine Country. The summit of Mount Konocti gives good views of Clear Lake and the surrounding mountains and valleys, although the views aren't quite as good as one might expect for a mountain of this prominence. Nonetheless, the hike is enjoyable and scenic and crowds are thin despite the mountain being just two hours from the northern suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area. The peak is preserved in Mount Konocti County Park and the hike up also visits orchards, a former homestead, and a plane wreckage from 1970.

The trail system at Mount Konocti County Park provides access to Wright Peak, Howard Peak, and Buckingham Peak; the hike I'll describe here visits Wright and Howard Peaks, the mountain's two highest summits. While it's possible to hike to Buckingham Peak, that summit has no views. For the most part, the trails on Mount Konocti are all fire roads. Lake County has built a number of vault toilets and picnic tables along the trail to Wright Peak; the county also has a good map of the mountain for hikers.

I hiked Mount Konocti on an early June weekend, driving up from the Bay Area. From San Francisco, I took US 101 north across the Golden Gate Bridge past Santa Rosa to Hopland; I turned right on California Highway 175 and followed this very windy road across Hopland Pass into Lake County. At the top of the pass, there were nice views into the Clear Lake Basin, with the many-peaked Konocti rising over the lake. I continued on Highway 175 until it met up with California Highway 29. I turned right onto Highway 29 and followed it south to Kelseyville, where I turned left onto Main Street. I took Main Street north and turned right onto Konocti Road just after I passed Kelseyville High School. I followed Konocti Road east; the road turned to gravel as it began to climb up Mount Konocti's slopes on a series of switchbacks. The parking area for Mount Konocti County Park was right before a gate on the road.

Mount Konocti rises over Clear Lake from Hopland Pass

After parking, I continued uphill along the gravel road, passing a gate and soon rounding a corner and coming to an active walnut orchard on private land. Here, the trail leaves the fire road and cuts through the orchard before making a short ascent on stairs to rejoin the fire road.

The fire road traversed relatively exposed slopes on the north side of Mount Konocti; there were few trees but high brush surrounded the trail. At times, views opened up to the north, with glimpses of Clark Peak (the lowest of Konocti's five peaks) and the blue waters of Clear Lake off in the distance. The fire road maintains a fairly constant uphill grade.

Clear Lake views from lower stretches of the trail

At about 1.5 miles, the trail came to a vault toilet and a picnic table at a trail junction with the trail to Buckingham Peak. The main trail to Wright Peak continued to the right; the Buckingham Peak Trail, also a fire road, led three-quarters of a mile to the left to Buckingham Peak, a lower, standalone summit from the cluster of Wright, Howard, and South Peaks. Having scouted out this trail for you, I don't recommend adding it to your Konocti hike unless you're looking for an extra workout; the area around the cell towers at Buckingham's summit have limited to no views but adds an extra 400 feet of elevation gain.

I continued on the trail to Wright Peak, which entered a forest as it turned and headed south while ascending. The trail cut above the upper part of another orchard, which provided lovely views to the west of the farmlands around Clear Lake and the town of Kelseyville at the foot of the mountain.

Orchard on Mount Konocti, town of Kelseyville below

At a little over two miles, I came to a junction: the Wright Peak Trail ascended steeply off to the left, while a spur trail on the right led into a dense forest of majestic canyon live oaks; I took the spur trail for a brief detour on the area's history.

Canyon live oaks

The side trail led briefly downhill to a tin-roofed cabin. Mary Downen, a local who moved up to this little house on the mountain in 1903, chose to spend her life up here after falling in love with the views from Konocti; she tended the orchard next to the house and used a systems of mirrors and lights to communicate with her family in Lakeport. Prior to the arrival of European American settlers, the Pomo people lived around Clear Lake; Konocti was a sacred mountain to these early residents. The Clear Lake region has some of the oldest evidence of human habitation in California, with 12,000 year old arrowheads found at nearby Borax Lake.

Early interactions between the Pomo people are European settlers did not end well for the Pomo. After the United States gained control of California following the Mexican American War, two European settlers moved into Big Valley and enslaved a number of Pomo to tend to grazing cattle; after enduring a couple of years of intense mistreatment, the Pomo rebelled against Andrew Kelsey and Charles Stone, killing both. In retaliation, a regiment of the US Cavalry attacked a village of Pomo at the northern end of the lake in the Bloody Island Massacre, killing as many as 200 of the native people. This was but one chapter in the extensive history of European American settler violence against native Californians in the mid-1800s that is now collectively being recognized as genocide.

Mary Downen cabin

Returning to the main Wright Peak Trail, I tackled one of the steeper uphill portions of the hike as the trail made a switchback and then passed through a saddle between Howard and South Peaks. After passing South Peak, the first good views opened up to the south: Mount St. Helena and Cobb Mountain rose to the south and the southern end of Clear Lake could be seen as well.

View of the southern end of the lake near the summit

Just a little further on, the trail came to a saddle where an unmarked trail heading off to the left led to the summit of Howard Peak. At this point, the summits of Howard and Wright Peak are equidistant. Both are worth visiting, although Wright Peak, the highest summit, is the main destination of this hike. I chose to take the unmarked spur and check out Howard Peak. The quarter-mile trail to the summit was initially gentle but ascended very aggressively up a steep, loose gravel path at the end to reach the top of Howard Peak, which was topped by communications equipment powered by a small windmill. Rock outcrops surrounding the fenced-off equipment gave good views of the surrounding area: the bulbous northern half of Clear Lake filled the view to the north and to the west I could see Kelseyville and the Mayacamas Mountains. Wright Peak and its fire lookout tower were visible directly to the east.

Northern half of Clear Lake from Howard Peak

Leaving Howard Peak, I returned to the main trail and hiked the final quarter mile to the top of Wright Peak. As I neared the summit, I came to the wreckage of a small, turquoise plane on the right side of the trail. In 1970, the Enzlers- a couple who ran a bakery in Ukiah, a few miles to the northwest- were flying home from Santa Rosa in cloudy weather when they lost track of their bearings and crashed into the summit of Wright Peak. The wreckage of their Navion A plane remains in place a few feet below the summit.

Navion A plane wreckage near the summit

Finally, I arrived at Wright Peak, the high point of Mount Konocti. The summit was topped with a decommissioned fire lookout tower, which was closed to the public during my visit. This was unfortunate, as the summit area of Wright Peak had good but not amazing views due to many view obstructions; I'm sure that the view from the lookout tower would have been much more impressive. I was still able to enjoy good views of the area by making a circuit around the fenced-off lookout tower.

 

Wright Peak Fire lookout

To the south, Mount St. Helena and Cobb Mountain were the most prominent peaks. A number of steaming geothermal power plants were visible on the shoulders of Cobb Mountain in the Mayacamas Mountains: these are part of the Geysers geothermal energy project, the largest geothermal energy generation project in the world. Heat from the Clear Lake Volcanic Field was once responsible for fumaroles and hot springs in the area but now power a large renewable energy project that provides a majority of the electricity generation for coastal California north of the Golden Gate.

Mount St. Helena and Cobb Mountain rise to the south over Big Valley

The view to the west was blocked by Howard Peak and the view to the east was obstructed by forest on the summit; to the north, however, I had a good view of most of Clear Lake. Buckingham Point, a peninsula jutting far into the lake, split the lake into northern and southern halves; nearby Buckingham Peak blocked part of my view of the northern half of the lake but I could still see much of the water with the high peaks of the Pacific Coast Range rising in the distance. The summit of Snow Mountain, a high peak to the north, was drifting in and out of the clouds.

Clear Lake is the largest natural lake wholy within the state of California and the oldest known lake in North America; sedimentary analysis of the lake suggests that it has existed for at least 2.5 million years. Although the lake is quite popular as a getaway and is well-loved for watersports, the region is still relatively underappreciated as a hiking destination and trails have not been extensively developed, save this one area on Mount Konocti where roads have been converted to hiking trails over recent years. If you visit now, you can explore this corner of the Clear Lake area and enjoy the nice views without competing with dense crowds of hikers.

Stout Grove

Massive redwoods of Stout Grove

0.6 miles loop, 50 feet elevation gain
Difficulty: Easy
Access: Bumpy gravel road to trailhead, no entrance fee required

Stout Grove in California's Redwood National and State Parks is frequently lauded as one of the most impressive and beautiful of all redwood forests and I can't disagree. Part of Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park, the northernmost portion of Redwood National and State Parks, Stout Grove houses a collection of soaring redwoods on a flat plain along the Smith River that has an airy, cathedral-like feel. The hike through the grove is easy, utilizing a wide dirt path with little elevation gain that will be doable for most visitors. The drive to the trailhead does require following a stretch of the narrow, unpaved, and potholed Howland Hill Road.

I hiked Stout Grove during a road trip from California to Seattle with Anna. We camped the previous night at the Mill Creek Campground in Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park; Redwood National Park is far from any major city, though the coastal Northern California city of Eureka is just over an hour to the south and Crescent City is a town close to the northern part of the park. Crescent City is a small town that in 1964 was the site of the deadliest tsunami in recorded history in the contiguous United States. When the Good Friday Earthquake rocked Alaska, the resulting tsunami traveled down the Pacific Coast and inundated Crescent City.

From Crescent City, we reached Stout Grove by taking US 101 north for a few miles and then exiting onto US 199 east towards Grants Pass. We followed US 199 over a redwood-covered hill and across the Smith River through the town of Hiouchi, turning right at a junction with South Fork Road a mile past the town. We crossed two forks of the Smith River by bridge and then turned right after the second bridge to take Douglas Park Road towards Stout Grove. We followed Douglas Park Road along the Smith River past a small covered bridge until it turned into the unpaved, single-lane Howland Hill Road, which we followed for another bumpy two miles into Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park. We turned right at a sign for Stout Grove and quickly came to the parking area, which was full- this is an understandably popular spot.

From the parking lot, a wide trail led briefly downhill into the grove. At the bottom of the hill, we came to the split for the loop; we took the left fork first and spent the next hour wandering through in wonder at these enormous and skyscraping trees. The trail directions for the hike are very straightforward: After making an initial left, we took the right fork at the next two intersections (the loop intersects with the River Trail) before making a left again at the conclusion of the loop to return to the parking lot. The Stout Tree, which has a platform built at its base, is most quickly reached by taking the left fork of the loop when coming from the parking lot. The trail was flat throughout besides the descent at the start and ascent at the end.

Coast redwoods- or Sequoia sempervirens- are the tallest trees in the world. Their range is limited to the California coast from Big Sur to the Oregon border; only a few groves are found in southern Oregon. Redwood forests once covered the mountains along the coast near San Francisco and throughout Humboldt and Del Norte counties in the northernmost part of the state. However, the arrival of European American settlers in the region meant that the trees became viewed as a valuable source of timber. The timber industry in the early twentieth century downed large swaths of redwood forests, leveling many of the tall trees of the Bay Area and destroying much of the pristine redwood forests in Humboldt and Del Norte counties. Efforts to protect these trees began with Big Basin Redwoods State Park in 1902 in the Bay Area but when a group of California conservationists traveled to the northern California Coast in 1918, they found unrestricted logging of these old growth giants. In response, they founded the Save the Redwoods League, which has successfully advocated on behalf of preserving the trees, leading to the creation of Humboldt Redwoods State Park and Redwood National and State Parks, which today preserve some of the most magnificent remaining redwood forests.

Redwood forests of Stout Grove

Coast redwoods can reach up to 379 feet tall, making them the tallest trees on Earth. By volume, only their cousins, the giant sequoias of the Sierra Nevada, are larger. The moist California coast with its frequent fog is the species' only native habitat. The trees reach up to 2000 years old and many of the tallest trees fall at the very northern end of the species' range. Many individual trees here top 300 feet, each taller than either the Statue of Liberty or the US Capitol dome. The nearby Titan Grove in Jedidiah Smith Redwoods State Park contains many of the largest redwoods by volume; the tallest tree is in Redwood National Park but its location and identity are kept secret to protect the tree.

Soaring redwoods of Jedidiah Smith State Park, person for scale

Stout Grove was an extraordinarily beautiful and impressive grove. Many trees were well over 15 feet in diameter and soared over 300 feet above the forest floor. A few felled trees near the river gave us an idea of just how tall the trees were as we walked the full length of their toppled trunks. The relatively open understory, which was mainly populated by ferns, gave the forest a cathedral-like feel.

Trail through the Stout Grove redwoods

There were a good number of other visitors on the trail as this is one of the star attractions of Redwood National and State Parks. Still, the grove did not feel overly crowded on a summer Sunday at noon and the dirt path was wide enough to accomodate passing hikers. This is an extraordinary hike through a mighty redwood forest and a must visit for anyone traveling to see these majestic trees in Redwood National Park.