VISITED AUGUST 2020

One day, while out for a drive, looking at potential locations for where we wanted to put down roots and buy a home, we passed the Bear Creek Redwoods Open State Preserve.

I remember remarking “oh wow, this place has a lot of parking and its across the street from a trailhead, we should come back here.”

Little did we know, a few weeks later, the pandemic would hit, and we’d be searching for new places to hike, as a lot of places like our favorite Alum Rock Park, would be temporarily closed.

I searched google HARD to find this place, and finally, with a little luck and intuition, and google photos, I found it!

We made a plan to go check it out during the week (I thought the weekend parking might be crazy).

We arrived and Akaash was still sleeping in the car seat. I saw that there was a walking path next to the parking lot, so we took the car seat out and put it in the stroller (thank you Chicco!) and took a few quick laps around the walking path until Akaash woke up.

Once awake, we loaded him into the backpack carrier (I could see from the trailhead, this was not a stroller friendly trail for us).

We walked for about 30 minutes up and 30 minutes back on the Alma Trail. This trail (from as far as we got) is at a decent incline.

QUICK TIPS:

Comfortable coming by myself: While I never felt in any danger on this trail, this is probably not one I would do on my own with Akaash. First, we only saw a few people on the trail when we came during the week. Second, I prefer not to do a backpack carrier hike/walk alone.

Stroller Friendly: 3/5 The area next to the parking lot is definitely stroller friendly. The Alma Trail (trailhead next to the parking lot) was not stroller friendly for us (too steep!)

Parking: During the week 5/5, easy to get a spot. But I think on the weekend I think this place would fill up quick.

Food: None available