Fernandez Ranch

One of my favorite hiking trails! Beautiful trails that are well maintained during the year. I’m always amazed by how underused this space is…
You can easily get a 5k done by sticking to the large loop. Great for hill work as well!
Recently I’ve noticed that they are working on adding a cover over the picnic tables which will make it more comfortable during the summer months for picnic outings.
Great for some communing with nature time…

Magical Easter hike!
People need to discover this place and use what has been so generously offered to the public. We went there on Easter afternoon, took the trail to the left of the parking lot which runs along a meadow, shielded from the cows by a fence, and then turned up the hill on the Whipsnake Trail. On the slope to our left was a fantastic display of delicate wildflowers – buttercups, tiny white flowers like snowflakes, fuchsia and purple flowers, blue dicks and blue-​eyed grass, all like jewels in the sun. Then, as we started to enter the woods, on the banks purple and pale gray Chinese houses! What a gift.
Then there are the enormous, majestic oaks, hundreds of years old, the rolling hils covered in green at last, hawks and swallows in the sky and all of it accessible on the best planned and engineered trails we have used.
But there were only a couple of cars in the lot on the best day of the year to be enjoying our Bay Area wildlife. Perhaps people are not finding this park because it IS very difficult to locate – Caltrans refused to let them put up a sign on Highway 4 to mark the exit! So, here are the directions: If you are coming from the east on 4, you take the Franklin Canyon exit, turn left under the freeway and continue west on 4, past the golf course. Just before the train trestle, take the small road to the right – Chrisitie. It winds briefly and steeply past a large ranch, and then you will see the well planned parking lot, with clean rest room, and bridge over a ravine, leading to several wonderful hikes.

Amazing, beautiful, remote but close. A treat for 4 footed friends and me!

One of the best underused and undiscovered there is for talking a mild hike. Our dog loves it. No telling what wildlife you will see from birds to coyotes. Don’t tell anyone. ONE CAVEAT: BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR DOG FOR TICKS WHEN YOU GET BACK TO THE CAR. Even using Frontline/​Advantage, there has always seemed to be one of these pesky critters trying to breach the defense line. I also spray my cuffs before leaving just in case.

Did the full 3.5 mile loop today with my son. It was actually a little longer by the time we finished. I really enjoyed it. It was very peaceful. In fact we only saw one other pair of hikers and 2 people on horseback. That’s it. Nice views of Franklin canyon, and lots of wildlife. The elevation changes are not severe, and very gradual. We hit 2 600 ft. peaks. That’s it. Should not be a problem for most. As another poster pointed out, it will be hot as hell out here over the summer. Keep that in mind. Here in the end of January, it was fantastic.
My only complaint is there are some parts of the trail that are so pitted with horse hoof tracks that’s its almost impossible to not turn your ankle as you go through. Still, it’s a multi-​use trail and that’s to be expected. Some nice geocaches out here too, for those into the sport.
This will be a regular hike for my crew from now on. I had a good time.

I went to the Grand Opening dedication for the new park that Muir Heritage Land Trust opened to the public on Sat 6÷5÷10 National Trails Day.
There were lots of speeches, FREE cake, coffee, & water. Snacks were available w/​bottled water. FREE hikes to let us check out the more than 3.5 miles of multi-​use trails, including ADA accessible trails.
I went on a longer hike they offered. Windmill Trail — Woodrat Trail — inside the Pinole Valley watershed (East Bay Municipal Utility District– you need a permit to hike in there), back to Woodrat Trail — Whipsnake Trail — Black Phoebe Trail.
It’s a nice park, not too steep. In the summer it’ll get too hot! Bring lots of water!