Hiking: January 23, 2022
Golden Spike, French & West Ridge Trail
Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park
This weekend, I decided to hike a trail that is entirely in a forest. It’s been awhile since I’ve hiked through a forest. While searching for a trail in AllTrails, I found the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, CA with a redwood forest.
- Length: 10.52 miles
- Elevation Gain: 2,359 ft
- Route Type: Loop
- Trail Details: AllTrails / 3D Map
- Media: Photos / Video
When it comes to redwood forests in the Bay Area, the first thing that comes to mind is Muir Woods, but I was surprised to find a redwood forest in Oakland which is closer to my house. I never knew about this earlier.
The Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park is part of the East Bay Regional Park District. The East Bay Regional District consists of 73 parks and is part of the Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
I was looking for a trail that was more than 7 miles and had a 1500+ ft elevation gain. (These are my minimum criteria for a hike :) ). There are so many trails in this park, but I couldn’t find a single trail that meets my criteria. So I ended up curating my own route for the hike. I used one of the existing trails from the AllTrails and modified it to meet my criteria. I ended up with a route full of a lots of trails (I guess more than 7). Though the title only includes three trails, the route had a lot of other trails.
I started from the “Big Bear Staging Area” parking lot which is on the Redwood Road. The trailhead for the “Golden Spike” trail is opposite the parking lot, so you have to cross the road to get onto the trail.
The trail starts on a shaded, narrow, single track path. There are a few ups and downs but nothing major. You can zoom through this section of the trail without any problem.
After a mile or so, you will start seeing the redwood trees. It is amazing to watch these tall trees especially at the top where it forms a nice circle. If you go early in the morning, it is beautiful to watch the early morning sun rays piercing through these trees.
There are so many places where the trails intersect each other, so make sure you go on the right trail at the intersection. If you don’t keep an eye on the trail, you will end up in a loop like me :). If you see my activity, you will see that there are places where I ended up in a loop, and also some places where I had to backtrack to join the right trail.
For another couple of miles on this route, you will continue to see the redwood trees. Once you are on West Ridge Trail which is towards the end of the hike, there are no more redwood trees, and you will start seeing an open sky but still no views.
The entire hike is an easy one without much elevation except around at 7 miles from the trailhead. As you can see from the elevation chart below, there is a sharp ascent at 7 miles. I did not see a lot of hikers at this section of the trail. I guess they knew the ascent that they would have to hike :).
The park is crowded at certain sections of the trails mostly because of the accessibility I guess. It seems like a lot of locals hike here. I didn’t see anyone using their map or GPS app to figure out the trail. They seemed familiar with the trails.
You will see a lot of group hikers or groups of families hiking on the trail. Most of the trails are a single track on a narrow path. So there are lot of times where I have to stop and allow others to pass through. If you are looking for solitude, this is not the place to hike :).
The entire route is shaded, so if you are starting the hike early in the morning during this time of the year, you may want to wear layers. There are places it gets cold. Since this trail is under the shade, this is definitely a place to go during the summer.
Until then,
Happy Hiking!
