Backpacking: February 19 & 20, 2022
Two Day Solo Backpacking Ohlone Wilderness Trail
Ohlone Regional Wilderness, Sunol, CA
The Ohlone Wilderness Trail is a 28 mile trail between Del Valle Regional Park at Livermore and Mission Peak Regional Preserve in Fremont. Typically this takes 3 days to hike. I backpacked 19 miles, which is a shorter version of this trail from Del Valle Regional Park at Livermore to Sunol Visitor Center at Sunol.
- Length: 19.68 miles
- Elevation Gain: 5,371 ft
- Route Type: Point To Point
- AllTrails: Day 1 / Day 2
- 3D Map: Day 1 / Day 2
- Photos: Day 1 / Days 2
- Video: YouTube
About the Trail
The Trail passes through the Ohlone Wilderness and three regional parks: Del Valle Regional Park at Livermore, Sunol Regional Wilderness near Pleasanton and south of Sunol, and Mission Peak Regional Preserve in Fremont.
You can start from Del Valle or Mission Peak. In my opinion, starting from Del Valle is the best option. Views after Rose Peak (on second day) are so beautiful, and you can enjoy it while walking downhill.
There are designated campsites along the trail. Dispersed camping is not allowed on this trail. You have to reserve campsites. Details on how to make a reservation is in the “Permit” section below.
If you are starting from Del Valle, you have two options to camp on the first day depending on the availability.
- Stewarts Camp : Around 7 miles from Del Valle trailhead. This is a big campsite (max capacity 24) but unfortunately has only one campsite. Only one group can reserve this site.
- Maggie’s Half Acre Campsite: Around 10 miles from Del Valle trailhead. There are 3 campsites at this location. This is near Rose Peak and one of the best campsites. You can watch both the sunset and sunrise from Rose Peak by camping at this location.
- Doe Canyon Campsite: Around 11 miles from Del Valle trailhead. There are 2 sites at this location. This is just after Rose Peak.
If you are doing a full 28 miles with 3 days backpacking, then camp at Sunol Backpacking campsite on the second day. This is 6+ miles from Rose Peak and is all downhill hiking. There are 7 campsites at this location.
- Cathedral (Max Capacity 5)
- Oak View (5)
- Sycamore (5)
- Stars Rest (30)
- Hawks Nest (5)
- Eagles Eyrie (10)
- Sky Camp (3)
Eagles Eyrie is one of the best campsites with a beautiful view. This site has some shade and a picnic table.
Note that all of these campsites have chemical toilets and non-potable water (you should filter it before use) nearby.
From these campsites, Sunol Visitor center is 3+ miles and Stanford Avenue Staging area (if you are doing 28 miles hiking) is 12+ miles.
So your typical backpacking will be something like this depending on the number of days and where you camp.
19 miles, 2 Days backpacking
- Day 1: 7 to 11 miles (4000+ elevation gain)
- Day 2: 8 to 12 miles (1000+ elevation gain)
28 miles, 3 Days backpacking
- Day 1: 7 to 11 miles (4000+ elevation gain)
- Day 2: 9 to 5 miles (1000+ elevation gain)
- Day 3: 12 miles (2000+ elevation gain)
Permit & Reservation
There are two things you need to backpack on this trail:
- Hiking Permit
- Camping Reservation
Hiking Permit
Whether you are doing a day hike or backpacking in the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, you need this permit. For example, if you are doing a day hike to Rose Peak you need this permit. Hiking beyond a gate as shown below requires this permit. Each hiker needs this permit. There is no group permit for this.
The good thing is that getting this permit is easy. You can either get it in person or online. Permits cost $2 and are valid for one year. More details on how to get this permit is at the park website. As part of this permit, you get a beautiful map. This map will come very handy while hiking on this trail. There are markings on the trail with a number that you can refer to on the map. For example, marking 21 on the trail shows you the distance from either end of the trailhead, elevation gain etc.
Camping Reservation
Camping reservation is required for staying overnight at one of the designated campsites. Unfortunately there is no online reservation system for reserving the campsite. You have to call the Reservations Department at 1–888–327–2757. When I booked in early January, reservations were allowed 4 weeks in advance but currently you can reserve up to 12 weeks in advance as stated in the website. Please check the latest info on the park website.
Though there is no online reservation, you can check the availability of the campsites through ReserverAmerica. Clicking on the calendar tab on the website gives you the availability status. The letter ‘R’ indicates that the site is already reserved and ‘C’ indicates it is available. You have to call to get it reserved.
I planned two days of backpacking from Del Valle to Sunol Visitor Center and reserved Maggie’s Half Acre Campsite # 1 well in advance. You have to have patience in getting the reservation done. There is no hold when you call up the reservation phone #. If that line is busy, you will get disconnected immediately, so you have to keep trying until you get connected to a reservation personnel. If you are planning to backpack during the weekends, you should plan well in advance and reserve. These campsites are high in demand.
Day 1
Started my hike from Del Valle Regional Park. First day of the hike is strenuous. You will be hiking around 10 miles with 4000+ elevation gain. I was planning to start at 8 AM but ended up at the trailhead around 12:45 PM.
The hike will take around 5 to 6 hrs to reach the campsite because of the elevation gain. If you are taking lots of rests and a side trip to Murietta Falls, you will need more than 7 hrs.
So starting any time after 11 AM is late. You will be hiking in hot weather and will not reach your campsite before sunset especially during this time of the year where daylight is short.
I took the risk and started late. I thought I could reach the campsite before dark by hiking fast without any rest. Luckily it was not that hot but I couldn’t reach before sunset. It was gruesome with too much elevation gain. Though I didn’t take any rest, I reached the campsite one hour after the sunset at around 6:45 PM. It took 6 hrs to reach my campsite.
You will start on Sailor Camp Trail from the parking lot at Del Valle Regional Park. Oh boy, the hike starts uphill from the get go. After a mile on Sailor Camp Trail with 400+ elevation gain, you will reach Ohlone Trail. There is a sign-in panel where you have to write your name. There is a pen inside the box. Beyond this point you need a hiker permit to continue on Ohlone Trail.
From this point onwards elevation picks up even more till the Rocky Ridge. It’s around 1.3 miles with 1100+ ft elevation again. In some places, the elevation grade (or slope) is as high as 25%. By now you have hiked 2.3 miles with 1600+ elevation gain.
Once you reach the Rocky Ridge, the trail goes downhill to Williams Gulch. You welcome 500+ elevation downhill after doing uphill for 2+ miles. Soon after reaching the creek at Williams Gulch you realize you have to climb again to recover all the elevation gain that you lost in the downhill hike.
After the Williams Gulch, you will start walking on a narrow single track trail. The next 1.6 miles is the most strenuous hike of this trail. You will be gaining around 1500+ elevation and with the steepness of as high as 30%. This section of the trail is called “Big Burn” for this reason. As you hike along this narrow trail, you get a view of Mount Diablo and Livermore Valley.
At round 5.3 miles, you will reach Johnny’s pond on your right. If you are going to Murietta Falls, this is where the trail deviates. Initially I was planning to go via Murietta Falls but since I started late and worried about not reaching before dark I decided to skip and continued on the Ohlone Trail. The best time to visit Murietta Falls is right after heavy rain.
Till this point you will see a lot of day hikers. Since I started late, I met day hikers who were coming back from Murietta Falls. After this point, you will see either backpackers or very few day hikers who are doing Rose Peak hike.
It took approximately 4 hrs, close to 5 PM to reach this point. I still had to go 4+ miles to reach my campsite. There was no way I could reach my campsite before sunset. So, mentally I prepared myself for the night hike.
I started walking fast and decided to cover the next 4+ miles within 2 hours. My goal was to reach before 7 PM. Luckily the hike from this point is mostly flat and a little bit of elevation gain here and there.
As I was walking, the sun started going down. I pulled my headlamp from my backpack and put it on my head. For the last hour, I was walking in the dark. Luckily this stretch of the trail is wide fire road. I couldn’t make out the terrain but it looked like I was walking through the wooded area.
Finally I reached Maggie’s Half Acre Campsite around 6:45 PM. Luckily it was well marked and was easy to find my campsite. I realized how this tiny headlamp is so bright in the dark. I had no issue setting up the campsite in the dark with the headlamp. I was lazy to cook, so I ate bars and apples and went to sleep at 8:30 PM looking forward to the next day’s early morning sunrise at Rose Peak.
Day 2
Though I woke up a couple of times in the night from the sound of flights, I got a good rest. Looks like some flights from Oakland airport fly over Rose Peak. The sound of those flights were very loud.
As soon as I woke up around 7 AM, I went to Rose Peak for the sunrise. A 360 degree view from Rose Peak was one of the highlights of this backpacking trip. The view from the top is incredible with views of Rolling Hills, Mount Diablo and the clouds over the mountains.
After eating breakfast, I packed my bag and started hiking towards Sunol Visitor Center at around 9 AM. This is an easy hike compared to day one. You will be hiking around 10 miles and almost all downhill.
This is one of the best parts of the hike on this trip. The views are gorgeous compared to day one. Though there is no shade throughout this hike, the views are beautiful. At every turn of the trail, you get a beautiful view of the hills. As you walk, views of Monument Peak and Mission Peak get clearer and clearer. Basically you are walking towards those peaks.
You will start seeing cows on this trail. As you walk on the trail, they all look at you as though you have done something wrong. Their look is scary. Just don’t make any eye contact but still keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t move towards you :).
The view gets better and better as you walk. You will start meeting day hikers hiking towards Rose Peak.
After 6+ miles from Rose Peak, you will reach Sunol Backpacking Campsite. This place has 7 campsites. If you are doing the 3 day, 28 mile hike, this is where you will camp for the second day. You will see campsite Eagles Eyrie on your left as you walk down. This is the best campsite of all 7 sites.
Once you cross all the campsites, you will hit the main Ohlone Trail Gate. This is where you sign-in if you are hiking from the Sunol side.
There are two options at this point to continue on. Either you can take McCorkle Trail on the right or Backpack Road on the left. If you want to get a glimpse of Little Yosemite Valley section of this park, take the Backpack Road as shown below. This path shown in green is shorter than the red one and has less elevation gain.
I took the Backpack Road to get a glimpse of Little Yosemite Valley. You will take Backpack Road -> Garry Road -> Canyon View Trail. The Canyon View Trail is a narrow single track trail that goes uphill. Along this trail you get a view of the valley. There is a viewpoint off of Canyon View Trail where you can see the gorgeous view of the valley.
Continue on the Canyon View trail. This goes all the way to the Visitor Center. You will see a lot of day hikers hiking along this trail. This must be one of the famous trails at Sunol. Once you pass the viewpoint, you will see the Visitor Center parking lot. You are very closer to the Visitor Center. The end of this trail is a bridge that leads to the Sunol Visitor Center. This completes 19+ miles of Ohlone Wilderness Hike. If you are doing a 28+ miles hike, you will continue from here to Mission Peak and Stanford Avenue Staging area.
This is one of the best backpacking trails in the East Bay. Though there’s a strenuous hike on the first day, it is worth doing. You will be rewarded with beautiful views on the second day. The best time to hike this trail is either during fall, winter or spring — definitely not during the summer. There is not much shade on this trail. I assume the hills are more beautiful with wildflowers during spring time. I am definitely going back in the spring to do the Sunol to Stanford Avenue Staging Area part of the trail to complete the 28 miles Ohlone Wilderness Trail.
Until then,
Happy Hiking!
