Two Great Hot Summer Hikes in the Bay Area, CA
When you wake up to another frosty, foggy, freezing summer morning in San Francisco and want to experience a real summer day check out one of these two hot hikes in the East Bay Regional Cow Preserve System.
LAS TRAMPAS, Danville, CA
Take I-680 South from Highway 24 to the Crow Canyon Exit. Turn left onto Bollinger Canyon Road from Crow Canyon into the park. From the parking lot start up the Rocky Ridge Trail. It climbs dramatically  right away but you are rewarded at the summit with 360 degree views of the Bay Area, including on a clear day the Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, and Dumbarton Bridge as well as Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais. After enjoying the great views and the breeze from the ridge turn right onto the Sycamore trail and stop in the Sycamore grove for lunch to fortify yourself for the treacherous hike out of Devil's Hole. In spring and early summer a seasonal creek flows through the grove. Birds abound. On July 12, 2003, we saw red-tailed hawk, lazuli bunting, western bluebirds, lark sparrows, horned larks, western meadowlarks, American kestrels, turkey vultures, western wood peewee, Pacific slope flycatcher, Ash-throated flycatcher, oak titmouse, house wren, Anna's hummingbirds, scrub jays, mourning doves, lesser goldfinches, dark-eyed juncos, mockingbirds, white-throated swifts, cliff swallows, barn swallow, California towhee, and spotted towhee and a coyote. This semi-loop hike is 6.8 miles round trip with a 1200 foot elevation change.
 BLACK DIAMOND MINES, Antioch, CA
Take I-80 east to Hwy 4 toward Stockton to the Somersville exit. Head South on Somersville all the way into the park. Just past the bathrooms head up the Stewartville trail which immediately starts to climb up past lovely amber hills to your left and the seldom seen northern flank of Mount Diablo to your right. From the Stewartville trail branch off at the Miner's trail to see some remnants of mining operations here in the 1940s before rejoining the Stewartville trail in the valley. After another mile you can take a side trip to the Star Mine and have lunch at the pleasant group camp picnic area. You will need to fortify yourself for the grueling hike up and out of the valley on the Ridge Trail which climbs 1500 feet on a nearly shadeless trail. You will find no people. Despite the heat and dry conditions on our hike on July 13 we saw golden eagles, a red-shouldered hawk, red-tailed hawks, American Kestrels, turkey vultures, Western kingbirds, lark sparrows, Anna's hummingbirds, White-breasted nuthatch, unidentified owl, acorn woodpeckers, ash-throated flycatchers, mourning doves, California thrasher, mockingbirds, and cliff swallows.
CAUTION: Both hikes are strenuous and HOT and not for the faint-hearted.
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right away but you are rewarded at the summit with 360 degree views of the Bay Area, including on a clear day the Bay Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, and Dumbarton Bridge as well as Mount Diablo and Mount Tamalpais. After enjoying the great views and the breeze from the ridge turn right onto the Sycamore trail and stop in the Sycamore grove for lunch to fortify yourself for the treacherous hike out of Devil's Hole. In spring and early summer a seasonal creek flows through the grove. Birds abound. On July 12, 2003, we saw red-tailed hawk, lazuli bunting, western bluebirds, lark sparrows, horned larks, western meadowlarks, American kestrels, turkey vultures, western wood peewee, Pacific slope flycatcher, Ash-throated flycatcher, oak titmouse, house wren, Anna's hummingbirds, scrub jays, mourning doves, lesser goldfinches, dark-eyed juncos, mockingbirds, white-throated swifts, cliff swallows, barn swallow, California towhee, and spotted towhee and a coyote. This semi-loop hike is 6.8 miles round trip with a 1200 foot elevation change. 
BLACK DIAMOND MINES, Antioch, CA
