Wildcat Canyon Ups and Downs – East Bay

Are you geologists or something? This is what was asked of us as we climbed the first hill at Wildcat Canyon last weekend. This funny inquiry was from a sweet older lady with a friendly pup that greeted us on the trail. The bosslady was a little perplexed by the question then looked at the hubs and realized why the older lady may have thought that…he had his ranger looking outfit on that day! 🙂

It was the hubs’ turn to find a hike for last weekend. It is getting more and more difficult to find hikes in the area we haven’t on. Since the weather was cool for August we opted to go to the East Bay for a hike. Wildcat Canyon fit the bill, long enough to get some good exercise in and enough elevation gain to earn us a cheeseburger!

Wildcat Canyon Hike

Wildcat Creek trail was a bit boring for us so when we reached the cattle gate for Mezue trail we got excited we would finally get to start climbing for views! Nothing in life is free, including views! First, you have to figure out how to unlock the cattle gate. Yes, it took us a few fumbling seconds to do this. Thankful there were no hidden cameras to show our silliness, we started the first climb of many.

Heading up the hill on the wide fire road an adorable black pup came down to greet us. Dogs in this area of the park are OK off-leash which must be heaven for dogs! His pawrent saw us taking photos of the beautiful grassy hillside and asked us if we were geologists or something. I tried to explain we enjoy taking pictures of pretty places and she proceeded to change the subject about 5 times on us. After we continued up the hill I joked with the hubs that it was because he was wearing his ‘ranger green’ hiking outfit! OK, enough silliness kids. Keep hiking up that darn dirt road!

As you climb you will soon be rewarded with views of Wildcat Canyon and begin to see views of the city beyond. There’s very little shade on the hills which allows you to see where your trail is heading. Take a break and stretch when you reach the intersection for San Pablo Ridge Trail.

Mount Diablo and the San Pablo Reservoir will be the views to your south. Mount Tamalpais and the San Pablo Bay will be your views to the north. The city, under a layer of the fog, of course, will be your view to the west. The day we were at the top of the ridge it was 65 degrees and extremely windy, in August. We enjoyed the amazing 360-degree views and headed along the rolling trail. You could see the hills rolling along under the fire road. It was a nice break for our legs to have the gentle up and down on the trail.

As the trail descended toward Belgum trail, the descent became steep and rocky. We opted to hike down along the side where there was some grass as traction for us. There are parts of this hike where it is steep up and steep down. Be prepared for your balancing act on this trail!

Happy cows get to graze all over this park. It is always fun for the bosslady to see them up close. Like we’ve never seen cows before…every time, she gets so excited!

Winding down the trail toward the old homestead you see a nice big palm tree then a stand of eucalyptus trees following the creek. Once you walk through the eucalyptus trees the other 3 grand palm trees come into view with the city beyond. It’s the last pretty part of the trail before Belgum Trail meets back up with Wildcat Creek trail. Head back to your care from here and go get that cheeseburger!

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