Anthony Chabot Regional Park, Grass Valley Loop

Today, my daughter and I took our maiden voyage to Anthony Chabot Regional Park, an expansive park in the East Bay. To see more photos of our hike, click "read more."

Detail of the EBRPD Anthony Chabot map

My original plan was to do the 3-mile loop that is described as the shorter option in this write-up. That trail includes the lighter pink extension in the map that I've included. I was going by memory of the the write-up, and I accidentally turned onto Redtail Trail to connect to the Brandon Trail instead of taking the Grass Valley Trail all the way to the Stone Bridge. That shorter, 2-mile version of the loop is indicated in dark red on my map. This route was actually fine for me and my toddler, although I missed the grove of redwoods that I was looking forward to seeing.

From the Bort Meadow Staging Area, we turned left at the end of the paved road heading down hill and headed south on the Grass Valley Trail. Instead of going to the Stone Bridge, we made a sharp right onto the Redtail Trail near the striking eucalyptus tree. The Grass Valley Trail was sunny and bright, and we saw a flock of turkeys while we were walking. As soon as we passed the cattle gate on Redtail Trail we entered into a shady glen. Although Dave Baselt at www.redwoodhikes.com does not like the Brandon Trail all that much, I actually enjoyed this part of the trail the most. I am not used to seeing so many wildflowers in mid July. We saw a pretty gorgeous crop of Clarkia on this leg of the loop. The Brandon Trail was intermittently shady, and I think that this has probably allowed the flower to extend its bloom.

The trail was mostly pretty flat, and my daughter even got out of the hiking carrier and walked the majority of the way back on the Brandon Trail. She was excited to carry baby doll in her own back pack! What a trooper!