 Sibley Volcanic Preserve is part of the East Bay Regional Park district. It neighbors Huckleberry Botanic Preserve in the Oakland hills near the Montclair Village. This 2-mile loop around an ancient volcano is an easy, flat, one-hour hike that features lots of gorgeous wildflowers in the spring.
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 Huckleberry Botanic Preserve is an EBRPD park in the Oakland Hills near Montclair Village. Here is the EBRPD's blurb about it: Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve is an ecological jewel. The native plant community here is found nowhere else in the East Bay. It represents a relic plant association found only in certain areas along California's coast where ideal soil and climatic conditions exist. It was really a lovely park to visit, and the self-guided nature trail is really well done!
 Even though this trail at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park is only 4 miles total (2 miles in and then back out again), it still felt like quite a workout because of the ~900 ft elevation gain. It was gorgeous, and much shadier than I expected. I will definitely be back here to use this as an entry way even deeper into the park, such as this hike to Turtle Pond, featured on one of my favorite websites. I only had a few hours today, so I just hiked to the top of the ridge and back on the Courdet Trail.
 This was a return visit for me to Holdener Park in Livermore. The last time I went was late winter/early spring, and the hills were emerald green. Now in late May, they have already turned golden brown. It's amazing to me how fast that change can happen!
 It's been a minute since I've been to Tilden Park, and this weekend I went for the first time to the Tilden Nature Area. This part of the park is an awesome place to bring young children--not only for the charming Little Farm but also for a gentle 1.28-mile loop that is stroller accessible.
 It's been an uncharacteristically wet/cold week for May. I decided to take advantage of the lingering spring to explore more of Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore. When I explored the Valley View Loop last Tuesday, I said that I wanted to explore the area around the Arroyo Del Valle connector trail between Del Valle park and Sycamore Grove. On this hike, I did just that!
 I made a return trip to Sycamore Grove Park in Livermore, exploring more deeply into the park for this loop, just under 5 miles. It was nice to see a more rugged side of the park.
 Redwood Regional Park is both a great place to bring young children and a welcome (and rare) redwood preserve in the East Bay. There are lots of great places to see redwoods in the far north-western portion of the state, all over Santa Cruz, and on the peninsula, but it's harder to find these beautiful trees in the warmer climates of the East Bay. I've been missing the redwoods since we moved to Livermore, and I am so glad to find this park, which is only about half an hour's drive from me.
 This 8-mile loop through Mount Diablo State Park's northern area is one of the best hikes that I have been on in recent memory. The different parts of the loop had wildly different ecosystems, which meant that every new leg of the trail offered something more. I think that this might be the tail end of the season to do this hike. Although I was lucky to see water in the waterfalls and wildflowers at every stage of the hike, it was starting to get hot. I can imagine that it would not be pleasant to do this hike in even a couple of weeks. I will have to come back here next winter or spring to do this hike again though, because it was incredible! Wildflower highlights
 Today my daughter and I explored Livermore's Sycamore Grove Park for the first time. We hiked one mile (round trip) going from the parking lot of the Wetmore Entrance to the "Hobbit Tree" and then back again. Along the way, we went through a lovely grove of Western Sycamores (apparently one of the largest remaining stands of western sycamore riparian woodland), and then we played in a seasonal creek running through the Arroyo del Valle!
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