Macdonald Gate to Stone Bridge at Anthony Chabot

On Saturday I took my young daughter on a very short hike from the Macdonald Gate, but I was itching for more. So on Sunday I returned to that staging area in Anthony Chabot for a much more ambitious solo hike. This ~9-mile lollipop hike went along the ridge top and then descended into Grass Valley for a nice loop. I really liked the variety on this hike!

From the Macdonald Gate Staging Area, I took the Macdonald Trail all the way to Bort Meadow (a little under 3 miles). The trail climbs right at the beginning. It's a little intense, but the trail is well graded so it doesn't feel too bad. I was interested to see that there is another entrance to the park from Park Ridge Dr., which was not clear to me from the map. I would like to learn whether or not that neighborhood has parking restrictions to keep the general public from parking there. Just past this entrance, I saw the little spur for the Brittletree Trail, which I recommend. This short trail offers some really impressive views of the valleys and ridges to the east, especially the East Ridge of Redwood Regional Park. The Macdonald Trail generally showcase a different valley to the west and the south, looking towards the ridges around Lake Chabot.  It's worth it to make the short spur. Also along this part of the ridge, I started to see some late-blooming summer lupine (Lupinus formosus, link).

From Bort Meadow, there are two ways to descend down to get onto the Grass Valley Trail: the single-track path is not very well marked. It peels off to the right before you get to the parking lot for Bort Meadow. If you miss it, then you can just walk through the parking lot and then take the paved road for the Group Camp parking instead. The Grass Valley Trail descends gently. The last time I was here was in July of 2019, and the grass was much greener than it was this year in very late August. I really want to come here when the grass is at its peak green. I bet it's really beautiful. I took this all the way to the Stone Bridge. As you get closer to the bridge, you also get closer to Lake Chabot and the grassy valley becomes lusher and more forested. There is a surprisingly nice forest of eucalyptus, maple, and second-growth redwoods. This was probably my favorite part of the hike, and I plan to come back to this part of the park when I eventually explore the Cascade Trail. After crossing the Stone Bridge, I turned to the right to take the Brandon Trail back toward Bort Meadow. This loop is about 3 miles.

After returning to Bort Meadow, you can take either path back up to retake the Macdonald Trail. The single-trail dirt path is actually marked very well from this direction. When I retook Macdonald, I chose to try out some unofficial trails parallel the wide fire road that had evidently been cut by mountain bikers. These trails were a nice alternative to the Macdonald Trail because they were less used, more shaded, and single-track. It was nice to have a different perspective on the hike back; it didn't feel as though I were retracing my steps back towards the car.

This was a really pleasant hike that I would love to do again during the green months of winter or spring. See here for another write-up of this trail, along with some some photos of the route with green grass.