Maguire Peaks Loop at Sunol

To celebrate the start of May, I went on an amazing hike at Sunol Regional Wilderness around Maguire Peaks, a distinctive set of peaks visible from Interstate-680. This 5.5-mile lollipop trail was so lovely in the spring. I saw an absolute abundance of wildflowers, especially winter vetch. The blooms looked like a river of purple rolling down the mountain here and there. It was amazing!

Detail of the Sunol park map

I was using an old guide book to plan my trip, and I wanted to go on a trail that used to be called the Lower Maguire Peaks Trail.  The trail is now closed, but confusingly there is still signage on the trail map to park at the .72 mile marker along Welch Creek Road. I could see where the cattle grate to the old trail was, but there was barbed wire across it and the trail is obviously not maintained anymore.

When I got home and looked online, I found that Lower Maguire Peaks Trail was closed due to storm damage a few years back. I went on a weekday, so I didn't need a parking permit (I have an annual pass), so I was lucky to find a spot next to the gate to the fire road (SO 6). There is also a small parking area near mile marker 1.6, which has access to Upper Maguire Peaks Trail (SO 5). I took Maguire Road uphill and followed signs for Maguire Peaks Trail (SO 8). I took the clockwise direction, and I really liked that route overall. There was shade for some of my ascent, and the hardest part of the climb had the sun at my back. Overall, the elevation gain wasn't too bad, though. A significant amount of the hike is pretty flat.

I saw poppies, vetch, mule ears, Ithuriel's' spear, blue dicks, blue-eyed grass, Chinese houses, sticky monkey flower, purple owl's clover, several varieties of lupine, Indian paintbrush, larkspur, and mustard (among a few others). It was just an explosion of wildflowers, which I really loved.

I do not think that this would be a good trail to bring young kids on, at least not kids in a stroller; although parts of the trial are flat, the places of elevation can can be steep in a few places, and it would not be fun to push a stroller up or down those sections.

I loved this hike, and I will definitely do it every spring from now on. It's amazing how remote it feels. Also, there was a really unusual variety of trees--I was surprised to see a few redwoods growing out here! Along with those redwoods, there were sycamores, eucalyptus, and oaks. It was really lovely!