Red Hill Trail at Coyote Hills Regional Park

A repeat hike to one of the bay's best marsh parks.

I am not 100% sure of the route that I took, because the signage on the second half of the trail was poor.

Basically, there were two loops that I strung together to make a hike of about 4 miles. The first loop is easier to describe: from the main parking lot, I took the Bayview Trail towards the Main Marsh and picked up the Lizard Rock Trail. I took that until it intersected with the Chochenyo Trail. I took that heading towards the D.U.S.T. Trail, but stayed on  Chochenyo following the signs for Shell Mound.

Then, I picked up the Muskrat trail, which turns into a boardwalk as it traverses the marsh. This part of the trail is really cool, and I always see LOTS of water fowl on this part of the hike. On a repeat visit later with my dad, we saw an actual muskrat!

The second loop is harder to describe because I was a bit lost and the trails are not nearly as well marked. I think I took the route highlighted in red on the map above, but I am not exactly sure. The general route was easy to see; I was just hiking along the crests of the hills.

The colors along this hike were particularly vivid: the yellow yarrow was blooming, the salt flats were white against the bright blue of the bay, the waters in the marshes were green, and the iron-laden rocks were bright red. It was a beautiful hike!