Easy to make this hike a bit longer if you wish. About 1300 ft of elevation gain. Mix of shaded and exposed trails.
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About 7.3 miles and 1250 elevation gain. If you come back via Bear Creek Trail, add .3 miles and another 200 ft elevation gain. A good mix of sun and shade.
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Moderate to Hard trail. Lots of cows. Lots of bikers. Not a lot of shade.
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Nice cool day hike. Mostly exposed trails with 7.6 miles and about 1500 ft of elevation gain.
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Nice hike. Good workout. Always a lot of elevation gain in this park. Mostly fire roads. Trails in good condition.
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About 1500 ft elevation. Mostly exposed. Good workout and nice views when up on the ridge.
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Nice cool weather hike. First half is mostly up. About 1800 ft total elevation gain.
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Excellent moderate hike in Briones Regional Park. Good views of Mt Diablo. One of many hikes available from the Bear Creek Staging Area ($3 parking fee when gate is attended). Toilets available at the parking lot.
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Pretty hot and exposed in the summer but nice in cooler temps. Avoided the fire roads.
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Good hike early in November. We started by taking the "shortcut" up the singletrack ridge that veers off the main fire road trail. It was plenty steep, but with a pretty oak grove on the summit.
This hike provided some beautiful views around the park. You share the trail with herds of cattle, and we saw plenty of hawks and vultures as we went along.
The only downside is that it was exposed throughout, and therefore became almost too warm even that this time of year.
One other positive is that there are a *lot* of side trails you can choose to increase or decrease mileage as you go.
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