Hiking

Equipment
Tips for Family Hikes

Group Outings

 * Family Hiking with those fun folks from REI
 * Hikes for Tykes East Bay Regional Park- Contra Costa/Alameda County - Age: Pre-School - Enjoy some nature before naptime with your young child! Join the EBRP naturalist explore the fabulous flora and fauna of the Regional parks. Hikes average about one mile. Bring a snack. Strollers are not recommended.
 * Outward Bound - Backpacking and Mountaineering trips - Various Locations - Age: Teens

Family

 * East Bay Regional Parks - Contra Costa and Alameda County - Age: All Ages - Go explore one on the 65 East Bay Regional Parks. They have over 1,200 miles of trail and 112,000+ acres of open space! Additional EBRP hiking information.
 * Jewel Lake Nature Trail - Tilden Park - Berkeley - Age: All Ages (really good for toodlers) - Start at the Little Farm in Tilden and pickup the self guided tour information. Kids love the 750 feet of boardwalk through the woods. The lake area has turtles, ducks, butterflies, and birds.
 * Oakland Mountain View Cemetary- Oakland - Age: All Ages - Great urban hike: beatiful trees, birds, walking paths, deer, and much more. The cemetary also provides historical tours.
 * Mt. Diablo State Park - Contra Costa County - "Discover for yourself the mountain's beautiful wildflowers, its extensive trail system, fascinating wildlife and distinctive rock formations."
 * Marin Waterfall Hikes - Marin County - Age: All Ages - Enjoy one of the 15 waterfall hikes in Marin County. Stop and take a swimming in one of the many swimming holes along the way.
 * Tennessee Valley- Marin Headlands - Age- All Ages - The 1.7 mile Tennessee Valley Trail is flat and ends up at Tennessee Beach. Wildlife: raptors,swallows, owls, deer, coyote, and bobcat.
 * Muir Woods National National Monument- Age: All Ages - Redwood forest, flat and hill trails
 * Best wildflower hikes: Sunol, Black Dimond Mines, Briones, and Mt. Diablo

Free Play Ideas

 * Moonlight Hikes - Kids love to hike at night. Start your moonlight hike just after sunset. Bring a flash lights in case of clouds.
 * Urban Hikes - Kids can see a lot of great things in a 30 minute hike around the neighborhood. Turn over rocks, pick up sticks, gather leaves, try to find animals (birds, squirrels, raccoon, cats, etc.)

Guides & Maps & Books
Websites
 * Bay Area Hiker - Provides a great list of hikes in the Bay Area. Hikes are sorted by location, kid friendly, bog friendly, difficulty of the hike, etc.
 * Traillink.com- Provides hikes by city, length, surface type and activity.

http://www.transitandtrails.org/
 * Sierra Club Trails-

Books
 * Best Hikes with Kids: San Francisco Bay Area – Laure Latham (local author)Latham presents the best family trails throughout the entire Bay Area. Latham developed her list of hikes not just through personal experience, but also by interviewing local mom groups to hear what families really want when they go hiking.

Maps


 * Oakland Museum Creek and Watershed Maps
 * East Bay Regional Park Maps - online maps for all 65 parks

Organizations/Clubs

 * Nature Clubs for Families- Children in Nature Network -
 * Climbing for Kids - Take at risks kids from around the bay area on both local training hikes and extended trips. They provide gear and funding. Registerfor a climb. Training hikesare open for all youths. For insurance purposes, all Training Hike participants must RSVP a minimum of 2 days prior to the hike. There must also be a minimum of 3 Training Hike participants registered in order for the hike to occur. The organization also provide free gear for mountaineering trips.