COVID summer of 2020 discovery, a hidden gem, your furry companion is sure to have endless fun here.
Can't believe, tribe has lived so close to this park and never knew this was something that will bring so much joy of nature.
237 acres of nature in the hills close to Pleasanton, CA.
Augustin Bernal Park itself was a donation to the city, however it expands and connects to the Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. Tribe has enjoyed many spring, summer, winter and fall seasons on the Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, where we love going. However with COVID restriction the tribe was looking to explore some new outdoor options. We stumbled on this gem and are so glad we did, this has been a quick fix with nature, and only a short distance away.
To get to this trail, take the Golden Eagle Way on Foothill Rd, into a gated community. Expect to be stopped at the gates, where they will note down your driver license details. Typically residents of Pleasanton do not need a pass to enter this area, others will need to get the pass through the Pleasanton Department of Parks & Community Service, in order to get access come to the gated community.
Once you have entered the community, follow google direction to the parking lot of the Augustin Bernal Park. This is an absolute favourite for the locals for biking, hiking, nature walks, horseback riding and furry campion walks. The trail is well maintained, open space with great tree cover for the most part. Watch out of bicyclists along the way, there will be quite a few. Some of us in the tribe decided to hike this trail with our furry companion, while others decided to mountain bike. Our furry companion had a great time meeting other dogs, sniffing around the forest and being inquisitive at every sound that she heard.
From the trailhead, past the gate, we took the the Golden Eagle Trail which intersects with the Chaparral Trail a short distance away. The Chaparral Trail is a narrow steep path through the forest, and is only for hikers, it climbs back to connect with the Valley View Trail, a wide fire road. Continue to your left for a further gradual climb, this will fork into a bunch of trails close to this bench, typically you will see a bunch of bicyclist taking a quick break at this bench. We continued from here to our right onto to a narrow pathway along the ridge - Blue Oak Knoll Trail, that meanders through with stunning views and connects back to the Ridgeline Trail. Beyond this we continued on the Ridgeline Trail again a prominent fireroad, mile or so in you will see some water-bodies. Tribe has seen some stunning views all along this route - the valley, golf course, windmills at a distance, sheeps, horses. The tribe members who had decided to mountain bike, continued further to enjoy some amazing jumps and rugged terrain, while the bunch hiking with the furry companion took a nice break around this water body and decided to return back down, tracing back onto the same trails. Both groups returned back down at about the same time. For the furry companion there is a nice water bowl near the benches across the parking, given it was a hot day, she ended up having at least two bowls of water to cool herself off! Such a fun day :)
The tribe's new favorite park, I know for a fact that tribe will keep coming back to this one quite often!
Learning's from the tribe - There is so much beauty around us, its upto us to reach out and absorb it!
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