Castle Rock State Park, California

Castle Rock State Park is located along the crest of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara Counties. The park is filled with redwoods, oaks, madrones and firs. Wildlife everywhere and there are vultures, hawks, owls and eagles for the bird lovers. Castle Rock State Park offers 30 plus miles of hiking and horseback riding trails. Dogs are not allowed to keep the natural preservation of the surrounding wildlife. It is also a trailhead for the Skyline to the Sea Trail which leads you to Wadell Creek Beach and the Pacific Ocean. I recommend a trail map and definately check out the falls, Goat Rock and if your determined for some privacy, doom rock is really spectacular and remote from your average hiker and rock climber.

What is this? A Prehistoric Eagle head or Turtle head or what?









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Other Information:
The contact number is 408-867-2952. I would always bring extra layers throughout the year because the coastal weather can get nippy even in the summer nights. But more so for the fall, winter and spring season. Check out the map below in Terrain Mode.

Directions:

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Mission Peak, Fremont, CA

Mission Peak, Fremont, California

Description:
March 31st 2008. Mission Peak is located in the Mission Peak Regional Preserve and is a part of the East Bay Regional Park District. The hike out from Stanford Avenue is steep and dramatic. I highly recommend allowing a minimum of 5 hours to reach the top and back. Also I recommend plenty of water, especially on hot summer days. If you do decide to go during the summer months I would suggest leaving the trail head as close to sunrise as possible. That way it would be cool for the hike up and hot on your way down. The view is spectacular from the top and is a definite must hike for anybody who enjoys a good physical exercise and good views. I found that lots of people mill about the bottom area checking out the cows, but the closer you get to the top the less people there are. It was fairly windy up top also.

Directions:
Heading north on 680 towards Sacramento exit Mission Blvd. and proceed about half a mile to Stanford Avenue and turn right. Go to the parking lot and park here.

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Other Information:
The Misison Peak area connects to other notable trails in the area and the park is open from 5am to 10pm unless otherwise noted.