Henry W. Coe State Park

Distance: 8.0 miles round trip, 4 Hours (My time=2.5 hours)

Elevation Change:    1,000 feet

Level:    Moderate

Rating:    3 Stars

"The closest thing to a wilderness park in the South Bay Area is Henry W. Coe State Park.  This well known but little traveled park is the second largest in California...Comprised of tall ridges bisected by deep, steep ravines, the park is notoriously hilly and rugged.  Its varied terrain includes grasslands, oaks, chaparral, pines, and mixed hardwoods."

June 10, 2002

Another fun drive with winding roads and great scenery.  Add a monsoon and a sports car and I could imagine that I was Ian Dunbar from the opening scene from Noble House. 

The trail is easy up until frog lake and then the moderate part kicks in with a vengeance with some excellently described roller coaster action.  There were very few birds at this park compared to every where else I've been so far.  It seems that every park in California is a bird sanctuary of sorts, including the new substation I'm helping commission here.  I was walking along thinking how refreshingly quiet it was when, of course, another damn single engine plane flew overhead.  It was almost magical how I would think of the plane, and then it would return from nowhere to piss me off again.  There were also quite a few extra insects here but nothing compared to a normal evening in Edmonton.

Here's the pics (Click on the picture to see full size):

These are low res pictures.  I can send you higher quality pictures if you want them