On a stunning early spring day, I headed over to the East Bay to check out a park that had long been on my list. Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, located just off I-680, covers some beautiful stretches of rolling hills, shady woodland, and quiet meadows. The hike would be a 10 mile loop on the Ridge Trail and the Thermalito Trail, promising big views and hopefully good hiking!
Miles/Elevation:
10 miles
1,942 feet vertical gain
About Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park:
Located just west of I-680 near Pleasanton CA, Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park protects rolling hills of meadows and woodland for recreational use. At over 9,000 acres, the park encompasses Pleasanton Ridge itself, but also covers Kilkare Canyon, Sunol Ridge, and Stoneybrook Canyon. The park is easily reached from I-680, and trails are open for hiking, horseback riding, running, and mountain biking.
Getting To The Trailhead:
Wherever you’re coming from, you’ll need to get to I-680 south of Pleasanton. The parking area is called the Foothill Staging Area, and is findable on Google Maps under that name. From the south, exit 680 onto Paloma Way and turn left. Once you hit the town of Sunol, turn right on Main and Bond, and then turn right again onto Foothill Road. Continue on Foothill Road until you reach the parking area on the left.
From the north, exit 680 onto Castlewood Drive and turn right. Shortly thereafter, take a left onto Foothill Road and continue until you reach the parking area on your right.
There is no parking fee at the trailhead.
The Pleasanton Ridge Loop:
The Oak Tree Trail:
Always be sure to follow the 7 Leave No Trace Principles when in the outdoors!
From the parking lot, head towards the trail which immediately begins climbing. The Oak Tree Trail is a wide gravel fire road and will remain as such throughout its duration. You’ll be steadily climbing throughout the length of the Oak Tree Trail, so you really don’t have much of an easy warm up!
Within just a couple of minutes of leaving the trailhead, the standard view of this hike will make its first appearance. Throughout the entire hike, you will have frequent panoramas looking east across I-680, over Pleasanton, and into the hills that mark the eastern border of the Bay Area. Early on, you won’t be able to see as far as later, but the gist is already there!
There are a couple of small intersections to navigate on the Oak Tree Trail, but here it’s all pretty intuitive. Stay on the fire road as it curves its way up the hillside, and don’t veer off on any small single track trails. As long as you do that you’ll be fine!
After about a mile and a quarter of hiking and 600 feet of climbing, you will arrive at a gate at the top of the Oak Tree Trail. This marks the end of the first length of the hike, and the beginning of a new trail. Head through the gate, and then turn right to begin on the Ridgeline Trail.
The Ridgeline Trail:
Right from the beginning the Ridgeline Trail is steep. Immediately upon gaining the trail, you will be forced up a steep fire road going directly up the hill. For the most part, the inclines are never that long on the Ridgeline Trail; instead, they are short and steep blasts separated by quick descents and flat sections. However, the general trend is up.
The Ridgeline Trail is pretty obviously named for the fact that it roughly follows the top of the namesake ridge of Pleasanton Ridge Park. While you won’t necessarily be walking on a narrow spine looking steeply down on both sides, you will generally be on the top of the ridge. It’s not especially dramatic like a classic alpine ridge walk, but you can see down to your left and right most of the time!
Always follow basic trail etiquette when on trail!
The Ridgeline Trail spends a good amount of time hiking through forest and woodlands. Don’t expect dense jungle up here, but also don’t expect panoramic views 100% of the time. I was a little surprised honestly with how much foliage there is high on this ridge. I was expecting a lot of bare and exposed hillsides, but I was wrong!
While hiking up the Ridgeline Trail, you should also make a point of looking back behind you from time to time. To the south, you will earn bigger and bigger views looking back towards the lower slopes of the ridge, and beyond towards Mission Peak and the Mt Hamilton area. I’d say my favorite views of the day were the ones looking in this direction, so don’t forget to turn around every once in a while!
After close to 2 miles on the Ridgeline Trail, you will crest a hill, and then be faced with a surprising feature, descending switchbacks. I had to double check my map, but the trail does in fact descend down the eastern side of the ridge here. Follow the switchbacks down to stay on the Ridgeline Trail, and then continue on.
The Far End:
Once you head down the switchback, you will hit a 4 way intersection. Right takes you down towards Pleasanton and should be avoided, and you don’t really want to go back the way you just came, so you have a choice: straight or left.
To complete the full 10 mile hike, you’ll want to go straight through this intersection. However, I actually think the best hiking lies behind you and the trail ahead isn’t all that special. If you want to do the full 10 miles go for it, but by turning left here you would have a really awesome 6 mile or so loop, cutting out some pretty uneventful hiking beyond.
Anyway, I continued straight to get the full 10 miles in. Once you continue through the intersection, you will still be on the Ridgeline Trail, and you will still be at or near the top of the ridge itself, however the panoramic views all but disappear.
This far end of the hike is very wooded, and while the forest isn’t dense, it does block pretty much all the views looking out around you. There are some places where you can get a look through the trees, but those places are relatively few and far between.
The other bummer about this part of the hike was the number of mountain bikes I began to encounter. To this point, I had not seen a single mountain biker, but on this far end of the loop, I was moving over to let cyclists pass seemingly every few minutes. I have nothing against mountain bikers, but when you’re constantly having to stop and move over, it gets old.
Head to Sunol Wilderness Regional Preserve for more great East Bay views!
The far end of the hike really dragged on, and without the views it got a bit boring. The one thing I had to alleviate my boredom however was the constant navigating I had to do! There are a maze of trails on this end of Pleasanton Ridge, and it was a huge pain to have to pick my way through them all!
I really would recommend just avoiding this part of the hike unless you really want to get 10 miles in, but that’s just me. Eventually though, I completed the far end, found the trail heading back, and was back at the earlier intersection, ready to hike out on the Thermalito Trail!
The Thermalito Trail:
The Thermalito Trail more or less parallels the Ridgeline Trail to its west, a bit down from the top of the ridge. While you don’t get to enjoy the eastward panoramas, the Thermalito Trail offers much more solitude and quiet than the Ridgeline Trail. Rather than always having a view of the interstate running beneath you, this trail takes you through the upper reaches of a stunning valley and is much quieter!
The Thermalito Trail has more of the fire road hiking that I was accustomed to on this trail, and while I don’t love fire roads, the miles did pass quickly. The trail is pretty flat, but does follow a downward trend over the course of its miles. Interspersed among the descent are short but steep inclines, generally no more than 50 feet, but they were a bit nasty!
Progress was quick, and I had excellent views to enjoy too! You’ll be looking south as you hike along the Thermalito Trail, so you’ll be able to take in my favorite view of the day for pretty much the entire time! In spring and late winter the views here really are beautiful, though most probably won’t enjoy the burnt yellow that comes in summer and fall!
After about 2 miles on the Thermalito Trail, you will intersect back up with the Ridgeline Trail, and at that point you are just a few hundred feet from the gate that marks the top of the Oak Tree Trail, just over a mile from the trailhead.
If you follow the Alltrails map, it does show a detour to the west, a bit down the hill before you head down the Oak Tree Trail. There’s no real reason to take that detour unless you just want a bit more mileage, but feel free to check it out if you want!
At this point, I sat down and had a quick snack before the descent, but after that it was a quick mile and a quarter back to the trailhead! This was a really nice 10 mile hike, and while I would probably avoid the far end of the loop in the future, the first 3 miles and last 3 miles were fantastic and I would highly recommend them!
Topdown Lifestyle Rating: 8/10
Looking for huge old growth Redwoods instead? Head to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park!
This is a really nice Bay Area hike, especially in the wetter months of the year. With the bright green rolling hills, the scenery is stunning throughout the entire hike; however, I cannot give this trail more than an 8/10.
For one, the hike never truly feels wild. Most of the time you will be able to look down on the interstate or the city of Pleasanton itself. Most of the big panoramic views include human infrastructure, not ideal.
I also wasn’t overly impressed by the trail quality. The walking is generally easy and the trails aren’t washed out or anything, but there’s a lot of fire road walking, and a ton of tedious navigating to do.
These things aren’t deal breakers, but they do bring this trail down from potentially great, to very good.
Pros:
- Good views throughout hike
Cons:
- A lot of navigating to do
- Fire roads
- Never truly wild
Alternative Hikes:
When To Hike The Pleasanton Ridge Loop:
Pleasanton Ridge is a 4 season destination; however, each season will give you different conditions. Winter will provide the coolest temperatures, but will have the most rain, and therefore the most mud. Expect winter days to be primarily in the 50s and 60s. Spring is a bit warmer and a bit drier, and would be an awesome time to visit. Summer is the hottest month, and conditions could easily reach into the 90s or 100s on extreme days. Fall will yield cooler temperatures as the season progresses, but has the biggest fire and smoke risk.
When choosing a time to visit, one unique thing to consider is the condition of the vegetation. The grass covered hills spend all of summer and fall looking burnt and brown as the summer and fall are the driest months. Winter and spring to me are the best months to visit Pleasanton Ridge as the hills turn a beautiful green after the rain comes. Beware of mud after heavy rain days, but for me, winter and spring are the best times to visit.
Links For Further Reading:
Pleasanton Ridge Thermalito Loop – California | AllTrails
The Ridgeline and Thermalito Trails
Pleasanton Ridge Thermalito Loop – California
1 Comment