Here is a terrific wildflower guide that I came across with photos of East Bay wildflowers organized by color. It’s put out by the East Bay Regional Park District.
Archive for the ‘hiking’ Category
East Bay Wildflower Guide
Posted in contra costa, hiking, hiking with kids, tagged bay area wild flowers, bay area wildflowers, CA wildflowers, east bay native flowers, east bay wildflowers, mt. diablo wildflowers on June 24, 2009| Leave a Comment »
Exploring Middle Harbor
Posted in all, bay area events, fun things to do with kids, green living, hiking, hiking with kids, oakland, tagged eco-events, eco-fair, mhsp, middle harbor, middle harbor shorline park, oakland middle harbor, port of oakland, shipping port on May 27, 2009| 1 Comment »
One of the newest East Bay Regional Parks is Middle Harbor Shoreline Park in Oakland. It’s a small green space sandwiched between one of the busiest container ports in the nation. It offers more than 3 miles of trails, lots of grass and picnic areas, a children’s play structure, a fishing pier, and two observation platforms; one indoors and one out. Here you can see the famous four Hanjin cranes from China up-close that barely made it under the Bay Bridge in the year 2000.
Next month Middle Harbor will host a FREE Eco-fair for families on June 6th.
Take a Hike
Posted in all, contra costa, hiking, hiking with kids, walnut creek, tagged contra costa hiking, east bay hiking, hiking, outdoors with kids, parenting, walks with preschoolers on April 26, 2009| Leave a Comment »
I wanted to post this article I wrote for the Pleasant Hill/Walnut Creek Mothers’ Club newsletter in April of 2008. It lists several local short hikes that are suitable for preschool age children and above.
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April is a great time to be outdoors and enjoy the moderate temperatures, spring wildflowers and rolling green hills of our wonderful East Bay parks. Here are a few of my favorite local spots to hike with young children.
Heather Farm – Heather Farm in Walnut Creek has a wonderful large playground but if you stroll beyond the play area you’ll come to The Gardens at Heather Farm where you can explore a native plants garden, sensory garden, rose garden and much more. If you walk beyond the fountain at the Farm you’ll come to a natural lake, and there’s a path that goes all the way around the lake which is a perfect walk for little ones. The entire loop is less than a mile and children will get to see ducks, geese and depending on the time of year – migratory birds. Also en-route is a new dog park, or if you walk straight instead of doing a loop you’ll end up at the Contra Costa Canal Trail which goes for miles in both directions. The path around the lake is paved except for one small dirt section.
CoCo Earth Moms 