BLACK DIAMOND MINES

ANTIOCH, CA - This is a great day trip if you your looking for a hike with some warmth away from the coast. Black Diamond Mines Regional Park is area of abandoned coal mines in the hills at the western edge of the central valley in Antioch.  Coal being black diamonds.

BIG BASIN REDWOOD STATE PARK (East)

BOULDER CREEK, CA - One of the best places to see some large redwoods trees within an easy drive of San Francisco is Big Basin Redwoods State Park.  In addition to great redwoods, the park has the added benefit of some great waterfalls and lots of banana slugs to boot!  It's a big park with a couple ways to access it, this post is for people coming from the San Jose (east) side of the park.

FULL BELLY FARM

GUINDA, CA - Full Belly Farm is a farm in the Capay Valley that arguably has the best CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box in the bay area.  I was a member for years before I moved to Berkeley and had them easily accessible at the Tuesday farmer's market.  The farm has everything from chickens, to goats, to orchards to asparagus and beyond, and is regularly open to visitors.

FORT ROSS

SONOMA COUNTY, CA - Many people know that the Russians at one point controlled Alaska, but few people know (outside the bay area anyway), that the Russians settled as far south as present day Sonoma County in the northern reaches of the San Francisco Bay Area.  Fort Ross was established as an agricultural outpost to help supply the larger Russian settlements in Alaska.

MISSION PEAK

FREMONT, CA - This is one of my favorite moderate to strenuous hikes in the central bay area, especially in the late winter / early spring when the hills are bright green. There are views all the view up and down the trail, and from the summit a 360 view from the South Bay to San Francisco to the east side of the East Bay hills. This is also one of the best views of the salt ponds in the southern San Francisco Bay.