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Monday
Mar122012

Tres Sendas to Redwood Peak

Redwood Regional Park is one of my favorite places.  Drop down in to the valley and the rest of the world seems so far away.  In a normal winter, streams flow abundantly, and wandering through the trails here brings both peace and health.  A few weeks ago, I visited the park from the Moon Gate Trailhead, and climbed to Redwood Peak.  This hike offers a great variety of trails and terrain, so give it a try.

Location: Redwood Regional Park (Moon Gate)

Mileage: 3.97 miles

Trail Map

Photo Map (Photos from the hike on Google Earth)

Route:

From the Moon Gate, head left on the West Ridge Trail.  

Take a Right on to Tres Sendas Trail and descend in to the valley.

Nice mix of Bay and Redwood trees, with sword and forest fernsThe park is second growth Redwoods. The original inhabitants were used to build San Francisco

Take a Right on to the French Trail.  This will be your first nice climb.  You'll be going through some beautiful Redwoods here, so enjoy yourself and take occasional breaks. 

Next, you'll take a Right on to Redwood Peak Trail. This is one of my favorite trails.  It has a lot of botanical diversity, and the trail is a challenging collection of rocks and narrow passageways.    

Redwood Peak Trail is a bit rocky in spotsYou'll see some nice clusters of Bay Trees on the Redwood Peak Trail

Eventually, you'll reach a sign that points to Redwood Peak.  It's not too much further ahead.  Go past the archery range to the peak, where you'll see giant boulders and the marker for the peak. 

This is what you'll see on Redwood PeakOfficial marker at the top of Redwood Peak

Retrace your hike back to the Redwood Peak trail marker.  At the marker, go to your right, not back down the Redwood Peak trail you ascended. You'll see these beauties:

Once past these trees, keep going straight on to the Madrone Trail. 

Nice Redwood cluster in Madrone Trail

Take a Left on to Star Flower Trail, which will take you down throught more Redwoods. 

Finally, take a Left on to Tres Sendas Trail, which will lead you back to the top of the valley.

What a beautiful place to run!

Tread lightly, and avoid the roots

Left at the end of Tres Sendas to Moon Gate.

You'll have fun on this hike.  It's beautiful and great exercise, and you'll have the satisfaction of scaling Redwood Peak (1539 feet).  

Photo Slideshow: 

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