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Wildcat Peak

Length 3.9 mi · Climbing 750 ft

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View of San Francisco from Wildcat Peak

The Wildcat Peak Loop one of Tilden Regional Park’s best hikes. This mostly-wooded route climbs to a knoll with great views and then descends through a wooded canyon. Along the way it passes through two eucalyptus groves, Tilden’s nature center, and the Little Farm. There’s a lot of variety for such a short hike.

There’s a lot of poison oak in the wooded sections. The loop normally can’t be hiked in winter because the singletrack trails get very muddy.

This hike is similar to the nearby Seaview Loop; the scenic views aren’t quite as good, but this hike has more of a backcountry feel and more singletrack trail. Overall, both hikes are equally enjoyable.

Start at Tilden’s busy main parking lot and take the dirt road that leads past the visitor’s center. Just for fun, take the boardwalk, which starts to your left a short distance past the visitor’s center and rejoins the main road shortly before the Peak Trail turnoff.

Just after passing a little pond, turn onto the Peak Trail, which is marked with a little pictograph of a hill. The trail climbs into the eucalyptus grove and is heavily lined with poison oak, although the trail is wide and well-used enough that there’s always a clear path through. The grove has a very distinctive look and on a breezy day is filled with odd clattering noises.

The trail leaves the eucalyptus and enters more typical Bay Area woodland. The woods aren’t especially attractive; the trees are small and despite the presence of ferns the groundcover has a dry, disheveled look. Soon, though, the trail breaks out into open chaparral. The scenery improves as the trail switchbacks up the hill and views of the Berkeley Hills and San Francisco gradually open up.

The trail ends at a dirt road. Turn left to climb a short distance to Wildcat Peak. The views of San Francisco Bay are unobstrtucted, but views in other directions might be partly obscured by tall brush. Nontheless a little walking around yields nice views of the oddly ragged green hills of Tilden Park, with Mount Diablo and San Pablo Reservoir prominently visible.

Head back down the dirt road, passing the Peak Trail. The road descends steeply and passes the Rotary Peace Grove, a grove of oddly squat giant sequoias. Continue to Nimitz Way and turn right.

Since it’s level and paved, Nimitz Way is one of the most popular trails in Tilden, with lots of cyclists, joggers, and people walking their dogs.

Eucalyptus grove on Nimitz Way

Nimitz Way runs through a peaceful, open ridgetop eucalyptus grove. After exiting the grove, continue along Nimitz Way for a few more minutes and take the first dirt road to your right. Descending on this road, look for the Laurel Trail to your left.

The Laurel Trail dives into dense woodland. The entire trail is somewhat narrow and overgrown, with some poison oak lurking among all the other plants. The vegetation opens up a little as the trail rounds a bend and continues descending through an attractive forest.

Bay laurel grove on the Laurel Trail

As it re-enters the lower eucalyptus grove, the trail jogs left at a dirt road and then passes through a dense thicket of poison oak. Continue straight at the next dirt road to reach the visitor’s center, or turn left and walk just a few steps to reach a trail that descends past the pastures of the Little Farm. The farm with its little red barn sits in a clearing in the eucalyptus grove, among a backdrop of dark conifer-clad hills. The farm really is small but has a variety of livestock including cows, chickens, pigs, and geese. You can buy celery to feed the cows; cows apparently love celery.

The Little Farm

Related websites

A blog entry by fftobin describes this hike.
EmbraceTheOutdoors.com also has a blog entry on this hike.