A Ridge Trail Floral Spectacle at Jack London State Historic Park

The Bay Area Ridge Trail at Jack London State Historic Park begins with a two-mile hike up a connector trail. The connector traverses a wide service road that passes historic vineyards and buildings on parkland once owned by the early 20th century adventure author before climbing through a shady redwood forest. The actual Ridge Trail segment veers left up a forested single-track trail before breaking into open meadows with views of the mountains to the east.

We are hiking the 400-mile Bay Area Ridge Trail. Sign up to follow our progress here.

TRAIL MAP (date hiked)

• Jack London State Park and East Slope Sonoma Mountain (April 3, 2022)

Our Journal

Gaps in the Bay Area Ridge Trail mean we’ve logged dozens of hiking miles beyond our Ridge Trail tally as we complete numerous out-and-back hikes and occasional connector trails.

Our hike through Jack London State Park was easily our most inefficient Ridge Trail trek to date, requiring 11 miles of hiking to log just 3.4 Ridge Trail miles. Despite the meager mileage payoff, our day on the trail yielded a few fun surprises.

• On the way up the hill, we spotted a juvenile Western skink . Actually, we spotted the lizard’s iridescent blue tail, just as nature intended, as the skink skittered through the underbrush trailside.
• Toward the end of the trail, we came across a meadow thick with orange California poppies and purple hairy vetch. The dry winter has limited wildflower displays on the Ridge Trail this spring. This was a glorious exception.
• As we ate our lunch on a trailside log, we enjoyed a conversation with another Ridge Trail circumnavigator, the first we’ve knowingly encountered on the trail and a familiar face on the Ridge Trail Trekkers Facebook group. She had been logging miles for 13 years and had about 25 more to go. Awesome!

Tracking Ridge Trail miles is challenging. Segments and connectors are added regularly, and the trail is occasionally rerouted. Guidebook descriptions, online trackers, trail maps and unofficial sources like AllTrails do not always agree. We’ve been adjusting our tally on the fly, so if our numbers change or don’t always add up, now you know why. Fortunately, we’re not in it for the administrivia.

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