Briones Regional Park

Beautiful, lush green rolling hills in the spring right after the rainy season is over. Some hikes are pretty steep. Can be very muddy in the beginning.

I have only been to one tiny corner of this park starting at the Lafayette Ridge staging area (across from Acalanes HS.) We have hiked alone and with our grandkids. The trails we went on were fairly wide but packed hard and rutted. Watch out for cow pies! Every time we've been there we've encountered a small herd of cows. They mostly ignore you but sometimes block the trail. I got within 6 feet of a couple and they just stared at me. Lots of hills and nice views when you get to the top.

Pretty area and well maintained. The parking lots were plenty big to handle the visitors on a Saturday morning. Trails are wide for group hiking and well marked. The views of the valley and Mt Diablo are really beautiful on clear days.

For beginners, the mott peak trail was quite steep (900 feet elevation gain). But if you take it slow, the views are definitely worth it.
We saw a bunch of wildflowers, bursts of poppies, indigo lupine, winter vetch.
The last hill on the left when you reach the black oak trail from mott peak has the best display.
We started at Bear creek staging area -> Abrigo Valley Trail -> Mott peak trail -> Black oak trail.

Magical trails! We got here in the early morning on a weekend in November and it was gorgeous. Waves of fog created the hillside and bathed the trails in mist, hiding the resting cows until we were almost upon them. You gotta check out this area.