Ohlone Wilderness Trail
East Bay Regional Parks · near Fremont / Livermore · SF Bay Area
Hiking
At a glance
- Difficulty
- moderate
- Route type
- point-to-point
- Distance
- 28 miles
- Elevation gain
- 6,000 ft
- Time needed
- multi-day
- Best season
- Spring & fall (avoid summer heat)
Permits and booking
- Permit required
- Yes
- How the permit works
- East Bay Regional Park District Ohlone Wilderness Trail permit (inexpensive, doubles as your map), plus reserved backpack camps at Sunol and Del Valle via the district's reservation line. No lottery. Best in green season.
- How hard the permit is to get
- 2 of 5
What is here
- Features
- Backpacking 40 minutes from Oakland · Rolling oak-grassland & Rose Peak · Spring wildflowers · Bay Area's own thru-hike
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Hiking detail
- Nights
- 2–3
- Resupply
- None needed. No bear canister; store food from raccoons/critters at the backpack camps. Water available at Sunol and Del Valle; carry between.
- Intl tip
- Do it west-to-east from Sunol to Del Valle to get the biggest climbs done early. Water is the planning constraint — the reliable sources are at the ends and a couple of mid-route springs, so top off whenever you can, especially later in the season. The permit doubles as a detailed trail map; you're required to carry it.
The guide
The Ohlone Wilderness Trail is the Bay Area's own thru-hike — 28 miles across the wild, rolling oak-and-grassland ridges of the…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Ohlone Wilderness Trail — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.515, -121.79