Hiking the Berkeley Fire Trails

The view from the top of the Berkeley Fire Trails

This was seriously one of the prettiest hikes I have done, especially consider how close it is to my house. It rained the day before, which I thought was going to make it terrible but I think it actually made it more beautiful. It felt like being in a rain forest. The fog looked beautiful and there were even some parts that were so densely population with trees that when you walked through them it was sprinkling under the trees cause they had held in the moisture from the night before.

I went with a hiking group I am apart of. We parked at the Strawberry Canyon Pool and it was a $1 an hour and we each paid for 3 hours. From there we walked up Centennial Dr. about quarter mile or so to the entrance to the hike. We pasted a small parking lot that looked like it might be free to park. 

The path we took had about 3 or 4 good steep hills. It was

moderately challenging. Made you feel like you were getting a good workout without feeling like you were going to die. The only problem with it having had rained the night before was that a couple of the heels were super muddy. Also felt like you were walking in quick sand and/or might slip back down. Which I guess would be considered an extra workout. There were about 30 of all different fitness levels and everybody made it up safely. When we go to the top and for part of the way back (we did a loop) the views were amazing!!! All I kept thinking while enjoying the views, is Wow, I actually live here. We often think about taking vacations to visit wonderful and beautiful place and while I do like to travel I have to also remember and appreciate what is really in my back yard. The whole thing was about 7 miles. If you in the Bay Area or plan to visit and haven't hiking the Berkeley Fire Trails I would highly recommend it.