In 1974, Walnut Creek residents passed a measure to protect some of its open space for future recreation. If they hadn't done that, then Sugarloaf would be filled with McMansions. Instead, this former walnut orchard is a medium-sized preserve where you can get a breather. Or really exercise and get out of breath. It's not the great adventure that Shell Ridge is, but it's good enough. It doesn't take much to see it all. It's the workout, views, and break from the normal routine that count. Trails go up to the top of the ridge, where you have a gorgeous view of I-680 traffic. Turn around, though, and you have a better view of the city and Mt. Diablo. Sugarloaf has more amenities that add value. Next to the large parking lot is a large picnic area, which works well for 50 people. Surprisingly, you can also camp here, just make a reservation with the Parks & Rec office. Amphitheater that's rarely used. Be warned that there's little shade when you get beyond the walnut trees. Water is never far away, but be prepared. Enjoy yourself. read more

Sugarloaf Open Space - View from the top - Hiking Near Me - Walnut Creek, California

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Sugarloaf Open Space was mentioned in a prior review as being one of "Walnut Creek's best kept secrets". I can agree with that HALF-heartedly; yes, it's very secluded and it's not a well known open space. However, it doesn't offer much as far as scenic views are concerned. There are a few decent views of other trails on the hills and Mount Diablo, but other than that... the only other thing that one might call "exciting" about this trail is that you can see the 680 freeway. Not sure about you, but that's not all that exciting to me. What Sugarloaf DOES offer is a mix of great short but heart pumping trails that will work those gluties. I started off on the Ridge top trail which began with a small but steady incline. The whole trail is a mix of hills that go up and down, but it's nothing strenuous. Those hills will get you though, and soon you will feel it all throughout your legs and backside. What made it a little more challenging for me was the high heat and minimal shade along the trails. I would recommend coming in the early morning to beat the heat because it will definitely slow you down. And with minimal shade, you will be making a few more water stops than usual. There are a few benches along the way, but they are few and far between. The Ridge Top Trail is a little over a mile long and ends behind the back of a residence. You'll reach the end when you see a gate and a private residence trail. Ridge Top intersects with many other small trails, most of which will take you back down to the entrance. I wanted to continue the hike and decided to take the Bottom Spring trail. The trail will take you along side the 680 freeway and it also ends behind a residential area. Warning: only about 1/3 of this trail is actually fully paved. The rest of it consists of very uneven terrain! I would suggest wearing good shoes for ankle support if you choose to hike this trail. However, I have to add that it was really quite boring... nothing really to see except for the 680 freeway. I wouldn't recommend taking the Bottom Spring trail unless you really want to explore, but it was really annoying because I had to slow my speed to watch where I stepped. One fun observation though, were all of the dragon flies that I saw. I must have seen about 20 of them roaming around and it was really neat. I didn't see the Sugarloaf to Shell Ridge trail until after I was done hiking, but that trail is probably way more exciting that the others that I tried. Overall, it's decent and there weren't many people at all on this trail... I'm talking only TWO other people, and one guy wasn't even hiking; he was just chilling on the bench. If you like super secluded trails, then this one might be for you. I would be open to coming back to hike the Sugarloaf to Shell Ridge trail, but otherwise I think I'll choose local options before Sugarloaf. read more

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Beautiful, family friendly trails. Doggies run and play off leash. Clean bathrooms. Picnic tables. This is a GEM of our area. read more

Sugarloaf Open Space - View of Mt. Diablo from the Ridge Trail - spring of 2020 - Hiking Near Me - Walnut Creek, California

We were in Walnut Creek for the afternoon and wanted a place to eat lunch outdoors. This sounded like a promising location and it was great! Tucked away off the main roads, the picnic area was pleasant and not crowded. People were hiking on the surrounding trails and very well behaved squirrels scampered about. read more

Sugarloaf Open Space - Old farm equipment. - Hiking Near Me - Walnut Creek, California

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Walnut Creek continues to pleasantly surprise me in terms of their plethora a diverse Open Space. The City is almost its own East Bay Regional Park District in some ways. So when Gayle and I arrived at in South Walnut Creek at the Sugarloaf Open Space, I could only say Wow....again. Sugarloaf Recreation Area encompasses 177 acres of open land and along an upper ridge line that provides views of Mt. Diablo, Shell Ridge, Las Trampas Ridge and the Briones Hills. You will also find: - A 15 acre Black Walnut orchard is also located on the preserve, which provides a wildlife habitat and shade. - A Creekway that provides a dense cover of riparian vegetation for wildlife and nature study areas. - Picnic and group barbecue areas, rest rooms, extensive hiking and equestrian trails (with trail connections to Rudgear Park and Shell Ridge Open Space). Although the area is heavily grazed, it provides a glimpse of what a working ranch is like with its gardens, orchard and outbuildings. And when I hiked up on the ridge and looked across to the line between houses and open space, it was easy to see how the County and the City had really parted ways in their development strategies since the 1970s. Walnut Creekers can their forward thinking patriarchs and matriarchs for that. read more

I usually love hiking with my dog at this spot. Today my dog electrocuted herself on fencing that was just put up this morning for the cows. There is no signage to indicate what it is or that it's hot. The fencing is literally right on the trail where the off-leash zone starts. PUT. UP. A SIGN. And if you're going there with your dog this week, beware and keep them leashed and away from the wire. read more

Plenty of picnic tables The trail is nicely paved and clean. Doesn't loop, no shade covering. Good for dogs and running.

Such a great place to go for a walk. I go here often because it's close to where I live. It's never crowded. Usually I only see a couple of other people and often I have the whole place to myself. Do the loop up the ridge top trail and down the orchard trail (or the other way!) Look for the bench underneath the big tree at the top of you want to stop and enjoy the view. read more

To be fair, where else can you take a group of Cub Scouts on an overnight camping trip so close to home (I live in San Ramon)? For what it is, it's not bad...running water, flush toilets, picnic tables, trees, BBQ pits and an amphitheater. I promised the boys a hike to the top of the ridge "with an awesome view of the freeway"...they had that too! It's actually quite quiet in the "campground." Look, this is not an amazing campground by any means, but if you have a group of kids and need a safe, quiet and clean space for an overnight event, I give it decent marks. read more

It's beautiful space for light hiking and would make for a great wedding venue but it's nearly impossible to lock the space for an event. Lot's of calls back and forth to the rangers with different info each time. City of Walnut Creek can't get it together. If you want to book this space for a wedding take note they only take reservations 6 months in advance (even for weddings), there is an extra fee to use the amphitheater, and they charge per person (couldn't tell you the price as it changed). Lovely area but couldn't deal with lack of communication. Ended up going for a venue with East Bay Parks District (way more communication, and a contract in ink, gasp!). Good luck to you if you want to get married here! read more

Beautiful, picturesque, relatively solitary and I hardly ever see people when I go. I bring my dogs here, once you get past the gate at the top of the hill the trail starts and off leash privileges. Walnut creek's best kept secret. read more

Sugarloaf Open Space - Trail - Hiking Near Me - Walnut Creek, California

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Sorry, but compared to other open spaces in the Bay Area this place is really lacking. There are really no trees at all and most of the space is just dirt. It's bordered by houses and the freeway, and is not very large at all. Sugarloaf really doesn't make you feel like you're getting away from the city. There are a few nice vistas, but I'd prefer to take my local outdoor adventures elsewhere. read more

Thought I had been to most open space areas in walnut creek but this one is a little lesser known. While your driving up you do get the impression that your pulling into someone yard...kind of weird. The trail was fairly straight forward and its pretty hard to get lost since this is a smaller area. The trails are marked and well preserved. My only complaint is that most of the trail is not shaded and there is one area where it looks like horses have kind of tore up the trail. Parking is easy but limited when I came on a Sunday I am pretty sure my group was the only ones there. They had picnic tables as well if you wanted to sit out and those were pretty well shaded. The trail I went on took about an hour- not sure how long. Overall a nice hidden area of walnut creek! read more

We came here for a Cub Scouts event the weekend of October 5-6. This site has a big camping area enough to house over a dozen tents and their families. So this would be one place for many families to get together for a family gathering or pow wow of any sort. So you want to do a family reunion on the cheap? Maybe you can consider this place as a destination. It'll cost less than a trip to Hawaii. This place also had an amphitheater for our cubbies to act out their skits and what not. The bathrooms are clean, and they do have some sort of outdoor display going on of early farming inventions used back in the day when it was more of an agricultural farming community. Nowadays, there are houses and 680 butting up to the campsite so civilization has arrived...maybe too close if you want more of a nature scene without the smog and neighbors then look elsewhere. The drive from San Ramon to this Sugarloaf Open Space did not take more than a half hour drive (more like a twenty minute drive) so it's one of the closer camping opportunities for us. We did hear noise and loud music coming from one or some of the surrounding houses late at night which made sleeping kind of hard, but I need to remind myself to start bringing some ear plugs to these kind of camping adventures that I go on. I mean this is what I should expect, right? Who lives out there in nowhere land like this, but mostly old people and red necks and sometimes old rednecks right? And what do most people out here do for fun, but get their drink and music on. I can appreciate that they have to entertain themselves because television reception must be difficult unless you have a pool sized satellite dish. Hey, I'm just glad it's not the KKK or people waving their shotgun and trigger happy. I would gladly pack up my banjo and leave in that case. My kids were disappointed not to see Miley Cyrus and her family here even though we did hear her Dad's kind of music that left us with an achy breaky heart. Maybe, we should start camping in the Hollywood Hills, but then we would be listening to a wrecking ball. What is the lesser of two evils? Maybe, I should start blasting the Cub Scouts songs all day long and see how many residents in the area jam along with us. "Announcements, announcements, announcements! What a terrible way to die, a terrible way to die, a terrible way to be talked to death. A terrible way to die..." Anyway, my family and I lingered the next day when all the other Cub Scouts left, and we were the only car in the parking lot. My kids, hubby, and I hiked a few ridges. And I must say I was pretty impressed and proud of my family for tackling these gigantic hills. It's really nice to connect with nature so close to home. It's nice to graze the fields like cattle. I give this one camp site three shining stars as it's a tad less comfortable than the other camp sites that my family and I have gone to, but at least the bathrooms here are clean. I gave Sugarloaf Ridge State Park in Kenwood four stars because it had a nice drive up there past wine country and because there were plenty of activities to do there. I wonder if these two parks that I camped at are like brother and sister as they have pretty much the same sounding names. Anyhow, I digress. You must have better things to do then read all these rambling yelp reviews that I post. I need to be more succinct. I'll put that on my New Year's 2015 goal. Yeah, I think that's a good goal for next year. :) So I promise (Scout's honor) to camp outside of the Sugarloaf family so that we can give you some other perspectives of my family's camping experiences at other camping parks in the future. As always with all my yelp reviews, read at your own risk with one eye open or with both eyes wide shut. The next camping experiences should be a nail biter because I heard that one place has rattlesnakes and the other place that we're going to go to will have bears. Hopefully the lions and tigers will be for another adventure like an African Safari or better yet the more dangerous Oakland and San Francisco Zoos. I know...the suspense! Yes, I know my family and I like to live on the edge so that we can entertain you with our quirky yelp stories/tome. I'll try to keep it simple and under a thousand words if I can help it, but I just can't help talking about nonsense. Please forgive me. read more