Essentials

To enjoy all of the hiking that Lamorinda has to offer you just need a few things:

EBMUD Trail Permit – EBMUD owns about 27,000 acres of land and water in the East Bay hills and there are over fifty miles of trails available. But most of their land requires an inexpensive trail permit to use.  If you’re in to hiking this is a MUST.  The easiest way to get one is to order and print a permit online.  You can also go to the Lafayette Reservoir visitors center – where they rent boats, etc.

Cover of EBMUD Trail Map (click to see the map)

EBMUD Trails Map – Ask for the EBMUD printed hiking map when you get your permit (if they still have them).  Even though the focus is to show trails on EBMUD land, it’s still the best hiking map for the Lamorinda area and Oakland/Berkeley hills.  They also have online maps – north of Highway 24 and south of Highway 24.

East Bay Regional Park Maps – If you’re planning to hike in one of the regional parks like Redwood or Briones you can easily pull up a map here…

Hiking Shoes – You can hike in anything, but it helps to have a nice pair of hiking shoes.   There is a great selection at REI in Concord.

Reusable Water Bottle – It’s generally a good idea to bring a reusable water bottle and enough water – depending on the length of the hike and temperature.

Fitness App – I like to use Strava (an app that runs on your SmartPhone) to track my hikes.  It was originally geared to cyclists, but has been generalized to cover all types of fitness activities.  It tracks distance, time, calories, map, elevation, etc.  and is really easy to install and fun to check out the stats after a hike.

Binoculars – A pair of good quality binoculars is a nice addition on a hike for zooming in on birds and other sights. One thing I really appreciate is how much colors pop when you view a bird through binoculars.  I use a Nikon Monarch M511.