Hidden Falls Regional Park Hike with the Fam 1/31/16

Another free Sunday for a hike. This time we wanted to do something a bit easier for the kiddos. We decided on Hidden Falls Regional Park in Auburn, CA. I did a google search on best hikes near Davis and I got a match for best hikes in Yolo County on Yelp. This hike was number 2 on the list with great reviews, so I though we'd check it out. 

It is an hour drive from Davis, so not a bad drive. We got there right before noon and there were many cars already there. There are two parking lots and we had to park in the upper lot.

There are bathrooms to use at the trail head. Right now the main ones were closed, so you have to use the porta potty's if you need to go. 

Here is a map of the trail system. There is a kiosk and a spot for maps, but there weren't any left so I just took a picture with my phone so we knew where to go.

It was great that there were so many possibilities of trails to go on. We ended up hiking to Hidden Falls first by way of the South Legacy Way trail to the Hidden Falls Trail. On the way we crossed this bridge. It is nice because there are signs whenever you reach any sort of junction so you know if you are going in the right direction.

The kiddos enjoyed playing by this waterway.

It was also interesting to see this old stone chimney on the trail.

Before we went to see Hidden Falls we hiked down to the water. I believe in the summer, people swim in this area. 

Here is a pic of the falls. I was thinking it'd be bigger, but it wasn't. We've seen better, so I didn't think these falls were spectacular. Still kinda neat to see though.

Along the trails in certain areas are some displays that are neat to read.

It was a beautiful day and we just took in the great scenery.

There was a nice viewing deck we came across after crossing the Canyon View Bridge where you can see Canyon View Falls.

 This is the a view of the Canyon View Bridge from the viewing deck.

From the Canyon View Bridge, we headed on the North Legacy Way trail to get to the Vista Point by the Seven Pools Vista Trail.

 I wasn't a fan of the wide trail roads, but the kiddos didn't seem to mind.:)

It is nice that they have a variety of trails from the wide roads to the single track. I forgot to mention that there are mountain bikers that ride the trails as we saw a few zoom by use as we hiked.

The kiddos were happy to see this big rock to climb on the way to the vista point.

Here is a pic of me and 6 year old at the Vista point. It was a really nice view and I'm happy that we took the time to hike to that point.

According to my Garmin, we hiked 5 miles a the park. I enjoyed the variety of things we saw. From the bridges to the waterfalls and view decks, to a really neat vista point. There is lots to see at this park. We were only in a small portion of the park too, so there are still many trails to explore. I saw some runners and think this would be an awesome place to trail run. It is great for families because you can easily do a nice short hike out and back. The only con I see is that parking is limited. There are just those two lots and I can see the park being busy in the summer. Other than that, it's a good place to hike and great way to spend time with the fam outdoors!

Have a great weekend!