Title: Sunol Regional Wilderness - Little Yosemite Area
Preparation: The Sunol Regional Wilderness is a regional park in Alameda County, the eastern San Francisco Bay Area, Northern California. It is located near the town of Sunol, south of Pleasanton and east of Fremont. Address: 1895 Geary Road, Sunol, CA 94586 1. No admission tickets needed. 2. Parking fee: $5. Need to be patient to get in for busy days. If the gate is closed which means the parking is full at the moment. Wait for a few minutes, the ranger will open the gate once there are 15 or 20 spots open when other cars are leaving. In the park, there are many places for parking. 3. Bring jacket or coat in the winter season. The mountain area is quite cold. 4. Bring water, drinks, snack and picnic food.
General opinion: It's worth to go for all ages. You can take your family to picnic, hiking or watch the falls.
Attractions and activities: 1. Many trails and picnic area. See details in the snapshot of the map. 2. Beautiful waterfalls in little Yosemite area. Little Yosemite got its name from an article which was written by an author who had lived in that area, about 100 years ago. He said, in the rainy season these falls made him think it had the beauty of the falls in Yosemite. From then on, all visitors to this park would like to see these falls. After many days rain, the waterfalls and the cascades are very beautiful. 3. Boulders along with the cascades. Kids and adults can play together in these area and it's really fun. 4. Suggestions from my friend Shuwen: According to the map, canyon view trail is the easiest. However, it is not good for group w/ stroller and kid < 3 yrs . Next time I would try to park in the lot closest to the little Yosemite area and go straight to the waterfall.
Dining: It's a pure natural environment and there is no food or vendor machines. Bring picnic food is the best choice.
Things I wish I had known before: 1. If you could, get there before 11am. Otherwise in some busy days, you may need to wait a little bit time outside of the entrance gate. 2. There are many restrooms. When we visited there, there is no water available to wash hands in restrooms. Drinking fountains had no water either. Suggest you bring some fresh water to wash hands if you have little kids. p.s. if you'd like to see my other posts, please search "yanz" in youishare home page; See my other blog: https://sanfrancisco.citymomsblog.com/things-to-do-in-sf/things-to-do-bay-area/top-5-places-for-family-day-trips-in-the-bay-area/
