We seem to talk about camping all the time, but haven't actually managed to get away since Thanksgiving. Faced with a three-day weekend (for Adam at least) and beautiful weather, we decided to try a new, semi-local destination: Big Basin. It was very enthusiastically recommended at a party recently.
Drive time from Oakland is roughly 2.5 - 3 hours (the southern route, up from Santa Cruz, is longer but much more interesting). We had some car trouble in Los Gatos, lunch at Rocky's Cafe on Highway 9, and made it to the camp headquarters by 2:30 - just in time to get one of the last campsites. As we've discovered so many times, if we decide it's a good camping weekend, it's likely that the rest of the Bay Area feels the same way.
Saturday's hike - a heavily trafficked 2.5 hour loop near park headquarters - was perfectly adequate and not at all inspiring. Big Basin has a LOT of campsites in a very centralized area. This is great if you want to walk through the redwoods with a stroller or a cigar (or both).
But, we had a great night's sleep (yes, the "beast" guzzles gas, but it does fit a queen sized air mattress!), and were up at 8 am for a more ambitious hike on the northern boundary of the park (our route shown in white on the map; this is panel 2 of this map. Total hiking time at a fast pace = 3.5 hours. Total people seen: 7 (1 trail runner, 1 photographer, 3 camping hippies, and 2 mushroom pickers). It was great - absolutely worth the trip.
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