CWC Events
“Keep close to Nature's heart, yourself; and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.”
– John Muir, American naturalist, environmentalist, and author.
Join the CWC to escape the hustle and bustle of everyday life and enjoy some time in the wilderness! All hikes are free and open to the public. To reserve a spot, please email info@calwild.org. For more information, call 909-260-8833.
Hikes and Outings
July
Sunol Regional Wilderness Backpacking Trip 
Friday July 23rd - Sunday July 25th
Where: Join CWC for a weekend camping trip in the Bay Area's protected regional wilderness. The Sunol Regional Wilderness is significant to the Bay Area for its cultural and geologic history and lies just south east of Fremont. We will meet and stay at the main camp on Friday night. On Saturday we will backpack in to the park 3 miles to a backpackers camp, from where we will explore the rolling hills and landscape of Sunol. We will return to the cars by midday Sunday.
What to Bring: Layers (could be very hot), sunscreen, hat, tent, sleeping bag, 5 L of water, and sturdy hiking boots. There is no drinking water in the park so bring as much water as you think you will need.
Food: All meals will be provided for a fee of $20. Please indicate any dietary restrictions and feel free to bring your own food to enjoy.
Email trip leader Julia Kernitz at jkernitz@calwild.org or call 510-451-1450 for more details about the trip and to reserve your spot!
Hiking in Newly Designated Wilderness
By Lizzy Wenk, author with Wilderness Press
Excerpted from Backpacking California: Mountain, Foothill, Coastal, & Desert Adventures in the Golden State, Wilderness Press, 2008
Cottonwood Basin is a magical landscape of granite towers and colorful meadows located deep in the White Mountains. It is the White Mountain’s best-known backpacking destination, but due to its remote location you can still expect a high degree of solitude.
Most hikers leave their vehicles at a ridge top parking area and begin by following a steep 4WD road through scattered bristlecone pines and limber pines to an easy crossing of Poison Creek. After the second stream crossing, trend left to follow an old dirt road up the South Fork of Cottonwood Creek.
The road quickly diminishes into a well-traveled use trail. Alongside this first section, you are at the point where dolomite and granite meet. The dolomite, to your left, is the main substrate on which bristlecone pines grow, and this is the only place along this hike that you will encounter it (or these trees). Shortly, the main meadow trends left, while the use trail follows the narrower right-hand fork. Passing between walls of granite, you climb over a shallow saddle and drop into Granite Meadow. The spring-fed creek should always have flowing water, and during midsummer its banks are densely lined with colorful flowers.
Download the full route and map
For more information about Backpacking California, or to purchase the book please click here.
Bishop-based Elizabeth Wenk is the author of One Best Hike: Mt. Whitney, the co-author of John Muir Trail: The Essential Guide, and a contributor to Backpacking California (all Wilderness Press).
Castle Mountains Proposed Wilderness Area
