About Day Hiking Section

The day hiking section offers many opportunities to view nature at its best, meet new and interesting people, and to just have fun. The section leads a hike every Saturday, rain or shine, within one of the bay area's state parks or preserves. Frequented locations include Big Basin, Mount Diablo, Open Space Preserves, Pinnacles, Pacheco Pass, and Henry Coe State Park. Most hikes are 15-20 miles long and have steep climbs. Everyone is welcome to join. See you on the trail!

Schedule

Please take a look at our current hike schedule on Meetup.com. And we're on Facebook too!

What to Bring

For all hikes you will need food, plenty of water, and something warm to wear. If you haven't hiked with the group before, please call the hike leader first.

Hike Difficulty Rating System

Our hikes vary in length and difficulty; many hikes are long and the longer hikes tend to be at a fast pace. The ratings for the hikes are listed in the hike schedule.

The hike rating system is as follows:

1 = Less than 5 miles of total distance
2 = 5 to 10 miles
3 = 10 to 15 miles
4 = 15 to 20 miles
5 = 20 to 25 miles

A = Less than 1000 feet of total elevation gain
B = 1000 to 2000 feet
C = 2000 to 3000 feet
D = 3000 to 4000 feet
E = 4000 to 5000 feet

Thus a typical Saturday 4D outing encompasses 15-20 miles of distance and 3000-4000' of elevation gain.

Carpooling

DHS activities begin and end at the trailhead. Participants often organize no-host carpools to the trailhead. Note that while the Sierra Club provides liability insurance for leaders of DHS outings, it does not provide insurance for carpoolers and assumes no liability for them. Carpooling, ride sharing or anything similar is strictly a private arrangement among the participants. Participants assume the risks associated with this travel.

Liability Waiver

All participants on DHS Outings are required to sign a liability waiver. If you have questions about the liability waiver please email program.safety@sierraclub.org. All leaders should print out a copy of the PDF version of the liability waiver/sign-in sheet. After every hike the leader must send the completed form to the DHS chair.

All hikes by the Day Hiking Section are open to Sierra Club members, guests, and the general public. DHS activities begin and end at the trailhead.
All participants on Sierra Club Outings are required to sign a standard liability waiver. A copy of the waiver may be found at: Sierra Club Outing Liability Waiver
Hikers new to the group must call the hike leader in advance.