A weekend of camping and hiking during the Backcountry Weekend at Henry Coe State Park. This is a once-a-year special opportunity to drive deep into the park allowing access to the remote and spectacular Oristimba Wilderness Area which normally requires a strenuous day of backpacking just to reach.
Note: there is a map of the park with points of interest at end of the photo essay.

Green grass and clouds

Despite the early spring and hot summer weather we had in March, there was still green grass. We had mild temperatures, sunshine, and great clouds on our first day followed by cooler temperatures (perfect hiking weather!), clouds, and rain on Saturday and Sunday. This view was on the Burra Burra Peak Loop trail out of the Dowdy Ranch Visitor Center.

Snag with hundreds of acorns on volunteer-led trail hike

We took a volunteer led hike on the Alquist Trail–Turkey Pond Trail loop. Along the way we saw this impressive snag with hundreds of acorns embedded in it, the work of acorn woodpeckers. If an acorn is fitting too losely in a hole, they will move it to a tighter fitting hole.

View of Oristimba Wilderness and Diablo Range

At the top of our climb we had a fantastic view of the Oristimba Wilderness with the Diablo Range in the background.

Scorpion and Millipede Glowing under UV-Light

There were dozens of organized activities you could partake in and one night we went out on the UV-light night hike to find scorpions and millipedes, which happen to glow in the dark under UV-light. Although the photos of these critters makes them look large, the scorpions were tiny - just 3/4" long; the millipedes were larger, about 1.5" long. We were amazed at how many we saw and it made me think about all the times I've backpacked and how many crawling bugs are out there that I never saw because I wasn't looking for them. We may bring a UV flashlight with us on future trips just for fun!

Grasslands and Oak Forests

On Saturday we did a 14-mile loop hike to Mississippi Lake and then up and over Hartman Peak back to our campsite at Oristimba Corral. We hiked through alternating grasslands and oak forests.

Blue Oak Forest

This is one of the beautiful Blue Oak Forests we walked through.

The Ponds and Lakes of Henry Coe State Park

Henry Coe has many ponds and lakes, all artificially created by earthen dams. I asked one of the park volunteers about the history of the ponds and he said many of them were built by the groundskeeper of the Coit Ranch for recreational fishing and they were stocked with several kinds of fish including largemouth bass, green sunfish, crappie, and bluegill. We spoke with some other campers who came specifically to fish for the weekend and they said the fish were plentiful and easy to catch. Because the fish are no longer stocked and are self-sustaining populations people are encouraged to do catch and release fishing with barbless hooks.

Top to Bottom: Turkey Pond, Mississippi Lake, and KingBird Pond

Wildflowers

Although we had an early spring and most wildflowers bloomed early this year, there were still lots of interesting blooms throughout the park. I realized after creating this montage that I didn't photograph any of the yellow flowers we saw - you can tell I'm partial to the purples, pinks and reds!

Top Row (L-R): Some kind of Mariposa LIly , Blow Wives?, Ithuriel's Speak, White Mariposa Lily, Venus Thistle
Bottom Row (L-R): Chinese Houses, Indian Paintbrush, Lomatium?, Bewildering Mallow, White Globe Lily

Map of Henry Coe State Park with our Hikes and Points of Interest

We decided to do this trip as a camper van trip instead of a backpacking trip and although we hiked a lot of miles, we weren't able to venture far into the Oristimba Wilderness. We hope to do a backpacking weekend in the future and to try to get back as far as Robison Creek to explore more.
Thanks for following along on our sweet exploration of a new-to-us part of Henry Coe State Park!