Pony Gate, Bald Mountain Trail, and Lower Bald Mountain Trail Loop is a 3.1 mile moderately trafficked loop trail located near Kenwood, California that features a waterfall and is good for all skill levels. The trail is primarily used for hiking, walking, nature trips, and bird watching and is best used from April until September.
FIRE CLOSURE: As of March 2021, there are closures in this park due to wildfire. For more information, please visit: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=481
April 18, 2021First things first, the drive up was very pretty. Through wine country. There was an entrance/parking fee so be aware of that upon arriving. There's a main parking lot, but I didn't realize you could use the turnouts leading up to the entrance to park and start your hike (you still need to pay though since it's technically inside the park perimeter). It was a bit of a warmer day, 70s, so I didn't particularly like hiking in mostly sun for the first half of the hike, but the tall grass meadows with views of the hills was really quite beautiful. There were a lot of gorgeous flowers in bloom too so lots of color to see. Plenty of lizards throughout the trail too. It was cooler down by the river and while the waterfall wasn't present, it was still nice to walk by the river and through the Redwoods. Overall, an enjoyable hike, but I can't imagine doing this in hotter weather. It's only 3 miles, but all the ups and downs through the hills along with the partial shade made me dehydrated and exhausted. And I've been doing 7 mile hikes the past few weekends! Last thing, bring bug spray! I'm not one to really complain, but I got so annoyed by how many bugs there were and that they kept pestering me. I'm glad I crossed this off the list though!
March 6, 2021March 6, 2021February 26, 2021February 21, 2021nice hike in the early morning not to many people. lovely scenery
February 14, 2021Steep AF
February 7, 2021Super-nice woods, meadows, and a stream.
January 30, 2021August 9, 2020Nice trail. Part paved mostly rocky dirt. Easy with some incline.
March 22, 2019We wanted a little more than 3 miles so we zig-zagged the middle and made it kinda a figure 8. :) Great diversity of biomes. Waterfall redwoods area was great!
March 16, 2019
First to ReviewWe ended-up going all the way up to Bald Mountain. Great views from there of the Pacific, Mt. Tam, the City, Mt. Diablo and the Napa and Sonoma valleys. The ascent is about 1,500 ft over 3 miles. Keep in mind, most of the way up is a sealed fire road so we took some side trails like Grey Trail and Vista on the way down. Parking is $8 and the machine takes credit cards.
April 14, 2021April 8, 2021March 6, 2021February 24, 2021February 10, 2021February 10, 2021January 30, 2021January 3, 2021July 23, 2020July 19, 2020July 11, 2020July 7, 2020June 9, 2020June 1, 2020May 24, 2020February 8, 2020January 5, 2020November 17, 2019
