2-3 Day Recommendations outside of San Francisco / East Bay Area?

Closer would be Henry Coe State Park just south of San Jose…and no snow!

Also Big Basin in Santa Cruz, or Point Reyes!

I’ve camped at Big Basin a few times several years ago. Didn’t most of that place burn down in 2020?

I would add Ventana wilderness and if the snow has cleared Emigrant Wilderness just off rt 108, with on-demand wilderness permits / no quotas.  You could also circle the Bay Area as described by Manfred.

Find a copy of The Dharma Bums. Gary Snyder took old mad Jack Kerouac on a couple backpacking adventures in the mid ‘50s with some good narrative in the vicinity. One winds up around into Yosemite with a big climb, instruction on backpacking foods that includes gorp as well as a discourse on tea, tabouli and chocolate pudding. Another time Gary guides Jack over the trails that Jack London used to travel and gas stoves were discussed for more stealthy camps, along with salami, cheese and Rye Krisps. The outfitting narratives are very entertaining. Some people still replicate the trips and even attempt the Yosemite Matterhorn with all the culinary fixings of course. It ends with Jack’s hermitage on Desolation as a fire watch.

He also teaches the meditation of the trail, a thing we know as optical flow now. Gary Snyder is a very experienced backcountry traveler.

I think Henry Coe State Park is Bay Area’s hidden gem. It is so close to civilization, yet feels so remote. The park is really nice in the winter and spring, months. A park ranger that I spoke with echoed the same.

I’m a little bit of a Tolkien fan. For some reason, I get the feeling of being in Middle-earth when hiking here.

Henry Coe

Sunol Wilderness (East Bay Regional Park)

Cache Creek (administered by Bureau of Land Management) See trip report here at BPL

Snow Mountain Wilderness

Point Reyes (requires reservations in advance)

Santa Cruz Mountains, Castle Rock and Slate Creek are open already. Others are supposed to open soon. There are also camps in Pescadero County Park and the Sierra Club hut. Note that there is now a trail from Saratoga Quarry Park to Sanborn County Park so you can hike from Saratoga to the Sea.

Black Diamond Mines,East Bay Regional Park. There is a backpacking camp

Forest of the Nisene Mark State Park, Santa Cruz.  Might be still closed.

Emigrant Wilderness. You might be able to get to the Crabtree trailhead in 3 hours.  I was just hiking in the Eastern Sierras and there is lots of swift water.

Check out the website: doing miles  https://doingmiles.com/hike-sf/

Amy and James are prolific backpackers and have done several long backpacks right in the Bay area using public transport, as well as many routes in the sierra and Southern Utah. Really informative trip reports on their website.