Good places to backpack around San Francisco bay area in the winter.

Henry Coe.
Mt. Diablo.
Amy L here might chime in with a boatload more.

Hwy 101: Arroyo Seco, Lost Valley and easy Henry Coe.

HWY 1: Vincent Flats, Mount Carmel

580: Sunol

680: Mt Diablo from Castle Rock TH

Go visit Ken T at the Matolie River TH at the Lost Coast.

Big Basin
Big Sur
Ventana Wilderness
Los Padres NF

Thanks for all the great answers. Any specific trails I should check out?

It's further away, but if you can deal with the drive, the Ishi wilderness in the Lassen National Forest is an awesome destination. The trails tend to peter out not far from the trailheads, but the country is very open and cross country travel is not difficult in general. The Mill Creek canyon and the smaller canyons of a couple of tribs are great places to poke around.

Jay covered the trailheads for you. He pretty much hit most places for winter backpacking.

Though you have Angel Island that is in San Francisco Bay, Sam McDonald County Park as well as Portola Redwoods Park both of which are in San Mateo Co.

Last but not least you have Golden Gate National Rec. Area

Or some of the front country of the Sierra's below the snowline. Most trails along the American River for instance are old mining trails that are steep but it gives you the Sierra experience at 5000 feet

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=33764&skip_to_post=323256#323256

Rogue River in Southern Oregon is nice. I usually do it every winter. Kind of far from San Francisco but…

Lost Coast is supposed to be nice – I gotta do it sometime – kind of far away from me though

What about Point Reyes? That's probably the closest serious backpacking to SF.

And in the Sierra Foothills, don't forget Hite Cove. There are other low elevation destinations, including getting to Lake Eleanor from Cherry Lake

The trail from HW1 to Vicente Flat, south of Big Sur, has some of the most beautiful views along that coast. Once the trail veers inland, you hike through a number of different ecosystems. There is plenty of water, as well.
Sykes Hot Springs is also a nice place to visit in winter, but even then it can be crowded on the weekends.
China Camp to Pine Valley, in the Ventana Wilderness, offers a landscape that is reminiscent of the Sierra.

I was just looking for some ideas for a trip soon, thanks for the suggestions and timing :D

Big Basin
Mt. Diablo
Lost Valley

And also I suggest you visit the site http://characteristicsofbackpacks.com/ on which you will find a little more information.

The second part of your posting is hardly relevant to this thread. OK, you don’t seem to be selling anything, but school packs have nothing to do with places to backpack – nor with what BPL is all about. Please don’t clutter up threads with irrelevant postings about your web site like this in future.

Roger Caffin
Online Community Monitor
Backpacking Light

Thanks Roger.

What goes on at Lost Valley?

Two people have recommended Lost Valley now. Where is that?

– Elizabeth