Water Dog Lake Park 2015-06-05

After hiking Water Dog Lake Park earlier this week, Apollo and I were soon there again. My original intent was to park in the same spot, at the Lake Rd. entrance off Ralston Ave., do the Upper Lake Rd. Trail, connect to Sheep Camp Trail, and explore the Crystal Springs Cross Country course trails. I learned that Apollo is not welcome at Sheep Camp Trail, so we backtracked, drove to Hastings Dr. and finished exploring the remaining trails in Water Dog Lake Park.

I parked by the Hastings Dr. Tot Lot and I wouldn't recommend it to people not used to parking in hilly roads. Instead, I would recommend going to the Carlmont Dr. parking lot - it is spacious, on level ground, and you can essentially complete everything we did today starting from this trail head.

Finch Trail

Like I mentioned in the previous post, there are 14 numbered, named, color-coded trails in Water Dog Lake Park. From the Hastings Dr. trail head, we started with Raccoon Run Trail, descending steadily until we turned left on Upper Creek Trail. A relatively easy climb on Upper Creek Trail will get you to the Canyon Creek / Finch Trail junction. I recommend taking the Finch Trail for a nice climb that zig-zags up the Belmont hills. 

Rambler Trail

At the next junction, we turned left on Rambler Trail and followed it all the way until Canyon Creek Trail. You will find another stripped down, rusted car on this trail. I have to believe they are here to provide character to the trails! Apollo was only happy to pose by relaxing on top of this relic!

Ohlone Trail

Turning left on Canyon Creek Trail, we came close to the Carlmont Dr. parking lot. After a water break, we continued on Chapparal Trail and then on Ohlone Trail. Ohlone Trail also has some interesting bridges and photo spots on it. 

Ohlone Trail ends at Rambler Trail, and this connected us to a portion we hiked earlier. This stretch of Rambler Trail can get confusing. You will find several options, but essentially, you are choosing between walking on the trail or paths carved out by storm run offs and mountain bikers. Whatever you do, so long as you head in the correct direction, you will not get lost.

After hiking the rest of the Rambler Trail, we came to the spot where we turned around last time. We continued our hike on Elevator Trail to once again come close to the Carlmont parking lot. 

We climbed back up on Raccoon Run Trail and wrapped up pretty much every single trail in this small but delightful park. Several trails were shaded and had lots of character to them. We hiked about 6 miles today, shy of a mile out and back on Upper Lake Rd Trail and 5.1 miles from the Hastings Dr trail head. 

Few more pictures from our hike today.
#Hiking #HikingWithDogs #WaterDogLakePark