Little Bald Hills Trail

This trail is a shape-shifter. You start in the cathedral hush of old-growth redwoods, ferns brushing your shins as the path winds through a canopy so thick you'll forget what the sun looks like. Then the forest thins, the trail kicks upward with nearly 1,800 feet of relentless climbing over less than five miles, and suddenly you're standing in open prairies on a bald ridge with views that make the suffering worthwhile. Along the way, four distinctive rock formations break up the climb like geological plot twists. The trail follows an old pack route, so the tread is well-established but steep in sections — your quads will have opinions about this hike for days. The payoff is that ridge-top prairie, where the coastal fog rolls below you like a slow ocean. This one's built for hikers who earn their views the hard way.