Heron Trail

Heron Trail begins at the 0.8 mile mark along Dutch Flat Trail. After a short stretch in beautiful thin woods with some impressive old trees, Heron Trail breaks out of the woods onto a grassy hillside. The hills rise to the left/west, with a valley below to the east. Across the valley are more hills of the Diablo Range, including views of Mt. Hamilton, 4,265 ft. Traveling on this hillside, the trail follows a high transmission line, with occasional transmission towers. Fortunately this doesn't really take away from the surrounding beauty and remoteness. A short gradual descent at the 0.7 mile mark brings one to Quimby Road. Cross Quimby Rd. and go right for a very short road hike to the bend in the road to find the doubletrack of Heron Trail continuing on into the grass hills. Still following the transmission line, the trail winds through the grass hills with stands of trees, and eventually veers right down a short descent to end at Edwards Loop Trail, after a total of 1.3 miles. This stretch also has nice views of the Diablo Range across the valley below to the right/east.