Buckeye Trail in Skyline Wilderness Park (Napa)
It seems like every week is a new favorite trail at Skyline Wilderness Park. The Buckeye Trail might be my newest new favorite.
If you’ve never been to Skyline Wilderness Park:
It does cost $5 to enter, but there are over 850 acres and 25 miles of well-kept hiking trails. There is plenty to do, including hiking, running, horseback riding, disc golf or mountain biking. (It is important to note that dogs are not allowed on the trails). You can pay to hike and camp as well.
Brief History of Skyline Wilderness Park:
I’m always interested in the history of places I visit, and there is a lot of history to the Skyline Wilderness Park.
It started in 1979 when the land beside the State Hospital was declared to be surplus. The community got together and bought the property to create a park. The Skyline Wilderness Park finally opened in 1983. At first, the Skyline Wilderness Park was only open for hiking, biking, and horseback riding, but later, there were new additions such as an RV Camp area, tent area, and even picnic area. You can see the park map here.
I’ve wrote extensively about Skyline Wilderness Park including Hiking Skyline Trail, Exploring Lake Marie and Rim Rock Trail to Sugarloaf Mountain.
The Buckeye Trail is a beautiful, scenic, and quiet trail that bypasses Lake Marie if you want to head up towards Rim Rock!
About the Buckeye Trail:
The Buckeye Trail itself is short. It’s 2.27 miles horizontal distance.
Once you reach the lower junction of Lake Marie Road and Skyline Trail, you’ll also see a sign for the Buckeye Trail. It starts with a gradual climb and then you get up to 13% grade and finally at the end a 45% grade. After taking it across, I headed towards Rim Rock Trail to continue and make it about a 10 mile day.
If you’re looking for a challenging but short climb, the Buckeye Trail is great. Plus, as a connector trail you can get to a good portion of the park.
You can see more hikes here.
Questions for you:
Have you been to Napa?
What is your favorite local trail?