Lynch Canyon - March '24 

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On a Saturday in early March, four of us drove from Davis to the Lynch Canyon open space preserve, managed by the City of Fairfield, with 10 miles of walking trails, and most of us had never been here before.

Attendees were Karen, Jean, Andrew, a recently retired work friend of mine, and me. 

The walk was fairly level until we reached the small Reservoir, when a long & steady uphill grade to the ridge began. Once on the ridge we headed south, gaining elevation & wind intensity.

Suddenly, much of the northern Bay Area was arrayed before us, but the view was limited due to overcast skies.

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again (with some exceptions). 

	start of walk		calves were fearful of us		spring landscape
		Lynch Reservoir, see note 1		the highlands of Solano County		hill walking
					lay of the land
		cow contemplation area		Andrew at the high point w/ Mt. Diablo in the distance
	distant view of G.G. Bridge		see note 2		looking SW above Vallejo

note 1 - in the distance above Lynch Reservoir can be seen the Twin Sisters, at 2,162 ft., among the highest peaks in Solano County.  

note 2 - this view includes the G.G Bridge, at the left, and, the Highway 37 bridge at Mare Island, in the foreground at the right. The high point somewhat near the center of the photo must be Mt. Tam, in Marin County.

On the return walk we dropped below the ridge, out of the wind & stopped at a picnic table at a trail junction for lunch. I misread the AllTrails online map & put us on the wrong path for 15 minutes, but we could see the trail we wanted to be on, to our right, about 1,000 ft away, on the other side of Lynch Creek.

Andrew found a way to cross the small creek & get uphill to the trail. I had moments of uncertainty, because the far bank was surprisingly steep, muddy, and slippery, and I was grabbing handfuls of weeds, or anything I could. I finally grabbed a small tree and was able to scramble up.  

Once on the middle valley trail, it was a pleasant downhill stroll to the car park.  

	after lunch		artichoke, a thistle
				< Karen & Jean >
	gateway to.....an oak?		after crossing Lynch creek		on the middle valley trail
		spring grass on the hills seems to glow

The Lynch Canyon walk was 5+ miles with at least 600 feet of gain. We saw no bikers or equestrians, and only a couple of walkers  This is a great place for walking, with an adjacent park with trails, to the south, the Newell Open Space Preserve.     

Our small group was back in Davis (carpool location) about 3 pm & today's drive turned out to be easy.     

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Park info - Lynch Canyon trails are open to hikers, bikers, and equestrians, from 9 am to 5 pm, only from Friday to Monday. An $8 fee per car, cash only, is required. Because of the presence of cows, dogs aren't allowed.

Security note - the carpark here is only five minutes off I-80 and can't be seen from the highway. Signs warn visitors to leave nothing of any value in cars, and, a Solano Country Park Ranger was keeping an eye on the parking lot, the entire time we were hiking.  

My take is - once you enter the Bay Area, you're entering a car window smashing zone. I'm glad that Solano County funds an armed security guard here; its the right thing to do and this park is a real gem.   

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