It was a four day weekend but we weren’t able to get away due to the children’s busy schedules.  Each one had something to do that was important to them to keep us home; more time needed to wrap up a mission report and presentation, baseball tryouts and a good friend’s birthday party to attend. Even with all those individual needs to meet there still had to be enough time in the weekend to take a half day off and get out as a family.

Uvas Canyon has been on our local list of places to hike to see the waterfalls for awhile now.  I had read the best time to visit was of course right after a rainy day as the falls would be full and plentiful.  Not sure what to expect as the rain has been on a hiatus this month.  Would there even be any water to fall over the rocks?  Was it worth the visit now?  We decided, why not.  So after breakfast we packed a picnic lunch, took our favorite local trail guide book, “Best Hikes with Kids in the SF Bay Area,” by Laure Latham and packed our pockets full of skittles.  Now we were ready.

We were looking to hike for a few hours, have our lunch on the trail, and pick trails that would complete a loop.  We wanted to finish the day coming back on the waterfall loop so we could enjoy the easier trail at the end and play along the creek. This made the most sense as we knew we would have the most energy to burn in the beginning and then if the kids got tired, the creek walk should hold their interest to continue to propel them forward to the car.  Sounds good, right? After reading the trail recommendations we chose to begin on trailhead Alec Canyon which turned out to be a pretty steep climb. The kids did great and we enjoyed this view.

From there we connected to the Contour trail.  It was also a steep but narrow trail with many switchbacks along the edge of the canyon.  Reminders to pay attention were given a few times. Luckily, no one went over the edge.  Yeah!  We continued for 2 miles before reaching Basin Falls.  Unfortunately the falls here were more of a trickle than expected.  The kids however, loved climbing around on the rocks. And we spent a bit of time exploring and skipping stones.

After the Basin Falls we followed the Waterfall loop trail back down along the creek. The trail was mostly wide and gentle with plenty of areas to access the water.  Along side one of the smaller falls we sat and had our picnic lunch.  The waterfall loop had many more families on it than the other trail but because it was wider and there was plenty of space to spread out to, there was still room for everyone to enjoy.

We enjoyed our time at Uvas County Park.  The trails were well maintained and there was so much to see.  Dogs were also welcome on all the trails in the park, just don’t forget your doggie bags. Looking forward to a return visit after a rainy day to see the water falls in their full glory.