Short NorCal trail hits
Local hikers are spotlighting quick, scenic routes — the Verna Dunshee Loop on Mount Tam East Peak is a paved 0.7‑mile loop with Marin Headlands, Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco views. Trail chatter also praised Humboldt’s Jackass Trail as an 'awesome' mountain‑bike route (also hikeable and apparently unmarked on Google Maps) and flagged Donner Memorial State Park near Truckee for year‑round hiking, water play and winter snowshoeing/cross‑country skiing. ( )
The Verna Dunshee circuit sits at Mount Tam’s East Peak parking area, which is about 2,571 feet above sea level and hosts restrooms and a wheelchair‑accessible picnic area. (parks.ca.gov) The East Peak’s stone Gardner Fire Lookout was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1935–36, is named for Edwin Gardner, and while the tower structure is generally closed, the park runs occasional guided visits that let small groups approach the lookout. (parks.ca.gov) (livingnewdeal.org) (happeningnext.com) “Jackass” routes in Northern California are not unique to Humboldt — the best‑documented Jackass/Donkey Town network sits on Jackass Ridge above Truckee and was formally adopted into the U.S. Forest Service trail system and stewarded by the Truckee Trails Foundation and Truckee Dirt Union. (truckeetrails.org) (truckeedirtunion.org) (truckeedonnerlandtrust.org) Those Truckee trails (Donkey Town/El Burro, formerly called Jackass/A‑1) were closed in mid‑2024 for the Tahoe National Forest “Cabin Creek” forest‑restoration project but were reported reopened for mountain biking and public use by spring 2025, with trail status showing Donkey and Burro open as of March 2026. (yourtahoeguide.com) (truckeeforests.org) (trailforks.com) Donner Memorial State Park’s Visitor Center and Emigrant Trail Museum are open daily 10 a.m.–5 p.m., the park maintains a 154‑site campground (open Memorial Day through mid‑September) and more than two miles of Donner Lake shoreline, and winter offerings explicitly include cross‑country skiing and snowshoeing. (parks.ca.gov) (visittruckeetahoe.com)
