Bernal Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Lake · Views · Wildflowers · Wildlife

When hiking from the parking area at the beginning of Halls Valley Trail, Bernal Trail starts immediately after a wide sturdy wooden platform bridge at the 0.3 mile mark along Halls Valley Trail. The start of Bernal Trail is unmarked. There is no signpost here of any kind. But there is a wide dirt path going off to the left (northwest). Turn onto this wide dirt path to hike Bernal Trail.

Bernal Trail is an unshaded, sunny trail along the east side of Grant Lake. It is basically flat except for a very short steep uphill around the 0.15 mile mark, to take one over a small knoll. There are great close up views of Grant Lake with the backdrop of the surrounding wooded grass hills, all along this trail, especially from the small knoll. After the knoll, there is a fork in the trail at about the 0.2 mile mark. From here, the trail loops around to return to this fork. Go right at this fork to hike the loop counter-clockwise as described here. After taking the right fork, the trail briefly leaves the edge of Grant Lake, only to turn left about 100 yards later, and descend back down to the lake, becoming overgrown with bushes as it descends. Upon reaching the lake the trail turns left again and becomes even more overgrown as it follows the shoreline and returns to the trail fork, where this description ends.

There are several small side trails leading to the lake edge, along Bernal Trail.

Open grassy hills (green in the spring, golden in the summer and fall) surrounding Grant Lake.Shallow water reeds at the end of the lake and brushy low wet land here at the end of the lake. Spring wildflowers. Many water birds.