About 8 miles roundtrip from the parking lot
This honker of a loop starts with a hard left up the hill just past the horse corral and soon levels out, passing grasslands with graceful spreading coast live oaks and a big pond where red-winged blackbirds trill away the afternoon. The trail forks just past the pond. The entirety of the loop leads through redwood ravines and fragrant bay laurel groves and ascends some 500 feet up steep sections of trail. The reward is a stunning panoramic view of Monterey Bay, with Loma Prieta Mountain visible off to the left and, on days following a rain or strong wind, a sightline all the way down to Point Sur.
A worthwhile side trip once you get to the top is the recently restored Twin Oaks single-track trail, which is seldom enough used that bobcat sightings are within the realm of possibility. Back on Wilder Ridge Loop, a steep downhill portion through a bay laurel grove opens to a meadow and closes the loop near the pond.
