Completed: May 27, 2023 | Elevation: 1,357′ | Trail: Old Briones Road > Seaborg Trail > Briones Crest Trail > Russell Peak Trail > Crescent Ridge Trail Loop | Distance: 5 miles
Having successfully tackled Briones and Mott Peaks, our third and final peak in Briones Regional Park was Russell Peak.
While all these peaks had multiple access points, I opted to reach Russell Peak from the Bear Creek Staging Area in Lafayette, in the southwest corner of the park. From the northernmost parking lot, we followed Old Briones Road (we could have kept on hiking on Old Briones Road to reach this part of the park had we been really ambitious) until we reached the turnoff for Seaborg Trail. The first half mile was a gradual climb in the shade of the forest. It then leveled off and we continued on a wide pathway paralleling Bear Creek.
Seaborg Trail eventually dead-ended into Briones Crest Trail. We turned south and followed it for .20 miles up before cresting and coming to a junction with the Lafayette Ridge Trail. We continued straight and kept our eyes open for a path on our left that would take us up to Russell Peak.
No more than 5 minutes later, we saw the pathway and made our way to the top and found a picnic bench where we could rest and enjoy the view of Mt. Diablo.
After a short break, we made our back. The two of us were deep in an animated discussion and missed the intersection with Seaborg Trail. By the time we looked up, we had already walked all the way to the junction with Crescent Ridge Trail. This is how we found ourselves doing a loop and hiking longer than we had intended to.
Crescent Ridge Trail was a nice trail, though. There was a little bit of elevation gain in the beginning but then it leveled off for the most part. A few small portions were in the shade, and we eventually came out into the open where we could see Seaborg Trail below.
We walked down from the ridge, past the archery club and connected with Seaborg. From there it was a quick re-trace of our steps from earlier in the day back to the car.
Find an overview of our Briones Regional Park hikes here.
Follow our progress bagging the Bay Area’s Nifty Ninety here.
Coda
This was another two hour hike, and combined with the previous hike to Briones and Mott Peaks, we had walked for a little over 10 miles in just over four hours. Hiking to Russell Peak didn’t have the same expansive views but we still enjoyed it. While we did encounter other people, it wasn’t as busy, at least not on the route that we took.