SUNDAY DRIVE

What you see: Your payoff destination is the lookout bench at Franklin Ridge. You get a view over Carquinez Straight, the lower Delta and across the hills and peaks of Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties.

Location: Franklin Ridge is perched on a north-facing hilltop in the Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline, a short distance west of Martinez off Highway 4 in Contra Costa County.

When you get there: Visitors arriving on Carquinez Scenic Drive will see the large parking lot on the left for Nejedly Staging Area. Most park here. My suggestion instead is to continue another 1.7 miles to a gated dirt road on the left for your trailhead. The trip then becomes shorter, more scenic with the payoff view and reveal moment.

Synopsis: 2-mile round trip, 500-foot climb on way in.

The hike: After parking at the suggested trailhead, walk past the gate on a ranch road. A seasonal creek is on the right, and in the first five minutes, hikers will see how a smaller creek on the far side in a ravine, feeds it. The walk is nearly flat for a short distance to a cutoff on the left. Make the sharp left turn and the climb starts, about a 400-foot ascension that takes about 10 minutes. The trail rises over a short ridge, curves to the right and feeds into a valley. Eventually you can look up to your left and see a spur trail that rises to 620 feet, with a bench set beneath an oak on the hilltop.

The reveal moment: The spur trail is a short climb to the lookout bench. As you gain the ridge, the view of Carquinez Strait and beyond is revealed. Cost: Parking, access free.

Map/brochure: Available in box at Nejedly Staging Area (most visitors recycle brochures); PDF at www.ebparks.org.

Dogs: Free, permitted off-leash if under voice command.

Contacts: Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline, (888) 3272757, option 3, extension 4514; East Bay Regional Park District, www.ebparks.org.