Take a hike, Modesto author says. Three scenic spots to get out and get active
Tell Elaine Gorman to “take a hike” and she’ll likely respond with an enthusiastic “Where to first?”
Gorman is a former life science teacher. She retired in 2009 after 24 years at Mark Twain and Roosevelt junior high schools and has been an avid birder, naturalist and hiker since.
Recently, she’s become an author. Published in the summer of 2024, “Valley Ventures” is a book of 20 hiking trails within two hours of the Modesto area, ranging from easy to moderately strenuous walks. Spots nearby include places in Ripon, La Grange and Waterford, and farther out you’ll find trails in Sunol, Round Valley in Brentwood and along the Cosumnes River in Galt.
A compact guide, spiral-bound for ease of reference while on the trail, Gorman said her book is like having her hiking alongside you.
“I like to include information about the indigenous people and early settlers here,” she said. “I also like to do the natural history. I talk a lot about birds and plants and wildflowers and trees and wildlife.”
The book is separated into five sections that list trails by drive time from Modesto.
Here are a few trails Gorman suggests for hikers at any skill level. These are within around 30 minutes from Modesto.
Where can you find easy, scenic hiking trails near Modesto?
Ripon
Gorman offers a trek through Caswell Memorial State Park, where she said you will find “one of the San Joaquin Valley’s remaining stretches of ancient old-growth riparian forest.”
Gorman guides you along this three-mile trail, describing the types of birds to listen for and spot — like black Phoebe and turkey vultures.
She advises to look not only up but down, for a chance to see Chinook salmon, pond turtles and other native reptiles.
More than fauna, the flora is not to be missed. She highlights the wild California grape vines that hang down from towering oaks, cottonwoods and sycamores trees, sometimes “covering the trees in great grape leaf veils.”
“My favorite tree in the world is in Caswell State Park,” she said. “It is a particular sycamore tree. I don’t know if everybody has a favorite tree in the world, but I do.”
Caswell is one of her suggested easy hikes, ideal for a family outing.
Vernalis
Gorman said the San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge is among her most visited areas. She describes it as “what the San Joaquin Valley looked like in the 1800s before it was turned into farms, dairies and pasture land.”
Gorman’s description in “Valley Ventures” takes readers through the four-mile Pelican Nature Trail, where one may spot the endangered riparian brush rabbit and the once-endangered cackling goose, which was restored to a healthy population because of conservation efforts like the refuge.
As hikers walk the trail, the guidebook details what they will see: the thick brush of wild tobacco, elderberry and coyote bush, as well as herons and egrets perched in oak trees along the river.
Here, portions of the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and San Joaquin rivers converge at points in the refuge’s 7,300 acres.
“I hike here at least once per season,” Gorman said.
Waterford
For a journey along the Tuolumne River, Gorman writes about The City of Waterford River Trail. It’s a unique trail that mixes modern additions like an exercise course and interpretive naturalist signs with some of the best bird sightings around. There’s also a harrowing 135-step staircase down to the bank of the river with stunning views of Half Dome and the Sierra — if visibility conditions are ideal.
Gorman said this is an easy two-mile excursion. It’s four miles for those who make a round trip, but some people park at both ends of the park and hike from one to the other. Signs along the trail mark the mileage, making it an ideal beginner trail.
Hiking, being out in nature, is beneficial for health, author says
Gorman said she got the idea to publish her guide after writing similar columns for California Explorer Magazine, Stanislaus Connections and the Motherlode Chapter Sierra Club Newsletter.
She said she wanted to focus on hikes and trails that are less popular or well-known but full of wildlife and history. What really inspired her was her love of nature.
“It’s just about being outside and not being by a screen,” Gorman said. “Just being out in the real world and being out in nature, where there’s greenery and life and the wind and the rain and birds. I think the health benefits of being out in nature have been documented.”
Part of her motivation for writing Valley Ventures, she said, was to help people learn about what resources Central Valley residents have locally.
“Usually, when you learn about something, you start to appreciate it and then you start to love it,” Gorman said. “And then you want to protect it and advocate for its preservation.”
Gorman said a good pair of hiking boots or shoes, water, food, appropriate clothing, a map or hiking app and a day pack with a first-aid kit are essential when embarking on a hike.
Taking along a friend or two is good, too, as well as binoculars, a camera for burgeoning birders and, as Gorman said, “an adventurous spirit.”
“Valley Ventures” is available at Bookish in Roseburg Square and retails for $14.
This story was originally published May 25, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
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