El Cerrito’s Hillside Festival will be Saturday and Sunday, May 6 and 7, 2023, with more than a dozen hikes and other events scheduled throughout El Cerrito’s 100-acre natural wonderland, the Hillside Natural Area.

The festival, put on by El Cerrito Trail Trekkers and co-sponsored by the city’s Environmental Quality Committee, is free to the public.

Hikes and other events start from several locations throughout the Hillside and touch on such subjects as native flora and fauna, insects, trees, geology and history, poetry, fire safety and habitat restoration.

The leaders are all experts in their fields, and many are expert raconteurs as well. All of the events are family friendly, and some are targeted at young people – including the Nature Scavenger Hunt (photos only; no collecting!)

The annual haiku contest, with poems submitted before the festival, with winners being read on a haiku hike during the festival, is a popular feature every year.

Want to learn more – or are you interested in participating as a leader? Email Davidsweinstein@yahoo.com or visit http://www.ectrailtrekkers.org