East Bay Exploring
Exploring the east bay with my baby. Here is a quick link to the Map of East Bay Parks to Explore!
and the more extensive: Nature hikes with kids. Many of these pulled from the East Bay Maps:
Annual Trails Challenge (LOVE THESE!)
Quick list of Parks explored by city
Berkeley
Blake Garden (mansion)
STILL TO EXPLORE
Marina
Codornices Park
Tilden Park Railroad and Botanical Garden
Castro Valley
Cull Canyon (swimming in summer, volleyball)
Danville
Bishop Ranch Regional Preserve (hike down to cool low tree branches to climb)
Oak Hill Park (playground, volleyball, man made lake, nice stroller path to jog!, away from highway)
Las Trampas Wilderness:
Elderberry trail (cool trees to climb)
Ringtail Cat Staging Area (neighborhood hike along river)
Hap Magee (Volleyball, cool bridge, big and small play structures, water in summer)
Still to Explore below:
Diablo Vista Park (20 acres, away from highway, 3 play areas for all ages and lots of courts)
Sycamore Valley Park & Open Space (jogging path!!, bocce courts, away from highway)
Eugene O’Neill Historic Site (park outside the gate and walk up)
Las Trampas - Bollinger Creek Loop Trail
Danville South Park
Mount Diablo State Park
Dublin
Alamo Creek Park
STILL TO EXPLORE
Alamo Creek Park
Dublin Sports Grounds
Don Biddle Community Park
Creekside Park
Val Vista Community Park
Lafayette
Lafayette Reservoir (paddle board rentals, large playground, hikes paved and unpaved)
San Ramon
Crow Canyon Gardens (organic apple orchard and creek)
Red Willow Park (bridge, natural pepper trees)
Athan Downs (STILL TO EXPLORE)
Sunol
Sunol Wilderness Regional Preserve (beautiful creek, and camping)
Walnut Creek
Borges Ranch (Shakespeare stage, lots of open space)
Sugarloaf Open Space (Black walnut orchards)
Shellridge Open Space (STILL TO EXPLORE)
Playground at Heather Farm Community Center (STILL TO EXPLORE)
Crow Canyon Gardens, San Ramon
Luca LOVED his first day of the Explorer program. Apples, grapes (some raisins!), fairy tale pumpkins, then painting, catching minnows in the creek, and throwing rocks into the water. And in general, just getting SOAKED. We came back to this spot, since our tiny apple tree at home ran out of apples. Sure enough, hundreds more can be found through the end of October!
Some Notes:
Bring mini fishing nets and buckets. Then let the minnows free :)
Pick out a few apples to do a taste test of the different kinds later!
Try to find the super cute gazebo with grapes (and some natural raisins from the heat!)
WET CLOTHES REQUIRED.
Bishop Ranch Regional Preserve, Danville
More of a little hike here. The land was planned for development, but locals requested (and won!) to keep it as a natural space.
Once you head down the trail, turn right at the gate and head down. At the bottom, you find some great little logs as prefect photo backdrops with dappled lighting.
Cull Canyon, Castro Valley
In the warmer weather, this opens to a cool outdoor swimming spot. But this little guy is happy with the smallest hill to run up and down, a chain fence and some sand. For mama, the clean air and mushy ground just feel and smell so good.
Oak Hill Park, Danville
Large man-made lake, big playground, and some pretty hilly hikes and red wood groves to explore. I’d love to come back and hang out in the gazebo just watching all the ducks parade around the lake. Also a large volleyball court!
Lafayette Reservoir
One of the few park so far I’ve had to pay for parking, ($7 per day parking, or $1.5 per hour), but that means you are in for a treat. Beautiful lake, 5m+ trail (paved and unpaved options), huge wooden playground for kids, lots of open space, picnic tables, paddle board rentals, and even a stage overlooking the water. A great place for a party or just to explore all day.
Red Willow Park, San Ramon
What a wonderful way to spend the second day of Fall! Our first leaf fell on us last week, and we are celebrating the darker mornings but sleeping in another hour!
We found some great trees on this walk, including a huge pepper tree. Collect the red berries, let the dry for a couple weeks, and throw in your pepper grinder!
Check out some great bridges near the walkways and collect little rocks to throw over the edge.
Sunol Regional Park Preserve
This was one of my favorites. The weather was perfect in September. We hid from the sun in dappled lighting by the Alameda Creek, between campgrounds I’d love to come back for.
It is a good idea to bring a change of clothes and a towel. There is no cell coverage in the park. The red striped frogs were laying eggs in the water, so we stayed away from the more calm ponds.
MAKE YOUR VERY FIRST LEFT TURN AFTER YOU PASS THE KIOSK. ITS EASY TO MISS. Once you turn onto Calaveras Rd it does feel like it goes for a while it is actually about 4 miles to Geary Road. There are brown signs pointing to the Sunol Ohlone Wilderness Area. It is easy to miss the Geary road turn off, it is a quick left turn a bit after crossing the creek near the water treatment center. You will be on Geary Rd for almost 2 miles before coming to the signs for Sunol Wilderness Preserve, Geary road ends in the park. (If you find yourself driving uphill on a narrow winding road you've missed the Geary Road turnoff.)
Las Trampas: Ringtail Cat Staging Area, Danville
We were looking for a great place to come in the rain, and I think we found it! This one had big signs that it was closed, but due to fires. Since it was January when we visited, and amidst more flooding than we have seen in a long time, it really should be closed for flooding. Either way, it was mostly flat, with a drop to see the creek flowing along the trail, and by far my favorite local hike. Lots of trees, even some that fell down but made it super fun to climb over/under. Not stroller friendly, but easy enough for my guy and my pregnant belly to make it through while pretty muddy (though he still very often wants to be carried, and I was happy my husband was there to help on that front). Regardless, I will be coming back here a lot!
Las Trampas: Elderberry trail, Danville
This is a wonderful park with lots of wildlife and farm animals. We got to see some baby cows, deer chasing away coyotes, and lots of bird noises. On the long drive down Bollinger Canyon be sure to keep your eyes open for turkeys, deer, cows and horses. Enjoy lots of bendy trees with branches touching the ground, perfect for little ones to climb and bounce (or take shelter while watching the cows).
We also found some early buds of bay nuts on the California Bay Leaf Trees. While the leaves are known for being thrown into soups (typically italian varieties), its fruit is part of the avocado family. Indians used to eat the soft parts, then roast the nuts over fire and crack them open. They have a little caffeine, and when roasted, taste like a blend of cacao bean and macadamia.
The Indians also knew cows and wild animals grazing on the underbrush of trees was one of the fire management techniques that we, sometimes, pay enough attention to catch onto.
Las Trampas: Bollinger Creek Loop, Danville
From the Elderberry Trail, just continue all the way down the road. Bollinger Canyon will dead end at the Las Trampas main staging area and another picnic site.
From I-680 in San Ramon, take Crow Canyon Road west to Bollinger Canyon Road, turn right (north) and follow it until it dead ends. You will feel like you are driving forever and to the middle of nowhere! (It's really just about 5 miles). Park in the parking lot where the road dead ends.
Here is some info about Las Trampas they have some great links for plant identification if you are interested. I wish I were able to identify this many plants!
Alamo Creek Park, Dublin
A fun trail to explore, a windy river to throw acorns & pinecorns into, and a great playground to run around.
Borges Ranch, Walnut Creek
I love finding open amphitheaters. I imagine finding a place to put on little plays with the little ones one day.
Sugarloaf Open Space, Walnut Creek
This area is one of the oldest Black Walnut Orchards. The creek bed in this area is dry so we will be hiking around exploring the trees and landscape.
Berkeley Blake Garden
A beautiful little sanctuary adjacent to a monestary. I would love to know more about this building, which (secretly looking through the major back windows), has an incredible view of the bay. LOTS of paths to run around and little pools to explore. I always get excited about these old mansions now open to the public. It makes me wonder what else is hidden in these busy valleys!
Miscellaneous Park Notes:
Boots were great for playing in water, but we would have been better off with assuming we would just be waist deep even in ankle deep water :P. I would have been better off in my chico’s sandals made for water than my hiking boots! And Luca would have been better off in a swim diaper. There is a pretty steep climb down, but kids have more fun when they can get a bit of a hike in.
Beware of Poison oak. Humans are the only animals bothered by it. The plant is super nutritious to all kinds of animals, and great for soil remediation. It tends to follow soil disturbance, ie. the locations humans trample along. Interesting to think about how that relationship might have developed into being poisonous. “Leaves of 3 let it be”. But fuzzy = berries. IDK about you, every leaf looks like it has 3 on it! ha. Pretty nice to have teachers pointing out the locations
Beware of stagnant water. Before each session, the teachers make sure enough water is flowing in the creek so the water is not sitting there, getting too gross to play around in.
I am loving finding locations that stay cool even in this extreme heat (116 degree summer days!), including more natural play areas with lots of shade.
Side rant: Somehow it became standard that most children’s playgrounds are designed with ZERO shade (real trees must be a liability), fake grass (plastic in the sun?? toxic anyone?), all making them much hotter than the parks surrounding them. A friend’s kid recently got 2nd degree burns from the slide! :(
Inspired by the Explorers program out of Danville.
