East Bay Trails. David Weintraub
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View south from the West Ridge Trail near West Ridge Point
Cross carefully to the east side of busy Dornan Dr. and find a dirt turnout just left of EBRPD’s Golden State Model Railroad Museum. From here a dirt path heads southeast to a boardwalk that zigzags across an open marshy area and then enters a stand of willow and coast live oak. After the boardwalk ends, the trail, now a single track lined with bush monkeyflower, toyon, and coyote brush, angles steeply uphill via two sets of wooden steps. Just past the first set of steps, you pass a path heading right and uphill, then continue climbing via switchbacks and a second set of steps.
At a T-junction marked by a trail post, you turn right on Old Country Road, a single track, and follow it south and then southwest toward West Ridge Point. As you make the turn, you have a beautiful view of the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge and Mt. Tamalpais, which dominates the western skyline. The route continues climbing, now on a moderate grade, past overgrown thickets of blackberry and manroot. In spring, the grassy hillsides here are splattered yellow with California buttercup. A short steep pitch brings another scenic reward, as you get a sweeping view of San Francisco and San Pablo bays, Angel Island, and the hills of Marin County.
Passing a trail post and an unsigned path, left, you continue straight and begin descending to a clearing where California poppies bloom from late winter through fall on an eroded hillside. Tall Monterey pines stand guard on a ridgetop, and the slopes below are graced with toyon, willow, and bush monkeyflower. A cool breeze off the water is welcome here on a warm day. The trail crosses a ditch on two wood planks, continues through the clearing, and then negotiates a steep hillside that drops to your right. Passing a path going right and downhill, and another heading left and uphill, you continue straight to a T-junction, marked by a trail post, with the West Ridge Trail.
Here you turn left, enjoying a fine view of Brooks Island, Richmond Inner Harbor, and, in the distance, the huge cargo cranes at the Port of Oakland. The route, a rocky dirt path, climbs in the open on a moderate grade, and as you gain elevation, landmarks such as Emeryville, UC Berkeley, and the Berkeley Hills come into view. If you turn around, you are treated to a grand vista: San Francisco, Alcatraz, Angel Island, and the Bay Bridge. As you climb higher you can look southwest into Raccoon Strait—the body of water between Angel Island and Tiburon—and beyond to the just-visible north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
A steep climb brings you, at about the 0.8-mile point, to an exposed hilltop. This vantage point, one of the most impressive in the East Bay, gives you a 360-degree panorama of the Bay Area, making this a must-visit spot for people who enjoy learning the geography of the region in which they live. After descending briefly, you begin to climb again, soon reaching a paved summit with a rest bench and a trail junction. From this lofty perch you can see east to Wildcat Canyon and Tilden regional parks, and southeast toward Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Round Top, and Redwood Regional Park. Here the West Ridge Trail ends, the Crest Trail goes straight, and an unnamed trail goes left over False Gun Vista Point.
Continuing straight and descending gently on the Crest Trail, a paved path, you approach East Vista Point, ahead, with a refinery left and downhill. Here you may see an American kestrel, a small falcon well-adapted to a variety of habitats, gliding on the wind or hovering aloft, searching for prey. At about the 1-mile point you reach East Vista Point, where a dirt path leads to a viewpoint, right. When you have finished enjoying the view, retrace your route to the previous junction.
From here, turn right, traverse False Gun Point, and soon reach a notch with a four-way junction. From here, the Crest Trail angles right and climbs steeply via steps to Nicholl Knob, and an unsigned trail veers sharply left. You angle slightly left on the Marine View Trail.
Soon, as you begin to cross a steep hillside where poppies cling to rock outcrops, you can see down to Dornan Dr., the parking area, and the trailhead. Once across a plank bridge, you turn left at a junction and descend moderately on a single track, eventually coming to a set of wooden steps. At the bottom of the steps you come to an unsigned fork in the route. Here you bear left and follow Old Country Road, a dirt path, across a wooden bridge, and soon close the loop at the trail coming up from the boardwalk. Now turn right and retrace your route to the parking area.
◆ Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline ◆
ARROWHEAD MARSH
Length: 3.7 miles
Time: 2 to 3 hours
Rating: Easy
Regulations: EBRPD; dogs on leash.
Facilities: Picnic tables, water, toilet, phone.
Directions: From Interstate 880 in Oakland, take the 66th Ave./Coliseum exit and go briefly west on Zhone Way to Oakport St. Turn left and go 0.6 mile to Hassler Way. Turn right and go 0.2 mile to Edgewater Dr. Turn right again and go 0.2 mile to the end of Edgewater Dr. Continue straight 0.1 mile on the entrance road to the Garretson Point parking area. The trailhead is at the southwest edge of parking area.
The San Leandro shoreline, in one of the East Bay’s busiest industrial corridors, hosts a wonderful array of waterbirds, from long-legged waders such as the great blue heron, to small shorebirds like the least sandpiper. This out-and-back trip follows a level, paved pathway that runs from Garretson Point to Swan Way, passing San Leandro Bay, Elmhurst Creek, San Leandro Creek, Arrowhead Marsh, and Airport Channel, all productive birding areas. Birds will be most numerous in fall through spring, because the San Francisco Bay, on the Pacific Flyway, attracts large numbers of migrating and wintering species, many of which are on northern breeding grounds during the late spring and early summer. Plan your visit for a rising or falling tide when the birds are active but not too far away to identify. Benches and picnic tables along the way provide plenty of opportunities to sit, watch birds, and enjoy the view.
With binoculars and a bird guide or note pad handy, walk toward the water from the parking area and turn left on the Garretson Point Trail, a paved pathway along the shoreline. In front of you is San Leandro Bay, nestled between Oakland International Airport and Alameda. To your left, jutting northwest into the bay, is Arrowhead Marsh, a wildlife sanctuary that attracts large numbers of coots, ducks, grebes, herons, egrets, gulls, terns, and shorebirds. Arrowhead Marsh is part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network, a collection of sites identified as critical to shorebird survival. To your right is the much smaller Damon Marsh, also a wildlife sanctuary. In 1998, tidal flow was restored to 71 acres of previously filled tidal and seasonal wetlands, thanks to the efforts of EBRPD, the Port of Oakland, the Golden Gate Audubon Society, and numerous other groups.
Soon you reach Fred (Skip) Garretson Memorial Point, named for an Oakland Tribune reporter whose stories inspired shoreline conservation efforts. Here is a picnic area surrounded by white alder, western sycamore, eucalyptus, and acacia trees.
Although this park is situated in a heavily industrial area, it is one of the best places to observe birds in the East Bay. Looking south across the bay with binoculars or a spotting scope, you should be able, depending on the tide and time of year, to pick out a wide variety of birds, including common ducks such as American widgeons, mallards, northern pintails, ruddy ducks, scoters, and scaups, and shorebirds such as American avocets, dowitchers, and willets. Perhaps a great blue heron will pay you a visit, landing silently on a nearby rock.
Where there are ducks and shorebirds, especially in the fall, there may be falcons—merlin and peregrine—hunting them. Be alert for something “putting up” the birds: when panicked, great clouds of waterbirds will lift from the mud flats or water in a noisy attempt to evade and confuse their predators. Nothing sets a birder’s heart pounding like the glimpse of a dark shape, wings swept back, streaking seemingly out of nowhere in hot pursuit of a meal.
At about 0.7 mile, the paved path bends left, away from the water. Here a set of railroad tracks dead-end at an exercise station, and a small spit of land juts southwest into the water beside Elmhurst Creek. At high tide, look for large numbers