Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve B - C; ** ; 1 mile v?            MORE INFO

This is a small park and probably not worth visiting unless you are interested in geology, but if you are, it may be worth the considerable difficulties the trail presents. The EBRPD's brochure includes a self-guided "Tour of Round Top Volcanoes," keyed to numbered posts along Sibley's trails, and a very determined wheelchair user may be able to get close enough to see almost all of the rock formations that are explained. But unless this is your interest, nearby parks south of Sibley have many of the same charms and some of their trails are much friendlier to wheelchairs.

Two paved trails start at Sibley's parking area. Even the easier one that goes out from west of the restroom/visitor center climbs steeply enough that some manual chair users will need assistance, and ends after 0.1 mile at an appealing overlook of the preserve with explanatory plaques and benches.

From east of the visitor center, Round Top Trail, leading to the geology tour, starts to climb immediately from the parking lot; still it may be a pleasant ride in a power chair for the first quarter mile or so. But the pavement ends after about 0.3 mile, and the geology comes to the surface very inconveniently; the fire road runs over broken stone that creates a miserable ride for about the next quarter mile. Amazingly, this fire road is well enough graded that there's no problem getting through if you can stand the jolting (and, if you or your friends are providing the power, you have the endurance and strength for it). Thereafter (from about #3 on the map) Round Top Trail becomes relatively smooth again and remains so for the rest of its distance, about 0.3 mile to the park limit. Over this stretch there is some slope, but nothing that's likely to disturb anyone who's made it past the rocky portion.

If you do get that far, don't miss the spot marked on the map as Quarry Pit 7, a steepish detour leading to the rim of a hollow (the gravel pit) at the bottom of which some lawless person or other has created a charming, though totally wheelchair inaccessible, labyrinth: a spiral footpath bordered with stones.

It is possible to reach the first signpost of the self-guided tour without enduring the rocky fire-trail, since it's at the East Bay MUD water tank, and the access road is entirely paved, though very steep. That spot provides a pleasant overlook also -- but alas, no bench. And while we're on the subject of steep climbs, the paved road to the top of Round Top Mountain is also possible for those who can climb walls in their chairs. But I can't recommend it: the crown of the hill is a forest of satellite receivers and God knows what else. At least one piece of machinery up there, which sounded like a big generator, roared steadily the entire time we were poking around, and what we had hoped would be a magnificent view from the 1,763 foot summit is impeded by a tangled ruinous forest of eucalyptus and Monterey pine. Warnings are posted between the buildings about high levels of microwave radiation, which I seem to remember might affect power wheelchair controls. Don't know if I was in danger or not, but it was probably not a smart experiment to have made, though I seem to have gotten away safe.

Details: Sibley Preserve is just north of Huckleberry Preserve, another EBRPD Park I mean to visit soon, in between Tilden and Redwood Parks. AC Transit Bus 5 stops about one (mostly level) mile away, at Colton Blvd. and Ridgewood Drive. Or by car, from Highway 24, take the Fish Ranch Road exit immediately east of the Caldecott Tunnel. Continue 0.8 miles to Grizzly Peak Boulevard. Turn left and go 2.4 miles on Grizzly Peak to Skyline Boulevard. Turn left and drive 0.1 mile to the preserve entrance on the left. There are two disabled spaces, one striped for a van, in the small parking lot, and the restrooms, which have water, are fully accessible except for heavy doors.

Benches are not provided on the trails, except at the end of the short paved path north of the visitor center.The visitor center itself amounts to an open shed housing a modest collection of displays, but it's certainly more accessible than the rest of the park, and has a lot of information about the geological history of Round Top Mountain, as well as a very nice display of different kinds of volcanic rock, with detailed explanations.

Dogs on leash are permitted on Sibley's trails, and there are no fees to visit or park.