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BERKELEY Tilden Park (Contra Costa County) ********************************************************* UC Botanical Garden AA - D; **** ; 0.5+ miles; Transit; Wet Weather Yes MORE INFO Details: Entrance fee is $3. Accessible restrooms are behind the gift shop. No dogs are permitted (service dogs excepted).The garden has weekday public transit on the [accessible!] UC Berkeley Shuttles from downtown Berkeley's BART station. To drive, take Claremont Avenue north from Highway 13 (Ashby Avenue) in Berkeley. Swing left where it becomes Tanglewood Road, follow it to the right turn onto Warren Street, which becomes Piedmont Avenue. ( This is a heavily travelled route to the University; just follow the crowd.) The UC Stadium is on the right about 1.5 miles from Ashby. immediately after passing it, turn right on Centennial Drive. It turns left to go up the canyon. The garden is on the right after about 1.5 miles; parking is up the hill on the left. There are two van-accessible spaces and a very good ramp down to the garden. Last visit Summer 2007 ********************************************************* Aquatic Park (Berkeley) AA; AG; ** 2+ miles; Transit? Wet Weather Yes This is the idyllic looking slender lake you see south of University Avenue from Highway 80, and traffic noise is its main drawback. Disregard that, if you can, and it's quite wonderful. You can get there by taking the University Avenue exit from Highway 80 in Berkeley, going east to 6th St., turning right, and immediately right again onto Addison St. At the bottom of Addison, turn south and go 0.3 mile to the end. The small parking lot has a couple of designated disabled spaces. Unfortunately the closest bus service is the 51 line, to University and 3rd St., a few blocks away. Accessible restrooms and drinking water are provided, and the winding path along the landscaped east side of the lake is smooth asphalt. There is a large playground, grassy picnic areas, and a frisbee golf course. Dogs are permitted on leash. A gravel trail continues all the way around the lake, but it is rough in places. A wheelchair-bike-pedestrian overpass just south of University Avenue at the north end of the lake connects Berkeley to the Bay Trail and waterfront parks on the Bay. Last visit Spring 2008 ********************************************************* Berkeley Pier AA; **; 1 mile; Transit; Wet Weather Yes FISHING INFO When I was a little girl in the 50s I remember fishing for slender silver smelt from the rough waves of the bay here, at the very bottom of University Avenue in Berkeley. Back then the pier was a rough, damaged boardwalk, and I had nightmares of falling through the holes. But it's long since been repaired, and now it's smooth concrete all the way, with a 40 inch railing, high enough to keep children safe and impair enjoyment of the view down to the water from a wheelchair. Still it's fun to see what people may be catching, and you don't need a license to try your luck. There are benches,windbreaks, and cleaning stations too, in case you catch anything. Those weren't here 40 years ago, and I doubt that the bathrooms then had wheelchair access either, but they do now. Take the University Avenue exit from Highway 80 West; go towards the Bay. From the Highway 80 East, you have to make a U-turn as soon as possible after you exit to do that. Then stay on University, bearing left to continue towards San Francisco to the pier. Parking, including disabled spaces, is available, free, just north and south of the pier, which is also served by AC Transit bus 9. The pier is free, and open 24 hours a day. Last visit, 2007 ********************************************************* César Chávez Park AA - B; *** ; 1+ miles; Transit; Wet Weather Yes MORE INFO César Chávez Park's one-mile paved loop follows the shore of San Francisco Bay and a lagoon to the east. Most other trails are also useable. The terrain is dull, mown grass and a few shrubs, well populated with red-winged blackbirds and cute ground squirrels. The view of the Bay and its bridges, however, is spectacular, and if you're observant and lucky, you may spot a burrowing owl on the eastfacing rocky breakwater. Details: At the end of Marina Boulevard north from the bottom of University Avenue in Berkeley. AC Transit #9 stops at that intersection, about 0.5 mi. from the park. Van accessible parking, drinking fountains and picnic tables are provided, as well as benches along the trail. Another way to get there is via the wheelchair/bike/pedestrian overpass at the west end of Addison Street, from which it's about 1.5 miles along the mostly-paved bike route to the park. Last visit Spring 2008 |
The
garden's network of paved or hard gravel trails is surprisingly wheelchair
friendly considering the steep slopes near Strawberry Creek. Easiest
are the California and the New World Desert trails. Due to a very steep
stretch in the Eastern North American section, it's virtually impossible
to make the obvious loop, but there's a lot to enjoy here in leisurely
exploration, if you don't have your heart set on getting somewhere.
It's a great place to learn the names of plants you've seen elsewhere
(as well as others you'll probably see no place else).