Briones Reservoir (East Bay Municipal Utility District)
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Bear Creek Trail C - D; ****; 1+ miles; Rainy Weather No

Oursan Trail C - D; ****; 2+ miles; Rainy Weather No

Since I first visited Briones Regional Park, shortly after the nearby reservoir was filled in 1964, I've wished I could hike by the water instead of into the dry hills of the park. In 2008 we finally got a permit ($10/year)  to hike on EBMUD trails, and it turns out Briones Reservoir is just as beautiful close up as it seems from Bear Creek Road. But no route starting from the Bear Creek Staging Area, across the road from the Regional Park entrance, is easy to travel in a wheelchair.

Right at the trailhead Bear Creek Trail gets tough, dropping on a 30 inch wide single track down to the creek, which it fords on a concrete spillway. By July in most years, the water will be only a trickle, and possible to ford. But the steepness of this section would stop most wheelchairs, and that's too bad, because once it climbs out of the creek bed, the trail joins a fire road and becomes wide, almost level and very pleasant for at least half a mile. A locked gate connects this fire road to Bear Creek Road, and it might be worth asking rangers at Briones Regional Park a few hundred yards away if they can open it for you.

At the half mile point the trail reaches the reservoir, and in fact this road goes right into the water--evidently it predates the filling of the lake. This would be a fine place to launch a kayak! Fortunately, the trail continues along the shore, climbing the hillside in pleasant mixed woods with views through the trees over the water. Here we found a single, backless bench. From there on the trail narrowed and became more difficult, and about 1.3 mile from the trailhead, shortly before the trail reconnects with Bear Creek Road, I was defeated by soft going on steep hillsides.

Oursan Trail, proceeding counterclockwise around the same lake, is quite different, and even more difficult. It's rough hard dirt, good and steep right from the start, climbing over a grassy knob before proceeding with many ups and downs along the shore. In June 2011 we went about 0.5 mile, putting my power chair to the test with recently graded but rough-surfaced steep slopes. Here and there loose dirt had been used to fill ruts, and we came to a place where steep loose going defeated us

Details: The Bear Creek Staging area is on the left just before the Briones Park entrance going east on Bear Creek Road. There is an inaccessible portable toilet, and no designated parking in the small gravel lot (unlikely to be crowded). On leash pet dogs are permitted only on Oursan Trail; bicycles are not permitted on any unpaved EBMUD trail. Last visit June 2011.