Lake Chabot Regional Park (EBRP, San Leandro)                              INFO

July 28, 2009 NEWS FLASH! We visited Lake Chabot this morning and were able to take in about 2 miles of the "East Shore Trail. Most wheelchair users would probably find at least the first half mile comfortable. It's all smooth pavement, but the slopes get steeper the further you go. FULL REPORT COMING SOON.

When we visited in November 2007 we had to come to the lake by trail from San Leandro's Chabot Park, because the Lake Chabot Marina, where one would ordinarily park, was closed for "tree work." Judging by the many dead pines we saw, there was a lot of tree work to do.
We travelled the dirt-gravel Bass Cove Trail west of the dam, (incorrectly represented on the park map as being paved) and found it to be very steep with crosswise slope in some places but (apart from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?) otherwise very pleasant, well graded and hard. Some patches would have shallow mud in wet weather. We went as far as Bass Point, which is where the bicycle loop we were travelling leaves the lake shore.

Earlier we had explored the West Shore Trail to within a short distance of the Marina. This stretch is paved, six or eight feet wide and smooth with little crosswise slope, but still very steep for much of the distance. As far as I know, the same is true of the length closest to the Marina trailhead, which we did not visit. Disabled hiking in Lake Chabot Park is only for manual chair riders who are very strong and/or have lots of help, or people with powerful chairs or scooters.

For this select group, it's a treat, a pretty lake surrounded by forest, exotic eucalyptus and pines mixed with native oak, bay and chaparral, providing shade in case it's hot, and appealing varied scenery.