|
Tilden Regional Park (Contra
Costa County; East of Berkeley) INFO Big SpringsTrail D & E; *** ; 0.5 miles Loop Trail AG - B; *** ; 1.5 miles; v? Meadows Canyon Trail B-C, ***; 1+ miles Nimitz Way AA - B; *** ; 3+ miles SJ Quarry Trail D & E; *** ; 0.5 miles Wildcat Creek Trail South AG - B; *** ; 3+ miles; vSJ **************************** **************************** From Wildcat Canyon Rd: Running north from Inspiration Point on Wildcat Canyon Road, this wide, paved, four-mile trail along San Pablo Ridge offers stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Mount Tamalpais, San Pablo Bay, and Mount Diablo, interspersed with stretches of woods and chaparral. The first mile is almost level; thereafter some stretches are steep, but most power chair and strong manual chair users won't require assistance. Benches are provided at frequent intervals along that first mile, which is understandably likely to be crowded on nice-weather weekends. Details: Parking at the trailhead on weekends can be very difficult. The two van-accessible spaces are likely to be filled early, and overflow parking along Wildcat Canyon Road may require unloading your wheelchair into the traffic lane. Last visit Spring 2003 Quarry Trail is steep and rough, but feasible with a good power chair and/or strong AB assistance.. Before its junction with Big Springs Trail (about 0.5 mi.) the uneven gravel fireroad climbs a grassy slope out of the eucalyptus, with views across the canyon. At the junction, keep to the right, staying on Quarry Trail for the better of two routes sloping up and down through mixed forest and grassland and eventually (1 mi?) reuniting at their south trailhead on South Park Drive. Both trails are attractive but very rocky and steep in spots. When I hiked them in early June 2004 it appeared that grading was in progress, and had resulted in much better surface on some stretches, but had created a stretch of soft loose dirt near the junction on the north part of Big Springs Trail (left from the junction with Quarry Trail) that only a sand chair could have rolled over even with major AB assistance. This trail also drops steeply as it approaches and meets Wildcat Canyon Road several hundred feet from the Quarry Trail parking area, so making that loop entails wheeling on the narrow shoulder of a fairly busy road. Both of these trails are muddy in wet weather, moderately popular, and favored by dog owners.If you enter from South Park Drive, and intend to attempt a loop, I suggest starting up Big Springs Trail (bear right) first, since it is the steeper and rockier of the two. Details: These are both maintained as fire trails. Quarry Trail runs south from a parking area where Wildcat Canyon Road bends east about a mile past the Botanical Garden, or their south ends can be reached from South Park Drive (where there is no accessible toilet). The Wildcat Canyon Road trailhead has an accessible vault toilet at the east side of the picnic area, near a wheelchair-passable detour to avoid a few steps. Neither trailhead has designated parking, and both lots might be full on nice weekends. Last visit Spring 2004 From Central Park Drive near the Tilden Park Nature Study Area: Tilden Nature Area trailhead. The south end of Wildcat Creek Trail
is here, by the Nature Center and Little Farm. Its first half mile is
in the Nature Area, and very popular for children.This is a level, wide,
hard but uneven gravel and dirt trail through mixed woods (willow, oak,
alder, bay, eucalyptus…and lots of poison oak) along Wildcat Creek
past Jewel Lake, a pretty, marshy pond with good birdwatching. Benches
are provided along the trail and at the lake. One may also detour on
a boardwalk (0.2 miles) through the densely wooded marsh. This is just
40" wide with only one wide space, a viewing station with a bench.
Like the gravel trail, it can be a rough ride, and some branches overhang
the boardwalk enough to be a hazard for blind cane users. At the lake, one can get within a few feet of the water in a wheelchair,
either at the first opening (likely to be crowded with children) or,
if you take Packrat Trail across the dam and go 100 feet or so along
the west shore, at a much more peaceful spot there.Trees growing across
the trail prevent wheelchairs from taking Packrat Trail further, but
back on the east side, Wildcat Creek Trail continues north along Details: Served weekends by AC Transit #67. By car, take Spruce Street north from Berkeley to Wildcat Canyon Road, and turn down Canyon Drive, then left on Central Park Drive into a long parking area that can be crowded on weekends. At least two van-accessible parking spaces are provided, with accessible picnic/barbecue areas and restrooms, outside the Nature Area. Inside it, no dogs allowed (service dogs excepted). The Visitor Center is accessible including restrooms, and a pleasant and interesting place to visit. The nearby Little Farm is accessible except that the fences may be hard for a wheelchair user to see through or over, and its toilets are not accessible. Restrooms at Jewel Lake are accessible but have front-only transfer. Last visit Summer 2008 From Lone Oak Road: This trail, starting within a few hundred yards of the Tilden Nature Center at the south bend of Lone Oak Road, is a nice alternative to the more heavily used trails described above, if you can deal with the steepness and rough going due to erosion and low rocks. Because the grading is actually pretty good, I didn't find the steepness difficult to manage, but in the mile or so that we traveled, the trail climbed several hundred feet, sometimes quite steeply. It would have been a real workout in a manual chair -- and scary coming back. For my efforts climbing up Meadows Canyon, I enjoyed a pleasant grassy hillside spotted with groves of oak, bay and eucalyptus. Looking at the map, it seems possible, though maybe not likely, that anyone who got as far as I did could complete the 1.4 mile climb to where this trail meets Wildcat Canyon Road, not far from the Inspiration Point trailhead and the north ends of several marginally accessible trails discussed above. One trail that is not accessible at its north end is the Wildcat Gorge Trail, also taking off from Lone Oak Road, but immediately dropping to cross the creek. It might be interesting to attempt it from its South end, since it is supposed to be a fire road. Please report if you try it! Details: To reach Lone Oak Road, turn right on Central Park Drive at the bottom of Canyon Drive, then immediately left. The Meadows Canyon trailhead will be on your right; there is an accessible porta-potty opposite it. Two picnic tables are also situated here, but they are on sloping grass and may not be the most comfortable place to have lunch. If you continue on Lone Oak Road you reach the south end of Loop Road, discussed above. |
the
creek with moderate slopes for another 3.5 miles, through Wildcat Canyon
Park to the trailhead at McBryde Avenue in Richmond. Some of the trails
that diverge along the way may also be usable, though steeper and likely
to be muddy in wet weather. But in the Nature Area, it's disappointing
to find many of the nature trails inaccessible. At least the first 0.2
mi. of the Service Road is useable, as is Loop Road AG-B;
***; 1.5 miles; a wide, medium rough hard gravel trail which
runs mostly through eucalyptus, north from Lone Oak Road sloping up
and then down to meet Wildcat Creek Trail at Jewel Lake.