East Bay Trails. David Weintraub
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you can even pick out your earlier route along San Pablo Ridge in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park. Soon you pass the Big Springs Trail, right; afterwards the uphill grade eases somewhat as you enter a stand of Monterey and Coulter pines. The view now extends west past the Golden Gate Bridge to the Pacific Ocean, and east to Briones Reservoir and the hills of Briones Regional Park. On this stretch you will pass several paths that head left to viewpoints, but your route continues straight and soon begins to climb steeply over rocky, eroded ground.
Reaching a high point, you are rewarded by a 360-degree panorama and a conveniently placed picnic table. In spring, large sunflower-like blossoms of mule’s ear appear, giving a festive appearance to the grassy slopes, which are also decorated with lupine and fiddleneck, sporting yellow-orange flowers along a coiled stem. Now the route descends, in preparation for the final push up Vollmer Peak. Reaching a flat spot at about the 9-mile point, you pass the Big Springs Trail, heading right and downhill. Beginning to climb again on a moderate grade, you pass a west-facing hillside covered with clumps of California sagebrush and black sage, chaparral plants that seem out of place in the fog belt. The road now makes a series of S-bends to gain elevation, and soon reaches a junction marked by a trail post.
Here the Lupine Trail, a single track, goes right, bending away from Vollmer Peak, and the Sea View Trail continues over the peak, then descends to the Lomas Cantadas parking area. (Bicyclists must use the Sea View Trail.) Turning right, you pass in about 20 feet a junction with the Arroyo Trail, right, but you continue straight on the Lupine Trail. After several hundred feet, you pass an unsigned trail, right, and then climb through a brushy area to a clearing and a T-junction marked with a trail post. Here the Lupine Trail turns right, but you turn left onto an unsigned trail and continue to climb, now on a rocky path. In about 150 feet you meet the Vollmer Peak Trail, which goes straight (uphill) and also right. You veer right and contour around the west side of the peak. Crossing a steep hillside brightened by buttercups, lupine, mule’s ear, and poppies, you soon reach a junction. Here the Vollmer Peak Trail turns right, but you angle left and enter a dense bay forest. After about 200 feet you emerge at the Lomas Cantadas parking area.
LOMAS CANTADAS TO SKYLINE GATE
Length: 6.3 miles
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Rating: Moderate
Regulations: EBMUD, EBRPD; no bicycles, no dogs; horses in Huckleberry Regional Preserve are allowed only on the East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail.
Facilities: Water and toilets are available at Lomas Cantadas in the Steam Trains parking area; at Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve visitor center (about half way); and at Skyline Gate. There are picnic tables across the road from the Steam Trains entrance. A phone is available at Skyline Gate.
Directions: This is a car shuttle trip, starting at Lomas Cantadas, near the Steam Trains in Tilden Regional Park, and ending at Skyline Gate in Redwood Regional Park. Drive first to Skyline Gate, leave a car there, and proceed to Lomas Cantadas.
To reach Skyline Gate: From Highway 24 just east of the Caldecott Tunnel, take the Fish Ranch Road exit and go uphill 1.0 mile to a four-way intersection with Claremont Ave. and Grizzly Peak Blvd. Turn left on Grizzly Peak Blvd. and go 2.5 miles to Skyline Blvd. Turn left and follow Skyline Blvd. for 2 miles, staying left at an intersection with Snake Road, to Skyline Gate, on the left, 0.1 mile beyond Shepherd Canyon Road.
To reach Lomas Cantadas: From Skyline Gate, return on Skyline Blvd. 2 miles to Grizzly Peak Blvd., which is just beyond the entrance to Sibley Volcanic Regional Park. Turn right onto Grizzly Peak Blvd. and go 3.6 miles, passing the four-way intersection with Claremont Ave. and Fish Ranch Road, to Lomas Cantadas Dr. Turn right and then immediately left onto a road signed for Tilden Regional Park’s Steam Trains, Fire Station, and Corporation Yard. Pass the entrance to the Steam Trains, left, and at a fork bear right and slightly uphill to a large gravel parking area. The trailhead is at the southeast end of the Lomas Cantadas parking area.
From Highway 24 just east of the Caldecott Tunnel, take the Fish Ranch Road exit and go uphill 1 mile to a four-way intersection with Claremont Ave. Grizzly Peak Blvd. Turn right on Grizzly Peak Blvd. and go 1.1 miles to Lomas Cantadas Dr. Turn right and then immediately left onto a road signed for Tilden Regional Park’s Steam Trains, Fire Station, and Corporation Yard. Pass the entrance to the Steam Trains, left, and at a fork bear right and slightly uphill to a large gravel parking area. The trailhead is at the southeast end of the Lomas Cantadas parking area.
This segment of the East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail, here also part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, heads southeast from the edge of Tilden Regional Park, crosses EBMUD land and the Caldecott Tunnel, and then traverses Sibley Volcanic and Huckleberry Botanic regional preserves on its way to the northwest corner of Redwood Regional Park. A point-to-point trip of many ups and downs, and terrains ranging from open grasslands to deep wooded canyons, its rewards include dramatic views of Mt. Diablo and a wonderful assortment of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. (Much of this trail follows the ridgeline, where tall trees collect water from the fog and drop it onto the paths below, making for possibly muddy trails even in summer.)
From the southeast end of the parking area, walk along the entrance road—passing a paved road that climbs Vollmer Peak, left, and a road to the Steam Trains, right—until you reach a crosswalk at Lomas Cantadas Dr. Cross carefully and look left for a trail post with emblems for the East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail and the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Here you get on a single-track trail and follow it downhill, passing through several gates into a weedy area overgrown with coyote brush, cow parsnip, vine honeysuckle, and poison oak. You are now on EBMUD lands, and the view, when you reach a clearing, extends east toward Orinda and Mt. Diablo. The trail is rough and eroded in places, lined with California sagebrush, bush monkeyflower, toyon, and thimbleberry, and shaded by California bay and California buckeye.
The route levels, then climbs, and soon reaches a T-junction with the deLaveaga Trail, a dirt road. Here you turn right, climb a short steep section, and then enjoy a level walk with a beautiful view, left, of Mt. Diablo. (Another beautiful, if startling, sight when I hiked here was a large male peacock, perhaps someone’s pet.)
The road bends sharply left, descends slightly, then levels and comes to a four-way junction, poorly signed, with a dirt fire road, closed to the public. Here you proceed straight, finding a single-track trail that leads through a brushy area decorated with Chinesehouses, mule’s ear, and woodland star.
The trail crosses a steep hillside, reinforced to help prevent landslides, that drops left, and then alternates between open and wooded areas, where blackberry, coffeeberry, and hillside gooseberry grow in the shade of bay and coast live oak. Passing the Berkeley Hills Reservoir, a large EBMUD water tank, you soon you reach an open grassy area where the trail turns sharply west toward the Golden Gate Bridge. Below you is Fish Ranch Road, which you will soon cross. Entering a stand of eucalyptus, you pass a faint trail heading right and uphill, but here your route bends sharply left and goes downhill over rough ground. Then, at about the 1.5-mile point, you reach two gates and a paved path leading, in approximately 200 feet, to Fish Ranch Road.
Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve is within easy access of Berkeley and Oakland.
Fish Ranch Road is a busy, high-speed thoroughfare, so take care when crossing. Once on the other side, you will see signs for the East Bay Skyline and Bay Area Ridge trails. Now on a wide dirt trail, you wind on mostly level ground through a wooded area of coast live oak, bay, and blue elderberry. Soon the route begins a moderate descent, then rises slightly to a four-way junction with an overgrown dirt road. The Caldecott Tunnel, built in 1937, runs through the Berkeley Hills near this spot. Here you continue straight, descending past bigleaf maple, hazelnut, and madrone, on a trail lined with French broom, coyote brush, and poison oak. Several tight S-bends take you downhill quickly, but then a short climb wins back some of the lost elevation.
Where Old Tunnel Road merges from the right, you join it briefly, then continue straight as