Wildcat Canyon - July '24

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On a mid-July Tuesday, six of us drove to Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, in the Bay Area, near Richmond, where we enjoyed a simple out & back walk on the Wildcat Creek trail.  

This property is part of the extensive East Bay Regional Park District, see Postscript.

note - you can enlarge any part of a picture by left-clicking in and then out again (not on smartphones). 

	at the trailhead, see note		Andrew & the road ahead		thistle
		long time work friend Andrew		teasel		Buckeye tree
	on the walk back				an uphill path not taken
				kids on bikes, see note 2

note - left to right are Andrew, Marcia, Barbara, Jean, and Donna.

note 2 - on the walk back, maybe 15 kids on bikes rode in single file past us. Once we caught up to them, taking a break, their adult group leader said they'd come from nearby Tilden Park and they did this every week. The bikes were all single speed, and the kids kept a safe distance apart, experienced bike riding kids.   

I enjoyed the scenery as well as cooler Bay Area temperatures, with occasional breezes. 

We had agreed (at the trailhead) that we'd walk until the group felt like turning back. After we did turn around, we found a shady picnic table for lunch. Our out & back walk was at least 6 miles w/500 ft. of gain. 

The complete walk to the turn-around point in Tilden Park is 8.7 miles with 1,026 ft. of gain (from AllTrails).

It was a really uncrowded day on the trail, and traffic there & back was light, a good day out.

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In Feb. '22, Rich's hiking group, with 13 of us, took the Wildcat Creek walk to the Mezue trail, where we turned left & climbed up to the main ridge trail, a real workout of a walk.  

	winter look		San Pablo Bay in the distance		Berkeley hills peaks in the distance
		Linda & Rich w/ Mt. Tam in the distance		see note

note - this is Rich's super wide angle Nikon point & shoot camera image, taken from the lunch spot, which scenery includes the Bay Bridge (far left) and Golden Gate Bridge (far right), plus downtown buildings, in between.   

Postscript - The Wildcat Canyon property was among the first three parks acquired (in 1936) by the East Bay Regional Park District, which was formed in 1930. The original WC property included what is now Tilden Park.

With a land/habitat conservation ethic & a lot mgmt. foresight, the EBRPD evolved & now manages 80+ parks, almost all with well-maintained hiking, biking, and horse back riding trails.  Almost a hundred years after its founding, most park properties are surrounded by dense urbanization, so these Parks are environmental gems ! 

The EBRPD is the largest urban park district in the US. 

Those of us in Rich's hiking group, over the past 20+ years, have been fortunate to hike at so many of them ! 

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