East Bay Trails. David Weintraub

hummingbird, while the tall spike of a century plant may hold a white-tailed kite. Descending past beautiful acacia trees, which bloom in mid-winter, and a grassy area brightened by yellow Bermuda buttercups, you reach the edge of the marsh, flooded at high tide, where a trail joins from the left.

      As the route turns right and heads toward the Bay, you pass a trail heading left into the marsh. Tide and time of year will determine the level of bird activity here, especially for shorebirds, a tribe that includes oystercatchers, avocets, stilts, plovers, willets, curlews, godwits, small sandpipers, dowitchers, and phalaropes. Most of these birds breed elsewhere, usually during May and June, and arrive here as either migratory visitors or winter residents. Some shorebirds, however, including American avocets, black-necked stilts, and snowy plovers, a threatened species, nest in the marshes around San Francisco Bay.

      At low tide, shorebirds will be dispersed along the many miles of mudflats around the Bay that provide fertile feeding grounds, and at high tide, rising water will force them to congregate in elevated roosting areas, just above the flood. Thus a rising or falling tide is best for viewing shorebirds. If shorebirds are present, you are almost certain to see one of their tribe called a willet. With its long legs and long bill, this large, drab gray sandpiper transforms itself in flight into a thing of beauty, flashing a bold black-and-white wing pattern as it skims low over the marsh.

      As you begin to climb through a rocky area with outcrops of serpentine, California’s state rock, you pass some large century plants, residents of southern California, whose tall stalks offer perches for winged hunters in this treeless part of the refuge. At a rest bench, the route levels and bends right, leading you to another observation deck.

      Here the route forks, the right-hand path staying level and the left-hand path dropping past a tangle of blackberry vines to a bridge over Newark Slough. Descend to the bridge, which makes a great vantage point for observing birds as they fly over the marsh and swim in the slough. You can also study the marsh plants—pickleweed, cord grass, salt grass, alkali heath—spread out below and adapted in varying degrees to their salty surroundings. In the late summer and early fall, marsh gum-plant sports bright yellow flowers, pickleweed adds touches of red and magenta, and dodder, a parasitic plant, paints everything it touches a garish orange.

      After crossing the bridge, you reach a T-junction with a dirt path running along the top of a levee next to a salt pond. If the pond is flooded, you may see shorebirds such as western and least sandpipers, dunlin, and black-necked stilts scampering along its edge, probing for invertebrates or picking brine flies off the water’s surface. Turning right, you come to a picnic table and another observation deck, a good vantage point from which to observe the Bay’s salt ponds.

      Although definitely a drastic alteration of the natural habitat, salt ponds have created a unique environment, similar to saline Mono Lake in the eastern Sierra, that supports a breeding population of American avocets, black-necked stilts, phalaropes, and snow plovers, along with California gulls and Forster’s terns. (Because of the snowy plover’s threatened status, Marshlands Road beyond the visitor-center parking area is closed from April through approximately the end of August).

      Endangered species, such as brown pelicans, peregrine falcons, least terns, clapper rails, and salt marsh harvest mice, call the refuge home or pass through on migration; despite habitat loss, they have survived thanks to efforts by conservationists, scientists, and government agencies. Other animals that used to roam the Bay Area, such as grizzly bear and tule elk, are no longer found here.

      Stories of the Bay’s huge supply of waterfowl attracted sportsmen and market hunters to these marshes beginning in the late 1800s. A low red hunting shack, right, was built in the 1930s by Joe Pine of Niles, California, and was occupied by him until the 1960s. A nearby sunken blind, left, offers a hidden site for bird observation and photography. Just past the blind, the route turns right to cross Newark Slough on a long wooden bridge. (The Newark Slough Trail, a 5-mile circuit, starts here and follows the slough west into the marsh.)

      Partway across the bridge, another shack, left, has a picnic table and information about the creatures—brine flies and brine shrimp—that live in salt ponds. Once across the bridge, you switchback right, passing a trail leading left to a small amphitheater used for outdoor meetings and programs, and climb to an observation deck flanked by picnic tables in the shade of a eucalyptus. At a T-junction you turn left, joining the path coming from above the first bridge. As you come over a low rise, you reach the paved path leading right and uphill to the visitor center. With the large flagpole directly ahead, follow a dirt-and-gravel path straight to the parking area.

      ◆Berkeley and Oakland Hills ◆

      ◆ East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail ◆

      The East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail was the nation’s first nonfederal national recreation trail, a designation granted by the U.S. Department of the Interior to publicly owned or controlled routes that are close to an urban or metropolitan area; have scenic value; are wide enough to provide for hiking, horseback riding, nature study, and, in some cases, bicycling; and do not allow motor vehicles. The Skyline Trail certainly fulfills all of these requirements and more: it is one of the gems of our East Bay parklands.

      When the Skyline Trail opened in 1970, it ran through only Anthony Chabot and Redwood regional parks. Today the 31-mile route stretches from the Wildcat staging area in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park to Proctor Gate in Anthony Chabot Regional Park, meaning it is possible to walk or ride a horse on an unbroken path from Richmond to Castro Valley. (Bicycles are not permitted on a 6.3-mile section from Lomas Cantadas in Tilden Regional Park to Skyline Gate in Redwood Regional Park.) The Skyline Trail passes through six EBRPD regional parks and preserves: Wildcat Canyon, Tilden, Redwood, Anthony Chabot, Sibley Volcanic, and Huckleberry Botanic. The route also briefly crosses EBMUD land between Tilden Regional Park and Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve.

      While it is possible to hike or jog the entire trail in one day, most people do it in stages. In this book, the trail is divided into four segments, each of which is easily completed in a day, with a not-too-difficult car shuttle. Be sure to take plenty of water and snacks; there is only limited water along the way. Food, drinks, and cold beer are available at the Willow Park Golf Course, near Proctor Gate, the trail’s southern end. There is currently only one overnight camp for individuals and groups, at Anthony Chabot Campground near the southern end of the route. For campground information call [phone].

WILDCAT CANYON TO LOMAS CANTADAS

      Length: 10.2 miles

      Time: 4 to 6 hours

      Rating: Difficult

      Regulations: EBRPD

      Facilities: Water and picnic tables are available in the Alvarado Area picnic grounds, northwest of the parking area in Wildcat Canyon, and at Lomas Cantadas near Tilden Regional Park’s Steam Trains parking area. Toilets are available at the Wildcat staging area, Inspiration Point, and Lomas Cantadas.

      Directions: This is a car shuttle trip, starting at the Wildcat Canyon staging area in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, and ending at Lomas Cantadas, near the Steam Trains in Tilden Regional Park. Drive first to Lomas Cantadas, leave a car there, and proceed to the Wildcat Canyon staging area.

      To reach Lomas Cantadas: 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. and 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.

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