East Bay Trails. David Weintraub

the Wildcat Canyon staging area: From Lomas Cantadas, return to Highway 24 and follow it west to Interstate 580 westbound, then get on Interstate 80 eastbound. From Interstate 80 in Richmond, take the Solano Ave. exit, which puts you on Amador St. Turn left and go 0.4 mile to McBryde Ave. Turn right and follow McBryde Ave. 0.2 mile, staying in the left lane as you approach a stop sign. (Use caution at this intersection; traffic from the right does not stop.) Continue straight, now on Park Ave., for 0.1 mile to the parking area, left. The trailhead is at the east end of the parking area.

      This northernmost segment of the 31-mile East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail uses the Wildcat Creek, Belgum, San Pablo Ridge, Curran, Sea View, Lupine, and Vollmer Peak trails, along with Nimitz Way, to traverse Wildcat Canyon and Tilden regional parks. Although there is steep climbing at the outset, much of the point-to-point route is along the top of San Pablo Ridge, a generally level course, and views are among the best in the East Bay.

      From the east end of the parking area, head uphill past stands of coast live oak, eucalyptus, acacia, and Monterey pine on paved Wildcat Creek Trail, a remnant of Wildcat Canyon Road, which was closed in the early 1980s by landslides. After about 0.3 mile the pavement ends, and you continue on a rocky and eroded dirt road, past an unsigned path, left. Willows signal the presence of Wildcat Creek, downhill and right, which gets its start high on Vollmer Peak and empties into San Pablo Bay north of the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge.

      Nimitz Way offers a paved route between Wildcat Canyon and Tilden regional parks.

      At about the 0.5-mile point, you come to a junction with the Belgum Trail, here a paved road, where you turn left and begin to climb. There is a trail post at the junction with an emblem for the East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail. As you walk uphill, you pass an area, left, that has been invaded by cardoon, an artichoke relative in the thistle family. A program by EBRPD to control this nonnative pest is underway. Passing through a gate, you stay on pavement for about 100 feet and then the Belgum Trail continues as a dirt road. There is a large eucalyptus grove ahead, and if you turn and look west, you have a beautiful view of Mt. Tamalpais.

      The route alternates between wooded and open areas, and at one point passes several large palm trees, the site of Belgum’s Grand Vista Sanitarium, which has since burned down. As you gain elevation on a moderate grade, the view gets even better, taking in Angel Island and the Golden Gate Bridge. Open areas here, mostly grassland, will be decorated in spring with blue bush lupine and California poppy. Beyond another large stand of eucalyptus, the route stays in the open, passing occasional groves of California bay. With every step, more of the Bay Area is revealed, including the San Francisco skyline, which on a clear day appears etched on a background of hills and blue sky.

      After reaching a shoulder, the route passes a rest bench, bends left and continues its climb, aiming for the high ground of San Pablo Ridge, just east across an open valley. As the route levels and then drops slightly, the vista extends north across San Pablo Bay to the hills of Napa and Sonoma counties and Mt. St. Helena. At the next flat spot, several junctions sprout trails in different directions. The first junction is a fork; here an unsigned road heads straight but you veer left, reaching a trail post in about 50 feet. At the post, the Clark–Boas Trail heads left and downhill, a faint trail climbs right, and your route, the Belgum Trail to San Pablo Ridge Trail, continues straight. A field of California buttercup brightens the scene here, and nearby is an active California ground squirrel colony. You may see an American kestrel hovering overhead, on the lookout for small reptiles and rodents.

      Soon you reach the next junction, a fork marked by a trail post, where you veer right and steeply uphill on the San Pablo Ridge Trail, a rough dirt road. As you crest San Pablo Ridge, you have your first view today of Mt. Diablo, dead ahead. The route now climbs over several high summits, each one affording 360-degree views of almost the entire Bay Area; this park provides some of the best vantage points in the East Bay hills. As you head southeast along the ridgetop, the side of San Pablo Ridge drops steeply left to the narrow valley filled by San Pablo Reservoir. Ahead in the distance lies Tilden Regional Park, crowned by Vollmer Peak (1913’), a forested summit with communication towers; a parking area just south of the peak is your goal for today.

      Descending in open terrain, the San Pablo Ridge Trail ends at a junction, at about the 2.8-mile point, with the Mezue Trail, which goes left and right. You turn right and walk past a large cattle pen. Whatever trees and shrubs grow here, mostly bay and coyote brush, are kept low and flat-topped by the wind, which usually blows from the west. About 100 yards beyond the previous junction, you pass a dirt road, left. Some 50 feet farther, you pass Old Nimitz Way, another dirt road merging from the left. Now on Nimitz Way, you continue southeast on a mostly level course, go through a cattle gate, and soon reach a T-junction at the base of a hill used during the Cold War as a Nike missile site.

      Here a gravel road heads left to the concrete base of the Nike site, and your route, Nimitz Way, now a paved road, goes right. As you curve around the hill, Oakland’s skyline appears, and you begin to get views toward the south end of San Francisco Bay. In spring, poppies, red maids, and other wildflowers color the grassy hills beside Nimitz Way. A short distance beyond the Nike site you pass a junction, right, with the Havey Canyon Trail. Soon a rest bench beckons, and you can enjoy a glorious view of Mt. Diablo and, to its right, Las Trampas and Rocky ridges, the high walls that form Bollinger Canyon. A bit farther, the Eagle’s Nest Trail, a segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail, joins from the left. From here to near the south end of Anthony Chabot Regional Park, the Bay Area Ridge and East Bay Skyline National Recreation trails follow the same route.

      Continuing on Nimitz Way, a poplar route for hikers, bicyclists, in-line skaters, equestrians, and joggers, you next pass the Conlon Trail, which goes straight and uphill to the edge of Tilden Regional Park, then switches back and descends to the Wildcat Creek Trail. Stay left to continue on Nimitz Way. At about the 5-mile point, you cross into Tilden Regional Park and enter the shade of a large eucalyptus grove. Soon a connector to the Peak Trail, signed WILDCAT PEAK TRAIL, joins Nimitz Way from the right, and if you look up the trail you can see a planted stand of cone-shaped trees, giant sequoias, called the Rotary Peace Grove. (These trees achieve their giant status only on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, their natural habitat.)

      Now you are walking in filtered sunlight and shade, thanks to the eucalyptus and bay trees that line the route. Beside the road you may find snowberry, blackberry, vine honeysuckle, and much poison oak. At the next junction, Laurel Canyon Road leads right and downhill through the Tilden Nature Area. As you continue on Nimitz Way, you pass several large stands of mostly Monterey pine, right, and a seasonal wetland bordered with willows, left. Another collection of giant sequoias, right, called the Redwood Grove, was planted by the Berkeley Hiking Club.

      The route soon swings left and follows a set of power lines, and now, rounding a bend, you can see Inspiration Point and its parking area ahead. Rest benches on this part of Nimitz Way are strategically placed to take advantage of the best views, especially of Mt. Diablo and Mt. Tamalpais. Just before reaching Inspiration Point, a little past the 7-mile point, Nimitz Way bends left and comes to a gate. Before the gate, just past some toilets, look for a trail post, right, with the Bay Area Ridge Trail and East Bay Skyline National Recreation Trail emblems. Here you turn right, descend a dirt-and-gravel path, and in about 30 feet turn right again on the Curran Trail, a dirt road.

      Continuing to descend over rough ground, you enter an area shaded by bay, coast live oak, and pine. A few hundred yards down the road you pass the Meadows Canyon Trail, right, and in about 50 feet come to a junction with a single-track trail going left and uphill. Climbing up it on a moderate grade across a brushy hillside, you soon reach Wildcat Canyon Road, a paved thoroughfare that runs through the heart of Tilden Regional Park. Cross the road carefully and find the Sea View Trail, a dirt road, taking off left and uphill. This rocky road makes a sweeping S-bend to gain altitude on a moderate grade. Eucalyptus trees, which here shade the route, look and smell lovely, but besides being a fire hazard they can fall during wind storms.

      As the route bends left you pass a trail, right, to the Quarry picnic area, then continue on a moderate uphill grade, with views extending from Mt. St. Helena to the San Francisco skyline. If you