Parks in Oakland

Anthony Chabot Park is 5,067 acres where visitors can explore miles of hiking trails through grasslands, chaparral, and shady eucalyptus groves or along the shores of Lake Chabot. The East Bay Skyline National Trail, which traverses 31 miles of East Bay hills from Richmond to Castro Valley, runs the length of the park. Chabot is connected to Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area by a six mile section of the Chabot to Garin Regional Trail.

The main trail of the 241-acre preserve is a 1.7-mile, self-guided nature loop trail with total elevation change of about 300 feet with a view of Mt Diablo on a mostly shaded trail. It highlights the continual display of blossoming plants that are rare to the East Bay due to the unique climate and soil conditions in this area. Explore a variety of ferns, toyon, gooseberry, creambush, currant, California hazelnut, manzanita, monkey flowers, live oaks and bay laurels. You can sample the huckleberries along the trail in the summer. Dirt lot parking for 12 cars. Portable toilets are on site.

Situated in the Oakland Hills, Joaquin Miller Park contains one of the only Urban Second Growth Redwood Groves in existence. The park is 500 acres and is used for picnics, hiking, bird watching, horseback riding, bicycling, dog walking and jogging. Park elevation ranges from about 800 feet to 1500 feet.  There is a mix of shady and exposed trails.

Lakeside Park spans 155 acres and there is a 3.4 mile loop around Lake Merritt. It is best known for Lake Merritt and its related boating activities. Other activities include jogging or biking along paved trails, or bird watching nearby the five bird islands on the lake that serve as the oldest Wildlife Refuge in Northern America.

This is 741 acre park with 50 acre Arrowhead Marsh that is part of the Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network. There is plentiful birdwatching here as well as Doolittle Pond. There are paved trails that are shared by pedestrians and bicycles. There are picnic areas, restrooms and drinking fountains.

The park's 1,829 acres is home to a forest of coast redwood, other evergreens, chaparral, and grasslands. Wildlife includes rare species such as the golden eagle and Alameda striped racer snake. You are likely to see deer, raccoons and rabbits.  Redwood Creek runs through the park and is home to the world-famous rainbow trout that spawn in the creek and migrate from a downstream reservoir.

This 82 acre area has an entrance and parking area that are in a grove of redwoods. There is about two miles of shared pedestrian and bicycle trails throughout the park that connect to much longer trails in the neighboring Redwood Regional Park. There are eight picnic areas, five drinking fountains and five restrooms throughout the park.

There are about ten miles of trails including a trail leading up to Round Top (elevation 1763 ft.) that is made up of lava and volcanic debris left over from a 10-million-year-old volcano. Other trails pass through ridgelines and ponds.  The visitor center offers a self-guided brochure for observing the local geology. There is a bathroom and drinking fountain by the visitor center.

Majestic trees shade much of the 4.2 acres. One of the amenities of the park is a manicured mini course and putting green which allows patrons to play golf.

The land around Temescal Lake has a perimeter of under 10 miles. There is one parking lot, multiple drinking fountains and picnic tables, restrooms and a fishing dock. There are multi use paved trails on the eastern shore of the lake and unpaved hiker only trails along the western shore of the lake.