Redwood Regional Park in the Oakland hills, part of East Bay Region Park District, is one of those rare pockets of land that make you forget you’re in an urban area. Its redwood grove is absolutely gorgeous and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think you were on the coast, two hours away from anywhere.
Part of East Bay Regional Park District, Redwood Park is vast. There are a bunch of trails, and the two marked “easy” are small sections of the East and West Ridge trails on the north west part of the park. We actually walked these trails in February, but I have to say, I didn’t rush to blog about it because they weren’t all that enjoyable. The were easy, yes, and pretty, sure, but they were too short and simply weren’t worth driving up into the hills for, and they didn’t have any redwoods.
Luckily, we knew that down in the bottom of the park lies the best of the bunch: the redwood grove.
And we picked out a fabulous, easy trail for you that both our kids had no problem with.
From ERPD’s website: “A hidden redwood forest lies off Redwood Road just a few miles over the ridge from downtown Oakland. The forest’s peaceful groves give little evidence of the park’s bustling past – in the mid-1800s the area was the scene of extensive logging to supply building materials for the San Francisco Bay Area. The logging era has long since passed, and a stately forest of 150-foot coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) has replaced those cut down.”
The Trail
There are tons of ways into the park, but what you want to do is get to the Canyon Meadow staging area. Directions there are at the bottom of this post. The trail we recommend is the easy, paved Stream Trail, taken to Trail’s End, about a mile, and then things get great.
Go up the Chown Trail — it is now a redwood path and elevation is steep but not difficult. You’ll climb higher and higher and you’ll start feeling great because you’re in a redwood grove and you’ve forgotten you’re in Oakland.
Go east on the French Trail when you hit the marker, and that will take you down to the Orchard Trail, which is steep and windy, and that leads you to the Bridle Trail, which runs parallel with the Stream Trail you took in. The Bridle Trail takes you back to the parking lot, but the bridge over the creek is way down at the Fishway parking lot, so keep that in mind.
In all, the trail is about 2 or so miles in the loop, and the ascent is considerable, but not difficult. Four-year-old Complaint Test: level 2. Meaning, there were a few complaints but relatively very few.
From the top of Chown Trail, you can see a peek of Mt. Diablo, if you’re vigilant.
Stuff to Do
While the Bridle Trail is much nicer than the paved but rather boring Stream Trail, the Stream Trail has lots of great things to do. There’s a small play structure if you need it (we gave it a miss), but there is a fantastic Create-with-Nature Pathway, which is a small redwood path to the side that has path borders for kids (and grownups!) to create art and move things around. It’s a fantastic alternative to moving things around on paths in general, which you have to be careful about due to erosion in the park seen over the last several years thanks to kids and dogs galloping off the trails.
We had a lot of fun with this.
There are loads of interpretive panels along the way (you can see them as PDFs here) and the Old Church is fun — it’s a small amphitheater (although that word is a bit of a stretch considering the three rows of short logs as seating); really it’s good for a small wedding.
Take a moment when the Stream Trail turns into redwoods to stop and listen and smell. Redwood trees distort sound so things bounce off the huge trunks and also are more muffled. There is a hush in a redwood grove, and if you’re lucky you’ll hear bird song echo off the gentle giants (although these are babies in these parks). In the Old Church area, there are some cut trees and you can show the kids the rings and the deep, red heart of a redwood tree. We took some time to look at and touch the soft, almost furry bark in comparison with the smooth, hard wood inside.
The smell of the redwoods is also quite unique and lovely. Look around the trail and pick up – but don’t take – some tiny redwood cones. These are amazing to look at because compared to pine trees, the redwood cones are tiny and yet produce such giants!
Animals
Hiking in the redwoods means you see fewer animals simply because they have many more places to hide. We therefore saw a few lizards and added to our butterfly collection with a Cabbage White, which you can view on my new Animals page. (You can find this page from my Resources page.)
More Information
- Redwoodhikes.com’s page on Redwood Park with great pictures
- Redwood Regional park page on ERPD’s site
- Trail map (PDF)
How to Get There
- From 580, take the 35th Avenue exit.
- 35th ave turns into Redwood Road
- Cross Skyline Blvd and kept on Redwood road. Go down and turn left into the Canyon Meadow Staging area. There is a fee to park; more if you have a dog. See above for parking lot tips.
- There is a fee to park and there are several lots as you drive in past the kiosk. Park in any of them.
