Any walk that involves a volcano is a hit. Even if it’s a 10-million-year-old one.
That said, I didn’t have huge expectations for Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve because I thought it was going to be small and hot. Boy, was I wrong.
Sibley, part of the East Bay Regional Park District, straddles Oakland and is an absolutely stunning walk. It has it all: great scenery, activities for the kids, varied terrain, and as many different trails as you could want. It was very clear it was a popular place because people were everywhere, and yet we had the trail to ourselves the majority of the time.
Our Trail
We took the kid-friendly Round Top Loop, which pretty much has it all: a healthy 1.6 mile length, it circles around the volcano, provides views of Round Top (see below) and Mt. Diablo, and leads you to the Quarry Pit where there is a fun rock maze to walk.
About the Volcano
EBRP’s website says, “Originally called Round Top Park, Sibley shares with Temescal and Tilden the distinction of being one of the East Bay Regional Park District’s original parks. The preserve was later named in honor of Robert Sibley, who helped found the District and served for 10 years on its board of directors.
“Round Top, one of the area’s highest peaks, is made up of lava and volcanic debris left over from a 10-million-year-old volcano. During the past 10 million years, massive tectonic forces on the Hayward and Moraga earthquake faults uplifted the Berkeley hills, folding bedrock formations and tilting the Round Top volcano complex on its side.
“Softer sedimentary rock from the Orinda Formation eroded away, exposing the Round Top volcano. In addition, quarrying in the north half of the preserve has revealed cross sections of the bedrock geology, providing an unsurpassed outdoor laboratory for studying volcanism in the Central Coast Ranges.
“Round Top (elevation 1763 ft. above sea level) is the preserve’s most prominent feature.”
Before you start your walk, stop at the visitor’s shed (I call it a shed because that’s what it is) and take a look at the interpretive panels, which have samples of the rocks you’re going to see on your walk and tells you what they are (well, hey’re all volcanic, but it gets specific). My boys had a good time with this.
As mentioned above, Sibley has a ton of trails. The Bay Area Ridge Trail system traverses through the park, and Volcanic Trail, once a quarry haul road, has a numbered, self-guided volcanic tour (pick up a brochure at the visitor’s shed or download below). We didn’t have time for the Volcanic Trail, but I really want to go back to it.
The rock maze at the Quarry Pit also contains interesting evidence of ancient lava flow, and the kids (and I) loved the rock maze.
Views of Mt. Diablo are stunning. Along this part of the trail, I felt a real sense of the beauty of the East Bay.
This rocky terrain is what you’ll walk on the first part of the walk (after the paved road part). Watch your ankles! This is amazing volcanic terrain.
Animals we saw:
- Northern Checkerspot butterfly
- Tons of fast, zipping Sara’s Orangetip butterflies
- Common Buckeye butterfly
- Dodge’s skipper butterfly
- Western Warbler
- Fence lizard
The bird is really hard to see here; he’s a Western Warbler. Look close in the left part of the photo. Did you see it?
More Information
How to Get There
- From Highway 24 take the Fish Ranch Road immediately east of the Caldecott Tunnel. Continue 0.8 miles to Grizzly Peak Boulevard. Turn left and go 2.4 miles on Grizzly Peak to Skyline Boulevard. Turn left and drive .1 mile to the preserve entrance on the left.
- From points not on Highway 24, take Grizzly Peak Blvd and right after it turns to Skyline, turn left and the park entrance is on the left. Likewise, if taking Skyline, the park entrance is right before the intersection with Grizzly Peak Blvd.
Start the trail from the right of the visitor’s shed. Then, walk along the paved road and stay to the left when it forks to stay on the Round Top Loop trail, which you need to pass through a cattle gate to access.
