Bay Nature

6 acre Park managed by: East Bay Regional Park District

Once this canyon was part of the Pony Express route between Sacramento and San Francisco, now its mostly known for its hiking trails with excellent views of Oakland, Berkeley, and San Francisco Bay.

This 208-acre preserve straddles Claremont Canyon and borders undeveloped land owned by the University of California and the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The preserve supports a variety of vegetative communities including coastal scrub, oak/bay woodland, and non-native eucalyptus groves. A small creek, known both as Claremont Creek, and Harwood Creek, flows through the center of the canyon. Hiking trails traverse the preserve and connect with the University’s Ecological Study Area trail system.

Historically, the Claremont canyon was an important transportation corridor. In addition to  the Pony Express,it was the route for the transcontinental telegraph line in installed in 1858, and later for horse travel between Oakland and Contra Costa County until a tunnel was drilled through the hills in 1903.

There are no developed facilities.

East Bay Regional Park District’s page for this site.