Just past the bluff, near a clearing planted with pines, your road is joined by another coming from the right. Now you pass several more rest benches, and soon you can see across Point Pinole—an expanse of meadows and eucalyptus—to the east edge of San Pablo Bay. With the fishing pier in sight, you leave the Bay View Trail as it turns right, and continue straight on a narrow trail along the edge of cliffs overlooking the water. Near the present pier are the remains of a much older shipping wharf used by dynamite manufacturers.
Following the trail around the tip of Point Pinole, you soon join a paved path coming from the fishing pier, and turn south through a picnic area, where water and toilets are available. Just past the shuttle bus turn-around, you leave pavement and bear left on the Marsh Trail, a gravel road; Whittell Marsh, habitat for herons, egrets, and shorebirds, is left. After passing through a four-way junction, you can see another historical remnant, the Dynamite Blast and Burning Bunker, in the marsh. A fresh-water pond bordered by cattails marks an upcoming junction, where the gravel road, now called Owl Alley, continues straight, and your route, the Marsh Trail, a wide dirt path, turns left. (Both lead to the Cook’s Point Trail, your return route.)
Turn left and follow the Marsh Trail as it winds past a rest bench along the upland edge of Whittell Marsh, with eucalyptus and acacia bordering your route. In the fall portions of this pickleweed marsh turn brilliant ruby red. Just past the 3-mile point, you come to a rest bench and a junction with the Cook’s Point Trail, a dirt road. Just east of the junction is a machine used in making explosives—a black-powder press. From this junction, go sharply left to stay on the Marsh Trail. Near the edge of San Pablo Bay is a T-junction. Turn left again and follow the Marsh Trail to its dead end overlooking Whittell Marsh, where a beautiful view extends northwest past the tip of Point Pinole to the hills of Marin County.
Now return to the previous junction, turn right, and retrace your route to the junction of the Marsh and Cook’s Point trails, near the black-powder press. (To explore more of the shoreline, go straight from the junction mentioned at the start of this paragraph on a short connector that leads to the Cook’s Point Trail, which traces the shoreline east for a short distance. After these wanderings, retrace your route to the junction of the Marsh and Cook’s Point trails.)
Now follow the Cook’s Point Trail southwest, through a corridor of eucalyptus. At the junction with Owl Alley, you pass the ranger’s residence and continue straight, now on broken pavement, until you reach a fork in the route. Take the right-hand fork and climb slightly on solid pavement, passing a junction, left, with a gravel road. A few feet beyond, you reach another junction; here a paved road goes right and uphill, but your route, now a gravel path, bends left. Ahead you can see a picnic area and children’s play equipment. Just past the 4.5-mile point, you cross paved Point Pinole Road, which goes from the parking area to the fishing pier. Continue straight, now on a dirt path in a ravine, and walk downhill toward the water, enjoying a view of Mt. Tamalpais rising in the distance. About 0.3 mile past Point Pinole Road, you come to a trail post which points you left to the parking area. Ignore this, and continue toward the water, soon joining the Bay View Trail. From here, turn left and retrace your route to the parking area.
◆ Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline ◆
SCENIC LOOP
Length: 1.8 miles
Time: 1 to 2 hours
Rating: Moderate
Regulations: EBRPD; hiking only.
Facilities: Picnic tables, toilet, water (just past the north end of the parking area), phone.
Directions: From Interstate 580 eastbound in Richmond, take the Canal Blvd./Garrard Blvd. exit, turn right and go 0.1 mile to Cutting Blvd. Turn right, go 0.3 mile to S. Garrard and turn left. Follow S. Garrard, which becomes Dornan Dr. on the south side of a tunnel, 0.7 mile to the first of two park entrances, right. The trailhead is at the south end of the north parking area, at the entrance from Dornan Dr.
From Interstate 580 westbound in Richmond, take the Canal Blvd./Garrard Blvd. exit, turn left and go 0.2 mile to Cutting Blvd., then follow the directions above.
One of the East Bay’s more urban regional parks, Miller/Knox demonstrates the value of setting aside land for recreation and preservation. Less than a mile from the parking area, and barely hidden from a heavily industrialized site, is one of the region’s most scenic spots, a 322-foot vantage point straddling San Francisco and San Pablo bays, with views extending in all directions. This loop, using the West Ridge, Crest, and Marine View trails and Old Country Road, also lets you enjoy a lovely assortment of trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. This 306-acre regional shoreline was named for two EBRPD supporters in the state legislature, the late Senator George Miller, Jr. and former Assemblyman John T. Knox.
View south from the West Ridge Trail near West Ridge Point
Cross carefully to the east side of busy Dornan Dr. and find a dirt turnout just left of EBRPD’s Golden State Model Railroad Museum. From here a dirt path heads southeast to a boardwalk that zigzags across an open marshy area and then enters a stand of willow and coast live oak. After the boardwalk ends, the trail, now a single track lined with bush monkeyflower, toyon, and coyote brush, angles steeply uphill via two sets of wooden steps. Just past the first set of steps, you pass a path heading right and uphill, then continue climbing via switchbacks and a second set of steps.
At a T-junction marked by a trail post, you turn right on Old Country Road, a single track, and follow it south and then southwest toward West Ridge Point. As you make the turn, you have a beautiful view of the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge and Mt. Tamalpais, which dominates the western skyline. The route continues climbing, now on a moderate grade, past overgrown thickets of blackberry and manroot. In spring, the grassy hillsides here are splattered yellow with California buttercup. A short steep pitch brings another scenic reward, as you get a sweeping view of San Francisco and San Pablo bays, Angel Island, and the hills of Marin County.
Passing a trail post and an unsigned path, left, you continue straight and begin descending to a clearing where California poppies bloom from late winter through fall on an eroded hillside. Tall Monterey pines stand guard on a ridgetop, and the slopes below are graced with toyon, willow, and bush monkeyflower. A cool breeze off the water is welcome here on a warm day. The trail crosses a ditch on two wood planks, continues through the clearing, and then negotiates a steep hillside that drops to your right. Passing a path going right and downhill, and another heading left and uphill, you continue straight to a T-junction, marked by a trail post, with the West Ridge Trail.
Here you turn left, enjoying a fine view of Brooks Island, Richmond Inner Harbor, and, in the distance, the huge cargo cranes at the Port of Oakland. The route, a rocky dirt path, climbs in the open on a moderate grade, and as you gain elevation, landmarks such as Emeryville, UC Berkeley, and the Berkeley Hills come into view. If you turn around, you are treated to a grand vista: San Francisco, Alcatraz, Angel Island, and the Bay Bridge. As you climb higher you can look southwest into Raccoon Strait—the body of water between Angel Island and Tiburon—and beyond to the just-visible north tower of the Golden Gate Bridge.
A steep climb brings you, at about the 0.8-mile point, to an exposed hilltop. This vantage point, one of the most impressive in the East Bay, gives you a 360-degree panorama of the Bay Area, making this a must-visit spot for people who enjoy learning the geography of the region in which they live. After descending briefly, you begin to climb again, soon reaching a paved summit with a rest bench and a trail junction. From this lofty perch you can
