the Nitro Trail. Then, after less than 0.1 mile, reach a junction with the Angel Buggy and Woods Trails. Take a wide left to pick up the Woods Trail. This is a long straightaway lined with eucalyptus.
Stay on this trail for 0.25 mile, ignoring other trails on your right and left, until you reach the Packhouse Loop trail. Take the trail that veers left and quickly leads you to a trail marker where you turn right onto the Bay View Trail. After about 150 feet, you leave the eucalyptus grove.
Point Pinole’s eucalyptus trees were planted to serve as buffers against explosions from gunpowder plants that once operated on this land.
Stay on the Bay View Trail for 0.4 mile. When the Bay View Trail bends right (east) at the northern tip of this park, stay straight 0.2 mile on a narrow trail to the right of a wood fence. You will pass an old bunker here. When you reach the fishing pier, you get a view of Mount Diablo. Here you can explore the pier (mileage not included in the selected route) or follow the trail down to the paved Pinole Point Trail and restroom. Follow the paved trail and walk around a roundabout (the shuttle turnaround area).
Take your first left after this onto the dirt Owl Alley Trail (also the San Francisco Bay Trail). After 0.2 mile, stay straight as you cross the China Cove Trail, a wide gravel trail. Now there is a marsh on your left and a meadow on your right. After another 0.25 mile, turn left on the Marsh Trail. While there is still a marsh on your left, there are now eucalyptus trees on your right.
After 0.5 mile, turn left to stay on the Marsh Trail (you can also pause to visit the historic powder press on your right). In 0.15 mile, there is an optional overlook with a bench to your left. Bear right and continue another 0.1 mile to get closer to the bay. From here, either continue to Cook’s Point (mileage not included in selected route) or head right and continue 0.2 mile on the Cook’s Point Trail to return to the powder press junction.
At the junction, turn left and continue on the Cook’s Point Trail for 0.25 mile, at which point you’ll see restrooms and a junction with the Owl Alley Trail on your right. Continue on the Cook’s Point Trail, and over the next 0.2 mile, you’ll walk alongside the Atlas Road Staging Area. Continue another 0.25 mile on the Cook’s Point Trail to reach a paved trail (Pinole Point Trail), where you turn left. On a clear day, you can see Sutro Tower in San Francisco in the distance. Stay on the paved trail 0.2 mile. Cross Badger Bridge on your left, turn right, and go the remaining 0.2 mile to the parking lot.
GO FARTHER
Have a picnic in one of the park’s many picnic areas, or check out the marshy surrounds of the trails south of the Giant Highway Staging Area, including the China Clipper Spur Trail and the Cordgrass Jetty Trail.
| 5 | Wildcat Canyon Regional Park |
| DISTANCE: | 6.8 miles |
| ELEVATION GAIN: | 1060 feet |
| HIGH POINT: | 1060 feet |
| DIFFICULTY: | Moderate |
| FITNESS: | Hikers, runners |
| FAMILY-FRIENDLY: | Parents with small children could do an out-and-back on the Wildcat Canyon Trail for an easier hike |
| DOG-FRIENDLY: | Off leash and under voice control in open areas; on leash on Nimitz Way and developed areas |
| AMENITIES: | Porta-potties and picnic area at the Alvarado Staging Area; a few benches along the trail |
| CONTACT: | East Bay Regional Park District |
| GPS: | 37°57'7.2396" N 122°19'6.3912" W |
| MAP TO: | Alvarado Staging Area, Park Avenue, Richmond, CA |
GETTING THERE
Public Transit: AC Transit bus 72 stops at the intersection of San Pablo Avenue and McBryde Avenue, a 1.1-mile walk from the Alvarado Staging Area.
Parking: There are numerous free parking spots at the Alvarado Staging Area off Park Avenue in Richmond.
Covering 2789 acres, Wildcat Canyon is a popular destination for hikers, runners, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and wildlife. The park is home to a wide range of animals, including deer, squirrels, foxes, coyotes, and snakes. Until the 1920s, the canyon was a drinking water source for the East Bay, but in 1936 the East Bay Regional Park District acquired 1910 acres of this land as parkland, making this one of the district’s first three parks. (Upper Wildcat Canyon was later turned into Tilden Regional Park.)
Alvarado Park, the northwestern section of Wildcat Canyon where this hike starts, used to be a private park; it was taken over by the City of Richmond in 1923 and transferred to the East Bay Regional Park District and made part of Wildcat Canyon in 1985. It was once home to an open-air pavilion, a dance hall (later converted into a roller rink), and more somberly, the Grande Vista Sanitarium, a center for people struggling with addiction and other mental health issues. Wildcat Canyon contains Works Progress Administration–era stone masonry work, which has earned the park a spot in the National Register of Historic Places.
The featured route starts out slowly, but builds to be much more interesting as it goes along. From the Wildcat Creek Trail, a wide fire trail, you’ll take the singletrack Havey Canyon Trail to enjoy a tree-lined ascent. After a short stint on paved Nimitz Way, you arrive at the highlight of the hike, the San Pablo Ridge Trail, where you’ll take in views of Mount Diablo, Mount Tamalpais, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco, and the Golden Gate Bridge. From here you head downhill, passing the former sanitarium site, and eventually returning to the start.
This hike is pretty in the winter or spring after a rainstorm, when the grass on the hills is green (though the trails can be muddy). In spring, with good timing, you can expect to see a number of wildflower species. In summer, expect the weather to be hot. Make sure to bring enough water.
GET MOVING
From the end of the long paved driveway in the Alvarado Staging Area (situated at the end of Park Avenue in Richmond), pick up the Wildcat Creek Trail. Pass the Belgum Trail on your left after 0.3 mile and the Mezue Trail after another 1.6 miles. You can take the Mezue Trail if you want to shorten the hike by 1.2 miles. (You’d then follow these directions from the San Pablo Ridge Trail.) To do the full featured route, continue past the Mezue Trail 0.3 mile farther to the Rifle Range Road Trail. Here, take a quick detour to your right to see a WPA-era stone arch bridge across Wildcat Creek. Return to the Wildcat Canyon Trail, and in another 200 feet, take a left on the Havey Canyon Trail.
Rolling hills on Wildcat Canyon’s San Pablo Ridge Trail
You’ll be on the Havey Canyon Trail for 1.5 miles, during which time you’ll climb 540 feet. For the first mile of this singletrack trail, you’ll cross through woods lined with laurel trees, blackberry, and poison oak. You’ll walk along Wildcat Creek and cross it after 0.7 mile. After another 0.3 mile, emerge from the woods and enter a grassy area. I’ve seen a number of cows—and coyotes—on this stretch. For this reason, while this area is off leash for dogs, I advise you to keep your dog close here. After the last 0.5 mile on this stretch, you reach paved Nimitz Way, where you’ll turn left. Nimitz Way is
