April 22, 2009

East Bay Regional Parks

One of the great things about living in the San Francisco East Bay is the wonderful system of public parks and trails that can be found in the East Bay Regional Park District. The parks are located throughout Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and the district manages over 98,000 acres with 65 regional parks, wilderness areas, shorelines, nature preserves and land bank areas. There are 1150 miles of trails currently within the park land area with 11 freshwater swimming areas, boating and/or stocked fishing lakes. There are golf courses, campsites, picnic tables, play area and meeting facilities.

While my dog, Turner, and I have not visited all of the parks in the area we do enjoy visiting the various open space areas – especially those where Turner can run free (under voice control at all times). Trail maps are available and we have met some wonderful people, seen some wonderful views, and watched the flora and fauna change with the seasons.

This year there are two programs that promote health and fitness. The Fresh Tracks program is a hiking luncheon series taking place at various parks on the third Saturday from April through September. These hour and a half naturalist led hikes provide a way to explore various parks and enjoy a catered lunch. Single hike fees are $28 adult 12 years + and $25 seniors 62+ for residents of Alameda and Contra Costa County and $35 adult and $32 senior non-resident.

The Trails Challenge 2009 challenges participants to hike 5 of the 20 trails or 26.2 miles. The program is a partnership with Kaiser Permanente. The program is free to residents of Alameda and Contra Costa County or Kaiser Permanente employees and once registered participants receive information on the 20 best hikes, a guidebook and T shirt. In an effort to stay “green” registration and trail miles logged are both being done on line.