Indian Rock is one of many volcanic rhyolite rock outcroppings found across the Bay Area that are estimated to have occurred between nine and eleven million years ago. Anyone who has climbed the steep steps in its face has also seen the depressions of mortar holes still evident here, especially in the aptly named Mortar Rock, where the Ohlone people used the bedrock as a grinding surface for food and medicine.
BPWA welcomes two new board members: Nancy Graham, treasurer, and Jen English, walks co-coordinator. Three days a week Nancy, her husband, and dog, Dinky, get their aerobic exercise by walking uphill and hitting as many paths as possible. Jen joined the board in 2008 for her first term. Jen’s also been learning the ropes of emergency response, taking community emergency management (CERT) courses and other preparedness training and is excited to be involved with BPWA again because Berkeley's public paths and stairways are a key component of the city's emergency response network.
Saturday, September 21, 2024 offered a beautiful “Second Summer” day as about 40 people gathered to attend the annual meeting of the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association at Live Oak Park. The event followed a well-attended morning Path-a-thon.
Just south of Latham Lane in North Berkeley you’ll find Ina Coolbrith Path, which connects Miller Avenue and Grizzly Peak Blvd. If you’ve ever wondered about its namesake, the path commemorates a remarkable woman who figured prominently in the state’s literary history.
Steve Price is the El Cerrito-based author/artist of the digital book Imagining a Walkable America: Visualizing Low-Carbon Cities, Towns, and Neighborhoods, Step by Step. First published in 2020, it’s just been updated with a new introduction and fresh images to reflect the country’s changing transportation landscape.
Consider taking one of three terrific new routes that walking guru Bob Johnson has created. They cover Upper Shattuck and the Marin Circle, Strawberry Creek Park and the Santa Fe Railway, and Berkeley Woods, a hilly neighborhood in Northeast Berkeley.
Developers of this hilly neighborhood built convenient paths so new residents could walk to and from shops, schools, and public transportation. Until 1958, the E train, the northeastern-most line of the old Key System, terminated just steps from the entrance to the Claremont Hotel; in fact, the train was originally supposed to end in the hotel’s lobby.
On the south slope of Claremont Canyon above the Claremont Hotel, lies one of the best-kept secrets in the Berkeley-Oakland Hills: Garber Park. This 13-acre City of Oakland wildland park has significant stands of big leaf maple, California buckeyes, regenerating coast live oak, and the typical understory found in woodland forests. Harwood Creek meanders through it in winter and spring.
Our newest path will also have a new name. Completed this fall, Keeler Walk (#32 on our map) soon will be christened John Muir Path. It is the 34th path that BPWA volunteers have built with wood timbers and connects Grizzly Peak Blvd. and Creston Rd., midway between the end of Euclid and Marin Aves.
Our newest path will also have a new name. Completed this fall, Keeler Walk (#32 on our map) soon will be christened John Muir Path. It is the 34th path that BPWA volunteers have built with wood timbers and connects Grizzly Peak Blvd. and Creston Rd., midway between the end of Euclid and Marin Aves.
Stepping across the seasonal creek on Lower Covert Path just got a bit easier.
In October 2017, a small group of Path Wanderers volunteers met to install a wooden bridge across the creek gulch just above Keith Avenue. Like most local creek crossings, it’s not flowing water that gets in the way; it’s the deep channel needed to accommodate peak flow that challenges walkers.
When Francesca Verdier clicked volunteer on our website a year ago, it was a lucky day for Berkeley’s walkers. She brought to BPWA her passion for building trails and six years of varied experience volunteering on weekends in parks all over Northern California.
