Most Bay Space parks reopen, together with East Bay lakes
For more stories like this, check out The Chronicle’s weekly travel newsletter! Login here.
After closing since March, the reopening of six major recreational lakes and the surrounding parklands in the East Bay Hills has crowned a number of park openings as the Indian summer sweeps through the Bay Area.
The Del Valle Reservoir and Quarry Lakes opened last week and have reopened to the public along with Lake Chabot, Los Vaqueros and San Pablo Reservoirs and other lakes.
“We sold out our 23 rental boats on Monday,” said Kent Hintzman at Los Vaqueros Marina. “At the weekend, pontoon boats were the first to sell out, and after an hour and a half we run out of boats.”
Of 350 parks and recreation destinations in the Greater Bay Area, all but about 30 are now open to the public in some form, including all but a few lakes and most beaches in the states and counties.
In warm weather in the region this week, many parks are under fire warnings. For full details on what is open and closed, see The Chronicle’s Outdoor Guide and Tracker.
Outside with Tom Stienstra
Three main areas will remain closed after the late summer forest fires: the interior of Point Reyes National Seashore; the East Bay Hills in the Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness and the Round Valley Regional Preserve; The heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains in the Big Basin Redwoods and nearby Sam McDonald, Memorial and Pescadero Creek County Parks.
Here’s the view over the Bay Area:
San Francisco: With COVID restrictions mandating the wearing of masks, social distancing, and disinfecting common surfaces, all but a few parks and recreation areas are a breeze. Party boats had a successful salmon (and halibut) run at Fisherman’s Wharf, with the season open until November 8th.
The most famous closings are parking in the Candlestick State Recreation Area, which is only allowed on foot or by bike, and Thornton State Beach, which remains closed and where access from the cliffside parking spaces is a long-term problem.
Marin: After the Woodward Fire, most of the Point Reyes National Seashore is open, including Pierce Ranch, Drakes Estero, Drakes Beach, Mount Vision, Limantour Beach, and Palomarin – as well as camping at Wildcat Camp and the boat docks in Tomales Bay. The gated park area is bounded by the Bear Valley Visitor Center, Limantour Road (although the road is open), Arch Rock, and the coast south of Wildcat Camp. The road to Point Reyes Lighthouse and Chimney Rock Headlands is closed at the turnoff to Drakes Beach.
Elsewhere, all of Marin County’s beaches, 39 wildlife sanctuaries, and boat ramps are open.
Peninsula: In San Mateo County, 14 of 23 county parks are open. The main closings are the parks that were in the zone of the CZU Lightning Complex on the edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains.
All 26 protected areas managed by the Midpenisula’s Regional Open Space District are open, including Long Ridge and other protected areas on the edge of the CZU Lightning Complex.
The boat ramps at the harbors are open at Pillar Point, Oyster Point, Coyote Point, and Redwood City. In the Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve, hand-launched car-top boats are accessible (at high tide).
Santa Cruz Mountains: On the edge of the CZU Lightning Complex zone, Castle Rock, Portola Redwoods, and Butano state parks have reopened, with limited campsites in Portola and Butano.
In the heart of the Santa Cruz Mountains, Redwoods State Park in the Big Basin and the adjacent Little Basin are closed for at least a year after most of the park’s infrastructure has been destroyed.
The Skyline-to-the-Trail is of course closed, as are the trail camps along the route.
Three county parks south of La Honda are currently closed for fire fighting: Sam McDonald, Memorial, and Pescadero Creek County Parks.
East Bay: Of the 73 parks in the East Bay Regional Park District, all but a handful are open. The most notable fire-fighting closures are in Round Valley, Morgan Territory, and the Sunol-Ohlone Wilderness.
In hot weather this week, news that all but one lake (Anza) in the hills of the East Bay is open could bring welcome relief to thousands of residents nearby.
Major recreational lakes now open for boat trips include Los Vaqueros (north of Livermore), Chabot Lake in the Castro Valley, Del Valle (south of Livermore), San Pablo in El Sobrante, and Quarry Lakes in Fremont.
Other lakes open for hiking but not boating include Lafayette, Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton, Contra Loma near Antioch, and Briones (near Martinez).
Santa Clara County: Santa Clara County’s 29 county parks are open (along with all open spaces).
Camping is possible at Coyote Lake, Grant, Mount Madonna, Sanborn and Uvas Canyon. Boating is possible again at the reservoirs Calero and Lexington (with reservation for the start). Park reservations are now required for Uvas Canyon every weekend at www.goutsideandplay.org.
Tom Stienstra is the outdoor writer for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom
