East Bay Regional Park District

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The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which is the largest urban regional park district in the United States.

The EBRPD was founded in 1934, and acquired its first land two years later, when the East Bay Municipal Utility District sold 2166 acres (8.77 km²) of its surplus land. Currently, in 2010, EBRPD spans more than 100,000 acres (405 km²) with 65 parks and over 1,100 miles (1,770 km) of trails. Some of these parks are wilderness areas; others include a variety of visitor attractions, with opportunities for swimming, angling, boating and camping. The 1,100 miles (1,770 km) of trails are frequently used for biking, hiking, and horse riding. In addition, nearly 150 miles (241 km) of paved trails through urban areas link these parks together. The founding fathers of the district were Robert Sibley, a hiking enthusiast, and Hollis Thompson, then Berkeley City Manager.[1]

The parks administered by the EBRPD vary greatly in size and character. Particularly notable are the string of parks along the Berkeley Hills above and east of both Berkeley and Oakland, including Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, Tilden Regional Park, Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, and Redwood Regional Park. Anthony Chabot Regional Park is located in the San Leandro Hills above Oakland and San Leandro. There are also bay shore parks such as the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline north of Richmond, the Coyote Hills Regional Park near Fremont, the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline on San Leandro Bay, and the Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline south of the Oakland International Airport. The district also includes a former farm, a former coal mine, an extinct volcano, and one of the biggest dog-walking parks in the country. Redwood Regional Park contains the largest remaining natural stand of coast redwood in the East Bay.

The district usually limits mountain biking to fire roads, with very few exceptions. The district also maintains a police and fire department to provide public safety services on its parks.

The work of the EBRPD is supported by a voluntary body, the Regional Parks Foundation, which raises funds for the improvement of the parks. The Regional Parks Association is a local, independent environmental organization whose focus overlaps the EBRPD bailiwick. The EBRPD is a member of the Bay Area Open Space Council.

Contents

[edit] District parks

[edit] District Trails

[edit] References

  1. ^ Glen Martin, Chronicle Environmental writer. A hard-bought swath of green Nature lovers' living legacy: Nation's largest urban park district always short of cash (accessed 2 November 2010)

[edit] External links

SF From Marin Highlands3.jpg San Francisco Bay Area portal
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bay_Regional_Park_District"
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