Berkeley Hills | |
---|---|
Highest point | |
Elevation | 581 m (1,906 ft) |
Geography | |
Location of Berkeley Hills in California [1] | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
District | Alameda County |
Range coordinates | 37°52′58″N122°14′16″W / 37.88278°N 122.23778°W |
Topo map | USGS Briones Valley |
The Berkeley Hills are a range of the Pacific Coast Ranges, and overlook the northeast side of the valley that encompasses San Francisco Bay. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" [2] [3] (from the original Spanish Sierra de la Contra Costa), but with the establishment of Berkeley and the University of California, the current usage was applied by geographers and gazetteers.
The Berkeley Hills are bounded by the major Hayward Fault along their western base, and the minor Wildcat fault on their eastern side. The highest peaks are Grizzly Peak (elevation 1,754 feet/535 m) and Round Top (elevation 1,761 feet/537 m), an extinct volcano, and William Rust Summit 1,004 feet (306 m).
Vollmer Peak (elevation 1,905 feet/581 m), although commonly thought to be part of the Berkeley Hills, is actually located on the adjacent San Pablo Ridge [ dubious – discuss ] near the point where it meets the Berkeley Hills at the head of Wildcat Canyon. Vollmer Peak was named in honor of the first police chief of the City of Berkeley, August Vollmer. It was formerly known as "Bald Peak", and as "Rocky Mound" [4] in the 19th century.
Much of the west slope of the Berkeley Hills has residential neighborhoods of mostly single family homes, except on the land of University of California, Berkeley. Most streets are narrow and tend to follow the contours of the terrain, although three streets, Marin Avenue, Moeser Lane, and Potrero Avenue, run directly toward the ridgeline. Other roads to the ridgeline wind their way up the canyons. Grizzly Peak and Skyline Boulevards follow the top of the ridge. Many neighborhoods in the Berkeley Hills are home to the more affluent residents of Berkeley and Oakland.
The east slope of the Berkeley Hills is mostly preserved or partially developed wildland, much of it owned by the East Bay Regional Park District and the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). From north to south, the parks are Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, Tilden Regional Park (includes Vollmer and Grizzly Peaks), Sibley Volcanic Regional Park (includes Round Top), Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, Redwood Regional Park (enfolding Roberts Regional Recreation Area), Anthony Chabot Regional Park, Lake Chabot Regional Park, and Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area. Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve, and Temescal Regional Park are lower on the western slopes while Las Trampas Regional Wilderness is lower on the eastern slope above Danville.
The Berkeley Hills are pierced by several tunnels. The Claremont Tunnel brings water from an EBMUD treatment plant in Orinda to points west. The Berkeley Hills Tunnel serves the Yellow Line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. The four bores of the Caldecott Tunnel carry State Highway 24 between Oakland and Contra Costa County.
It is common to hear the term "Oakland Hills" to refer to that section of the Berkeley Hills that runs along the east side of Oakland. As a proper name or recognized toponym, it is technically incorrect. When used on maps, the exact south end of the "Berkeley Hills" is unclear, but the maps of the USGS show them stretching well south into the northeastern portion of Oakland. [5] It does not, in any case, correspond to any political boundaries, only to a geographic feature (much as "San Francisco Bay" is not limited to that stretch of the Pacific inlet within the bounds of the City and County of San Francisco). The ridge extends south through Oakland and San Leandro to the drainage of San Leandro Creek called Castro Valley, and geologically, continues southward above the line of the Hayward Fault. In the section above East Oakland to Castro Valley, the ridge appears on most maps as the San Leandro Hills. [6]
The northern extent of the proper name "Berkeley Hills" is less indefinite; most maps including those of the USGS apply the name along the entire ridge as it runs continuously right up to the mouth of Wildcat Canyon in Richmond. [7] The eastern slopes of the Berkeley Hills lie entirely outside of the city of Berkeley within Contra Costa County.
Another common usage is East Bay Hills, but its application to any particular range is unclear. It may refer to all of the ranges east of the Bay, from the Berkeley Hills to the Diablo Range and all the ranges between.
The Berkeley Hills are a region of great biological diversity as part of Pacific Coastal Region of California and the San Francisco Bay ecosystem. Much of the area is covered by grassland which favors the southwest facing slopes. Amongst the north east hills, Baccharis Brushland and Oak Woodland are most prominent with Coast live oak and California bay laurel as some of the most prolific trees. Past Eucalyptus tree farming during the early 20th century has also introduced large Eucalyptus groves scattered across the Berkeley Hills. [8]
The area welcomes a wide variety of birds, black-tailed deer, coyote, ground squirrel, striped skunk, western terrestrial garter snake, gray fox, bobcat, and red-tailed hawk. There are also periodic sightings of mountain lions amongst the Oak Woodland. Four protected species also call the Berkeley Hills their home, the San Francisco tree lupine moth, Alameda whipsnake, Callippe silverspot, and Bay checkerspot. Additionally, the grassland acts as an annual foraging spot for the northern harrier, American kestrel, prairie falcon, and turkey vulture.
The Berkeley Hills affect the local climate by their elevation. The oceanic marine layer, which develops during the summer, bringing fog and low clouds with it, is usually less than 2,000 feet deep and thus is blocked by the range. This produces a "fog shadow" effect to the east, which is warmer than areas west of the hills. The westerly wind that carries the marine layer through the Golden Gate typically splits its flow as it hits the Berkeley Hills producing a southerly wind from Berkeley northward and a northerly wind in the direction of Oakland.
In winter during spells of tule fog inland, a reverse situation occurs, with the fog usually confined to areas east of the hills, although occasionally, the inland fog pours in from the north, around the hills by way of the Carquinez Strait.
The Berkeley Hills affect rainfall; when the wind is perpendicular to the hills (southwest wind) during a storm, air is forced to rise, cooling and condensing additional moisture, increasing the precipitation on the western slopes and leaving areas east of the hills drier. Especially cold storms occasionally deposit wet snow on the peaks.
In spring and fall, sinking air from aloft combining with inland high pressure periodically sends a hot, dry, and gusty northeasterly wind across the ridges of the Berkeley Hills, posing a fire danger, which in the 20th century produced several wildfires, two of which caused major damage to Berkeley and Oakland. (See 1923 Berkeley Fire and 1991 Oakland firestorm).
Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park, also known as Tilden Park or Tilden, [], is a 2,079-acre (841 ha) regional park in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. It is between the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo Ridge. Its main entrance is near Kensington, Berkeley, and Richmond. The park is contiguous with Wildcat Canyon Regional Park.
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 administrative office is located in Oakland.
Canyon, formerly known as Sequoya, is an unincorporated community located near the border of Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the U.S. state of California. It is situated between Oakland and Moraga in the San Francisco Bay Area. The community is named for its location in the upper canyon of San Leandro Creek along the eastern slope of the Berkeley Hills. Canyon lies at an elevation of 1138 feet.
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. With a population of roughly 2.5 million in 2010, it is the most populous subregion in the Bay Area.
The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay Area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley area at its southern end.
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is a 2,789-acre (1,129 ha) East Bay Regional Parks District park bordering the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It includes a portion of Wildcat Canyon as well as a portion of the adjoining San Pablo Ridge, and is directly connected to the more heavily used Tilden Regional Park.
Wildcat Canyon is a narrow linear valley just east of the Berkeley Hills in the San Francisco Bay Area, situated in Contra Costa County, California. The canyon is bounded on its east side by the San Pablo Ridge, and is drained by Wildcat Creek which runs northwest to its outlet in San Pablo Bay. Two minor lakes or ponds lie along the creek: Jewel Lake and Lake Anza. The latter was enlarged by the construction of a small dam in the mid-20th century. An active tectonic fault, the Wildcat Fault, runs the length of the canyon. Wildcat Canyon was named for the mountain lions which used to be fairly common in the area. The southern end of the canyon adjacent to the city of Berkeley was incorporated into Tilden Regional Park in the 1930s and remains a major recreation area for local residents. Another regional park, Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, is situated at the northern end of the canyon.
Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve is located in the Oakland Hills of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The park is part of the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD), covers 928 acres (3.76 km2), and lies east of Oakland, partly in Alameda County and partly in Contra Costa County. It can be entered from Oakland via Skyline Boulevard, or from Contra Costa County via Old Tunnel Road.
Wildcat Creek is a 13.4-mile-long (21.6 km) creek which flows through Wildcat Canyon situated between the Berkeley Hills and the San Pablo Ridge, emptying into San Pablo Bay in Contra Costa County, northern California.
San Pablo Ridge is a small mountain range in western Contra Costa County from Pinole to Orinda between Wildcat Canyon and San Pablo Canyon. The western flank is part of the Wildcat Creek watershed and the eastern flank is part of the San Pablo Creek watershed. To the west are the Berkeley Hills, and to the east, the Sobrante Ridge. The highest point on the San Pablo Ridge is Vollmer Peak, formerly called "Bald Peak", located near the point where it meets the Berkeley Hills at the head of Wildcat Canyon.
Pinole Creek is a stream in western Contra Costa County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California.
San Francisco Bay is a multi-county American Viticultural Area (AVA) which is centered and surrounds the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was established on March 22, 1999 by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Treasury after evaluating the petition submitted by a consortium of nearly 75 growers and vintners led by Wente Bros. to establish the viticultural area known as "San Francisco Bay." It lies within the larger Central Coast viticultural area and includes San Francisco and counties encompassing the areas known as “South” and “East Bay.” This consists of Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, and San Mateo as well as portions of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties. “North Bay” counties of Sonoma, Napa and Marin were excluded for they reside within the North Coast viticultural area with its distinct properties. ATF also concluded the established Santa Cruz Mountains viticultural area exhibits features and characteristics unique to its boundaries when compared to the surrounding areas, therefore, it was excluded from the "San Francisco Bay" viticultural area.
Oakland Hills is an informal term used to indicate the city neighborhoods lying within the eastern portion of Oakland, California. The northernmost neighborhoods were devastated by the Oakland firestorm of 1991.
The Moraga Formation, also known as the Moraga Volcanics, is a geological formation that dates back to the Pliocene epoch. It is located in Berkeley Hills, East Bay Region, San Francisco Bay Area, California.
The East Bay Redwoods are an isolated population of coast redwoods that exist a considerable distance inland from the coast in the Berkeley Hills in western Contra Costa County, California. Stands of Sequoia sempervirens, the Coast Redwood, occur on the west coast from Big Sur to extreme southwestern Oregon. Their preferred habitat is the temperate and perennially foggy western slopes of the California Coast Ranges; a reliance on marine climates generally restricts their range to a narrow band along the central and northern coasts of California.
Las Trampas Peak is a 1,827 ft (557 m) peak in the Inner Coast Ranges in western Contra Costa County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Rocky Ridge is a 2,020 ft (620 m) ridge in the Inner Coast Ranges in western Contra Costa County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. Being the second-highest mountain in the county, it is visible from much of the surrounding area. The ridge is a very prominent feature in the geography of the towns of Lafayette, Moraga and Orinda, California.
Las Trampas Ridge is an 1,827 ft ridge in western Contra Costa County, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It comprises the western side of the San Ramon Valley.
Kaiser Creek is an approximately 3 mile long perennial creek in western Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a tributary of the Upper San Leandro Reservoir, part of the larger San Leandro Creek system.
Redwood Creek is an approximately 4 mile-long perennial creek in Contra Costa and Alameda Counties, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named for the East Bay Redwoods forest where it originates.