| Big Break Regional Shoreline | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Oakley, Contra Costa County, California. |
| Nearest city | Oakley, California |
| Coordinates | 38°00′34″N121°43′44″W / 38.00932°N 121.728981°W |
| Created | 2012 |
| Operated by | East Bay Regional Park District |
| Open | 5 AM - 10 PM. Visitor center open 10 AM - 4 PM Wednesday - Sunday. |
Big Break Regional Shoreline is a regional park in Oakley, Contra Costa County, northern California. It is a part of the East Bay Regional Park District system.
The park features an $11 million, 5,000-square-foot Delta Visitor Center, which operates as a natural history museum, science laboratory, and staging area for paddling and hiking trips along the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. The new visitor center opened in October 2012.
The center includes a 1,200 square feet (110 m2) interactive map of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta that shows visitors how water flows through the region. A 30-by-50 model of the delta is also located at the park, as well as restored wetlands. [1]
The park is named for a break in the levee system that flooded an asparagus farm between the San Joaquin River and Dutch Slough in 1928. [2] The break formed a small bay along the river, near the area where fresh water from the river mixes with salt water from San Francisco Bay. [3]
According to the East Bay Regional Parks District, Big Break Regional Shoreline provides habitat for at least 70 species of birds and several species of mammals. They include: [3]
The park is open daily from sunrise to sunset. The Visitor Center is open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am to 4pm. The park is at 69 Big Break Road in Oakley. It can be reached by private vehicles from Main Street, and there is no fee for parking or admission. The park is generally wheelchair accessible.
Dogs are permitted, except in marsh and wetland habitats in the park. [3]
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
Contra Costa County is a county located in the U.S. state of California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 1,165,927. The county seat is Martinez. It occupies the northern portion of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area and is primarily suburban. The county's name refers to its position on the other side of the bay from San Francisco. Contra Costa County is included in the San Francisco–Oakland–Berkeley, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Brentwood is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The population is 66,854 as of 2022, an increase of 287% from 23,302 at the 2000 census.
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.
San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California.
The Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, or California Delta, is an expansive inland river delta and estuary in Northern California. The Delta is formed at the western edge of the Central Valley by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and lies just east of where the rivers enter Suisun Bay, which flows into San Francisco Bay, then the Pacific Ocean via San Pablo Bay. The Delta is recognized for protection by the California Bays and Estuaries Policy. Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta was designated a National Heritage Area on March 12, 2019. The city of Stockton is located on the San Joaquin River at the eastern edge of the delta. The total area of the Delta, including both land and water, is about 1,100 square miles (2,800 km2). Its population is around 500,000.
John Albert Nejedly was a district attorney and Republican state senator in California who represented Contra Costa County from 1958 to 1980.
The Contra Costa Canal is a 47 mi (76 km) aqueduct in the US state of California. Its construction began in 1937, with delayed completion until 1948 due to World War II shortages in labor and materials. A portion of the canal's right of way has been developed as the Contra Costa Canal Regional Trail, a biking and walking trail, and is managed by the East Bay Regional Park District.
Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline is a regional park that is part of the East Bay Regional Parks system. It is located on the south shore of the San Joaquin River in Contra Costa County, California, between the cities of Antioch and Oakley. It is owned by the State of California and operated on a no-cost lease by the East Bay Regional Parks District. The park was begun in 1979, when the adjacent John Nejedly Bridge was constructed across the river. The park was originally named Antioch Regional Shoreline, and was given its present name when Oakley incorporated as a city in 1999.
Waterbird Regional Preserve is a 192 acres (0.78 km2) regional park located in Contra Costa County, California, adjacent to the city of Martinez. It is part of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). It primarily consists of an area known as McNabney Marsh, which lies alongside Interstate 680 near the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and between two large and active oil refineries. The marsh drains into Suisun Bay via Peyton Slough. The area provides habitat for a wide variety of waterfowl and shorebirds for resting and feeding.
Browns Island is a regional preserve of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) in Pittsburg, Contra Costa County, California, United States. It is an island in Suisun Bay, part of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, separated from the rest of Pittsburg by New York Slough.
The Los Vaqueros Reservoir and watershed is located in the northern Diablo Range, within northeastern Contra Costa County, northern California. It was completed by the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) in 1998 to improve the quality of drinking water for its 550,000 customers in Central and Eastern Contra Costa County. The reservoir is accessible via Vasco Road, a road which connects Brentwood and Livermore.
Alhambra Creek is a stream in Contra Costa County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California.
Crockett Hills Regional Park is a regional park in Contra Costa County, California, just south of Crockett. opened to the public in 2006. Part of the East Bay Regional Park District, it consists of 1,939 acres (7.85 km2) of rolling grasslands, wooded ravines and shoreline along the south bank of the Carquinez Strait. Its elevation ranges from 100 feet (30 m) to 800 feet (240 m) above sea level. The higher elevations offer good views of San Pablo Bay, the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta, Mount Tamalpais, and Mount Diablo.
Sherman Island is an island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta at the confluence of the two rivers in Sacramento County, California, 1.2 miles (1.9 km) northeast of Antioch. The 5,500 ha island, mostly managed by Reclamation District 341, is the meeting point of Sacramento, Solano, and Contra Costa Counties, and is bordered on the north and northwest by the Sacramento River, on the northeast by Three Mile Slough, and on the east, and south west by the San Joaquin River. Sherman Island is a widely known kite and windsurfing area.
Marsh Creek is a stream in east Contra Costa County, California in Northern California which rises on the eastern side of Mount Diablo and flows 30 miles (48 km) to the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta at Oakley, California, near Big Break Regional Shoreline. The creek flows through Marsh Creek State Park (California), where water is impounded to form Marsh Creek Reservoir, then through the city of Brentwood, California.
Winter Island is a 453-acre (183 ha) island in Suisun Bay, in the western Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. It is north of Pittsburg, separated from Browns Island to the west by a slough. It was private property, and contained one house. It is used as a duck hunting area, a wetland, and a dredging disposal area. In 2016 Winter Island was purchased by the California Department of Water Resources in order to restore the island as a tidal marsh. Winter Island is part of Contra Costa County, and managed by Reclamation District 2122. It is shown, labeled "Ruckels Island", on an 1850 survey map of the San Francisco Bay area made by Cadwalader Ringgold and an 1854 map of the area by Henry Lange.
Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel also called the Baldwin-Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel or Stockton Deep Water Channel is a manmade deepwater water channel that runs from Suisun Bay and the Sacramento River - Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel to the Port of Stockton and the Stockton Channel in California. The Stockton Ship Channel is 41 mi (66 km) long and about 37 ft (11 m) deep, allowing up to Panama Canal size ocean ships access to the Port of Stockton at the City of Stockton. The Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel is part of the vast Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta that has a connection to the Pacific Ocean. Stockton Deepwater Shipping Channel is also called the lower San Joaquin River.
Bradford Island is a 2,172-acre (879 ha) island of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta, in Contra Costa County, California, United States. Bradford Island is inaccessible by roads, and is served by a ferry across the False River from nearby Jersey Island. Approximately 48 people lived on the island as of 2020. Other uses of land include wheat farming, cattle grazing, and natural gas extraction.
Kimball Island is a small island in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. It is located in Sacramento County, California, in the United States. Since its discovery, it has been used to grow barley, farm fish, cultivate cannabis, and as residential land. Currently, however, it is uninhabited; since 2000, it has been left to "forever be a wetland habitat", and is sometimes used as a fishing spot.
