East Bay Hills

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East Bay Hills
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East Bay Hills
Highest point
PeakSunol Peak [1]
Elevation 2,182 ft (665 m)
Dimensions
Length36.8 mi (59.2 km)northwest-southeast from Carquinez Strait to Alameda Creek/Highway 84
Width7 mi (11 km)west-east
Geography
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
Region Central California
Range coordinates 37°48′06″N122°09′12″W / 37.80167°N 122.15333°W / 37.80167; -122.15333 [2]

The East Bay Hills is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. They are the first range of mountains east of San Francisco Bay and stretch from the Carquinez Strait in the north to Alameda Creek/Highway 84 in the south, crossing both Contra Costa and Alameda Counties. Although not formally recognized by United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geographic Names Information System, the East Bay Hills is included as part of the Diablo Range [3] in its list of multiple GPS coordinates for the latter.

Contents

Geography and geology

The East Bay Hills runs northwest to southeast for approximately 36.8 miles (59.2 km) with its midpoint at 37° 48' 06" N, 122° 09' 12" W. [2] The tallest peak in the range is Sunol Peak whose summit elevation is 2,182 feet (665 m). [1]

The East Bay Hills consists of multiple named components: the Briones Hills [4] furthest north, then the Berkeley Hills, [5] the San Leandro Hills [6] centrally, and Walpert Ridge [7] and Pleasanton Ridge [8] to the southwest and southeast, culminating at Alameda Creek/Highway 84.

Geologically, the East Bay Hills are bounded by the Calaveras Fault to the east and the Hayward Fault to the west. [9] [10]

Ecology

Extensive public lands are conserved in the East Bay Hills by the East Bay Municipal Utilities District (EBMUD) and the East Bay Regional Park District. [11] The East Bay Hills have groves of coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), making Alameda and Contra Costa Counties two of only four inland California counties to host these trees. [12]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunol, California</span> Census-designated place in California, United States

Sunol is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Alameda County, California. Located in the Sunol Valley of the East Bay, the population was 913 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the location of the Sunol Water Temple and for its historic tourist railroad system, the Niles Canyon Railway.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunol Regional Wilderness</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diablo Range</span> Mountain range in the California Coastal Ranges

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Berkeley Hills</span> Region of the Pacific Coast Ranges

The Berkeley Hills are a part of the East Bay Hills, 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", but with the establishment of Berkeley and the University of California, the current usage was applied by geographers and gazetteers. The Berkeley Hills are included as part of the Diablo Range in the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geographic Names Information System list of GPS coordinates for the latter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alameda Creek</span> River in California, United States

Alameda Creek is a large perennial stream in the San Francisco Bay Area. The creek runs for 45 miles (72 km) from a lake northeast of Packard Ridge to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay by way of Niles Canyon and a flood control channel. Along its course, Alameda Creek provides wildlife habitat, water supply, a conduit for flood waters, opportunities for recreation, and a host of aesthetic and environmental values. The creek and three major reservoirs in the watershed are used as water supply by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Alameda County Water District and Zone 7 Water Agency. Within the watershed can be found some of the highest peaks and tallest waterfall in the East Bay, over a dozen regional parks, and notable natural landmarks such as the cascades at Little Yosemite and the wildflower-strewn grasslands and oak savannahs of the Sunol Regional Wilderness. After an absence of half a century, ocean-run steelhead trout are able to return to Alameda Creek to mingle with remnant rainbow trout populations. Completion of a series of dam removal and fish passage projects, along with improved stream flows for cold-water fish and planned habitat restoration, enable steelhead trout and Chinook salmon to access up to 20 miles (32 km) of spawning and rearing habitat in Alameda Creek and its tributaries. The first juvenile trout migrating downstream from the upper watershed through lower Alameda Creek toward San Francisco Bay was detected and documented in April 2023.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Briones Hills</span> Location in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States

The Briones Hills form a low mountain range in western Contra Costa County, in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. The Briones Hills are the northernmost portion of the East Bay Hills, which refers geologically to all of the ranges east of the Bay from the Hayward Fault in the west to the Calaveras Fault in the east. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geographic Names Information System, however, includes the Briones Hills as part of the Diablo Range in its list of GPS coordinates for the latter.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocky Ridge (California)</span> Mountain in SF 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.

References

  1. 1 2 "Sunol Peak". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. 1 2 U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine , accessed July 6, 2024
  3. "Diablo Range". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  4. "Briones Hills". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  5. "Berkeley Hills". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  6. "San Leandro Hills". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  7. "Walpert Ridge". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  8. "Pleasanton Ridge". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  9. R. C. Crane (1995). "Geology of Mount Diablo Region and East Bay Hills". In E. M. Sangines; D. W. Andersen; A. B. Buising (eds.). Recent Geologic Studies in the San Francisco Bay Area. Vol. 76. Pacific Section, Society for Sedimentary Geology (S.E.P.M.). pp. 87–114. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  10. J. Ross Wagner; Alan Deino; Stephen W. Edwards; Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki; Elmira Wan (September 27, 2021). "Miocene stratigraphy and structure of the East Bay Hills, California". In Raymond Sullivan; Doris Sloan; Jeffrey R. Unruh; David P. Schwartz (eds.). Regional Geology of Mount Diablo, California: Its Tectonic Evolution on the North America Plate Boundary. Vol. 217. Geological Society of America. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  11. Lester B. Rowntree (1994). "Afforestation, Fire, and Vegetation Management in the East Bay Hills of the San Francisco Bay Area". Yearbook of the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers. 56. University of Hawai'i Press: 7–30. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  12. Sherwood D. Burgess (1951). "The Forgotten Redwoods of the East Bay". California History. 30 (1): 1–14. Retrieved July 7, 2024.