Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park

Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park is perhaps the best park in the East Bay. Just uphill of Oakland’s Dimond and Fruitvale districts, the park feels like another world from the bustling city below. The towering redwoods that cover the core of the park today are what remains of the truly incredible forests that built the Bay Area.

The park is by far the most classically beautiful of the East Bay Regional Parks: stately redwood trees line the trails down into the well-named Redwood Canyon, and the recently-built bridge on the Tres Sendas trail blends into the terrain by reusing a fallen redwood as the base for the hand-built tree reminiscent of the best of the 20th naturalistic architecture found in American parks.

The hike shown below is a great easy to moderate introductory loop covering the core of the park accessible from the Chabot Space and Science Center stop. The route takes you down into the Redwood Canyon, nearly to the creek, where you cross the redwood bridge on the Tres Sendas Trail to begin your hike back up. The route contains short steep sections both up and down, so take breaks as needed - in the redwoods, you’ll hardly need an excuse to pause and take in the silence punctuated only by bird calls.

To enjoy a short walk in the redwoods without a steep climb out, hiking out and back on the Roberts Ridge Trail is an easy trail taking you past the last remaining known stump of one of the giant ancient redwoods cut down during the post-Gold Rush development boom in the Bay Area.

Or, for a harder hike, take Madrone Trail down to French Trail, then head east along French Trail to one of the other trails that heads down into the canyon. Loop back along Redwood Creek back to Tres Sendas to ascend back out of the valley.

There is no bad trail in Redwood Regional Park. Explore, and enjoy!