LAS TRAMPAS REGIONAL WILDERNESS: Chamise Trail to Las Trampas Ridge, Elderberry Trail to Rocky Ridge, and the Devil’s Hole - Sycamore Trail Loop
It’s a landscape that encompasses thousands upon thousands of acres (27,000 of them) of the East Bay Water District’s (EBMUD) watershed territory between the Berkeley / Oakland hills and far Eastern Contra Costa County. It lies beyond the purlieus of the more heavily populated regions, but as the crow flies, the regional wilderness is ridiculously close to the metropolitan scramble and sprawl.
Las Trampas Regional W
Oddly, Las Trampas has always been one of those places (in my mind only) “too far away” and “not exotic enough” to have courted it much. This sad misconception has prevented many a fine romp in this Diabloan wilderness. Given half a chance, Las Trampas provides a wonderful escape from urban pressures, right th
Where else can you enjoy lung-busting climbs to rocky ridges offering breathtaking 360 degree views of Ramage Peak at 1401 feet, Mt. Diablo at 3849 feet, the Ohlone Ridge out beyond Livermore, and Grizzly and Volvon Peaks dominating the Berkeley Hills horizon? Pick and sniff some super-sweet lemony black sage, rejoice in the chaparral, chamise, and grasslands? Give praise to the oak-bay-madrone-ma
A major attraction (for me) of Las Trampas is the lore associated with the place – of black panther (yes, black panther) sightings in the Devil’s Hole area for starters. San Francisco Chronicle Outdoor writer Tom Stienstra has wildlife scientist and mountain lion expert for the East Bay Regional Park District, Steve Bobzian, on record saying, "We're getting at least one or two black panther sightings a year." Wow! Better hope you’re quick to the draw to get that on film! Then, there are swashbuckling tales of hidden loot stashed by the Robin Hood like bandit, Joaquin Murietta, secreted high in re
Bollinger Creek dissects the park. The west valley is walled by Rocky Ridge at 2,024 feet. The east valley, Las Trampas Ridge, tops out at over 1900 feet. Two major faults -- the Las Trampas and Bollinger faults – account for the uplift and exposure, holding remnants of ancient shoreline and fossiliferous bedrock. Fertile soil provides habitat for coast live oak and bay laurel trees, as well as buckeyes, big leaf maples, canyon live oak, black oak, and scrub oak. Ferns abound. Grasslands and meadows unfold. Field mice prolife
Seasonally, Las Trampas undergoes personality transformations (as does the entire Bay Area). Summers and early Fall bring tinder-box dry conditions, golden hills, inferno heat. Winter brings the life-bearing rains (maybe lucky to get five to ten inches a year), and then Springtime, the loveliest of seasons, arrives with Hiburnian hillsides strewn with profuse wild flowers, songs of running brooks, and the eternal longing sense of rebirth or rediscovery in the magical epiphanies of nature animism.
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