Briones Regional Park

Briones Regional Park is a 6,117-acre (24.75 km2) regional park in the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) system located in Briones Hills, central Contra Costa County, San Francisco Bay Area, California.

 

With its rolling, grassy hills and secluded, shady canyons, Briones is a secret wilderness surrounded by the central town of Contra Costa County. Although the park is close to Lafayette, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, Concord, and Martinez, there are peaks within which you can only see parks and watersheds for miles in every direction.

 

From Briones Peak, the highest point in the park, you can enjoy panoramic views of Mount Diablo and the Diablo Valley to the east, the Sacramento River and the Delta to the north, the East Bay Hills and Mt. Tamalpais to the west, and the Regional Wilderness of Las Trampas to the south.

 

The area which today includes Briones Park and Russell Reservation was part of the 1842 Mexican land grant of Rancho Boca de la Canada del Pinole to the widow of Felipe Briones. The Briones began cattle ranching in the area, which continues to this day. The Briones family sold the rancho in 1870. By 1850, Happy Valley Road, which runs along the outskirts of Briones Regional Park, was the main road from Martinez south to the Pueblo of San José, and then to San Francisco.

 

In 1909, the People's Water Company (PEWC) was the precursor of the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Since 1966, a tract of land (1.15 square kilometers) in the Briones Hills, known as the Russell Reservation, has been operated as a research site by the University of California. The regional park of Briones was set up by the East Bay District in October 1967.

 

A significant number of birds and animals live in Briones' 6,255 acres, which feed on grasslands or are protected by oaks. If you're lucky, other, more solitary birds, you can see black-tailed deers, coyotes, squeakers, red-tailed Hawks, turkey vultures. During season, there are magnificent wildflowers. Naturalists of the Park District also lead the nature and historical aspects of the Park through walks. 

 

The archery chain of Briones Archers is accessible from the entrance of Briones' Bear Creek Road west of the Crescent Ridge Trail. A number of picnic areas with first-coming services, tables and barbecue facilities in the Bear Creek Staging area and Alhambra Creek Stadium Park are offered at Briones Regional Park. The park has also two smaller, smaller reserves in the Bear Creek Staging Area: the 50-person Oak Grove reservation and the 150-person Newt Hollow reservation. A new picnic area reserved for 50 people, Crow, is available in Alhambra Creek Staging Area.

 

The Ridge of Lafayette runs parallel to the city of Lafayette in Briones Park. It is approximately 2 km (3.2 km) long on the Lafayette Ridge Trail. Starting at the Springhill Prime School parking lot, it reaches the Russel Point point at 1357 ft., where the Springhill Path and the Briones Crest Track are separated. Many other roads, particularly the Springhill and the Buckeye Ranch, branch off the Lafayette Ridge Trail. Mountain biking is possible on the ridge trails, with frequent increases / descents of up to 200 ft (61 m ) above sea level.