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Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
Rating Details »
5755 Mcbryde Ave
Richmond, CA 94808
(510) 236-1262
Richmond, CA 94808
(510) 236-1262
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
14 reviews for Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
I've come here twice with the husband. While the view of the Bay Area is amazing and the cows moseying along are cute, the trails aren't quite clearly demarcated until you get to a certain point.
The last time I came here was on Sat. in the late afternoon. Not too hot and not too cold with a nice breeze. My husband, myself, and our friend decided to tackle this hill. There was a narrow path carved out of it but it was a pretty steep hill. We all made it up the first one and decided to tackle the second. I had a sinking feeling that I probably should not attempt the second hill and I was right b/c halfway up, I started freaking out - overanalyzing the hill, going through the "what ifs" - what if I fall off this hill," "what if I can't get down the hill," etc. Needless to say, I got stuck halfway up the hill and couldn't get down. I basically sat down, gripping the weeds growing out of the side of the hill.
My husband came down to get me by sliding on his butt down the hill but first, he threw his steel water bottle down the hill which hit me HARD on my knee. It busted open and it began bleeding. It hurt so much and I hate to admit it but I started crying. So I slid down both hills on my butt to get down.
I would definitely come back to hike but the lesson I learned was to trust my gut and never go up a hill that I couldn't come back down easily.
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Golden Gate Bridge views, cows around nearly every turn, challenging hill hikes. Not once in 9 years of hiking here did we see a wildcat, though. Still hoping to.
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One of the easier local hikes in cococounty. Watch out for boo boo cows, dogs, peoples. - hey u neva no. Great place for a quick hike to see the golden gate, California Tarantulas, gopher snakes (my buddies lady friend let out the most perfect scary movie scream!). Views from sf to oak to vtown. Fairly moderate hike from short steep inclines to long rolling hills.
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My friend and I hiked a 7 miles trail here this weekend. I really liked the varying landscapes and free range cows. It is so very close to my place and I plan on returning sometime soon. My friend's hiking book listed the hike we took as "difficult", but I would rate it as upper moderate. There were plenty of people walking their dogs.
You can experience some nice variety of scenes, including some great views of the entire bay as far as San Francisco and the Bay and Golden Gate bridges.
Overall I thought this was a great place to hike. But be aware that there were some big temperature swings throughout the hike so dress in layers.
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I had a run in with a scale over the weekend. It made me cry. Then I hurled it out the window....not really.
Wildcat Canyon trails are my pudgy tummy's new best friend!
Well if you consider torture, pain and agony something you want from a best friend.
Hey....if I want to be Wonder Woman for Halloween I better run my fat ass off!! I have a pair of star studded booty shorts in my future! I can't have a muffin top wearing those!
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A bit more off the beaten path than Tilden, Wildcat Canyon offers more or less the same type of hiking, including varied landscape and great views. Less likely a destination for me, but a great option to mix it up when Redwoods and Tilden and Briones are feeling tried-an-true.
They also have a great education program, so it's worth it for teachers to look into them for field trips. Wildcat Creek is teeming with life, and the picnic and playground area are teacher-approved.
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Like many of the East Bay parks Wildcat Canyon has rolling grassy hills with great views. Dogs can be off leash in most of the park but be aware that there may be cows loose. When hiking along the ridge it can get quite windy so bring a light jacket even if it is warm. Also, water is only available at the entrances so bring plenty.
Had a pretty unpleasant experience here last month due to a combination of it being one of the hottest days of the month and my unpreparedness -- turns out a 100oz pack of water is far, far insufficient for a 7 mile hike.
In summary: Pleasant, partially shaded trails on the western side of the park, with many bikers and trailrunners doing out-and-backs from Tilden Park / Alvarado Park. Strenuous paths lead up to the eastern ridge, with fewer people, excellent views of the Bay Area, and cows.
Details:
I started at the Indian Camp entrance of Tilden Park near Jewel Lake, and headed north on Wildcat Creek Trail into Wildcat Canyon. Wildcat Creek Trail is a nice 2 mile trek where you constantly have a butterfly or two beside you, with views of the El Cerrito hills to your west and the San Pablo Ridge to your east. It's difficult to get a nice nature-y feel on this trail, however, since you can constantly hear some mechanical noises coming from behind the hills.
I then headed up via the Mezue Trail, which in hindsight was a terrible idea in 80+ degree weather. It's a 1.3 mile trail that climbs continuously from 400ft to 1000ft, and since it's actually a field for cow grazing, there's absolutely no shaded areas until you reach the top.
The rest of the hike wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been nearly wiped out by the end of the Mezue Trail. You get a good view of the El Cerrito area and San Francisco/Golden Gate/Angel Island/Marin/Mt. Tamalpais off in the distance when you reach the peak of the Mezue Trail. I then headed south via the San Pablo Ridge and Nimitz Way. Both trails give great views of the San Pablo Reservoir and beyond, including Mt. Diablo. You can also see cows grazing off to the side -- some actually are seen walking on the trail itself.
Note that having an EBMUD permit ($2.50/day, $10/year) enables you to hike out from the southeastern edge of Wildcat Canyon Park down to the San Pablo Reservoir and beyond. Hopefully I'll get around to doing that hike sometime this year.
Nimitz Way was a steady ascent which lead me back into Tilden Park. I was so exhausted that I was almost tumbling down the firetrail leading from Wildcat Peak (at 1280 feet) down to the Jewel Lake area. The 7 mile hike took me 6 hours, with 1-1.5 hrs of it being just cooling off in the shade. For comparison, a 7 mile hike at Marin Headlands the week prior only took 3.5 hours.
For a more pleasant experience, bring plenty of water and come in cool weather.
Accessible by Public Transit: AC Transit #67 runs from Berkeley BART to Tilden Park on the weekends, and the Wildcat Canyon Trail leads, unsurprisingly, into Wildcat Canyon. Several other AC Transit routes run to the Alvarado Park area.
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Above the hubbub of Richmond and El Cerrito you can climb your way to what feels like the top of the world (Carpenters references aside) at Wildcat Canyon.
I visited here with a hiking group I belong to, and we all really enjoyed the hike. The trail is wide (though with the first stretch of one of the trails paved, it doesn't quite feel like a "hike" for the first half-mile or so), and easy to navigate. There are some steep sections, but nothing requires special, fancy, REI-blinged gear to get you up or down.
On a clear day, there are AMAZING views of the delta, of SF, Angel Island (before it burned, sigh), and both bridges. Even the industrial blech of Vallejo looks somewhat beautiful from high up!
There's wildlife (OK, cows, but we did see one deer), some strategically placed benches for photographic (or romantic, smooch-smooch) moments, and if you have a dog, s/he can join you - OFF LEASH! YAY!
Might bring my bike back here, too. The trails are great for accommodating both hikers and bikers, but there is some decent-looking singletrack off the beaten path, too.
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Where else can you rub shoulders with cows while having superb views of the Bay, at an easily accessible location? Tilden takes half a tank of gas to drive up to (and I'm always scared of running bikers off the road), Diablo is great if you have 3+ hours to invest, but Wildcat can give you it all in less than 2 hours. If you're in reasonable shape, try the Belgum Trail or take the first trail to the left after climbing out of the parking lot. Very steep in sections but the workout, and the resulting view, more than pays for itself. I hit Wildcat up a few times a week, simply because of the low crowds on the tough trails, the awesome views and the super easy convenience factor. Wildcat rules!
Another great East Bay Regional Park. Beautiful views of the ENTIRE bay (okay, well from Oakland to Martinez at least) and the ocean. Seriously, it's good.
The Wildcat Canyon trail is shaded with lots of trees, including some huge Eucalyptuses. Head up the hills for the views and it's dry and grassy. Parts of Nimitz trail are paved, but most of it is a wide dirt trail.
Dogs are allowed (I brought mine!) off leash if under control, but watch out for cow piles and barbed wire (thus only 4 stars instead of 5). I ended up having her on her leash about 25% of the time because I didn't want her to be chasing a bird or something and run into the barbed wire.
This is not a very busy park, which is super nice. I went on a Sat afternoon and only encountered 4 other people (3 with dogs), and 4 bikers.
Nice park and beautiful view. :)
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We hiked in Wildcat Canyon Regional Park via Tilden Regional Park. It's good on a nice day. Views can be Great. You can see SF Cityscape, Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Mt. Diablo. It's so beautiful.
We did Wildcat Creek Trail - Conlon Trail - Nimtiz Way trail. Total w/ Tilden & Wildcat Canyon Reg. Park we did about 8 miles RT.
Recommended.
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Wildcat Canyon is a nice little getaway. It's tucked behind the Richmond Hills. I enjoy taking Charlie out here. One day, we decided to venture onto a new trail. On our way up, we heard a little calf crying for its momma. The park ranger came and reunited him with her. This was the first time Charlie ever saw cattle. He was scared and in awe. It was so cute to see his reaction. Anyway, we ventured onto the trail. Across the way, there were over 50 cows just relaxing on the grass. We left them and continued walking on the trail. It made for a nice hike.
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Wildcat Canyon is a hidden but huge gem in the East Bay Regional Park system.... A place where you can hike up for some beautiful bay area vistas, see cows, play with your dog, and generally be outside. This park is also not nearly as crowded as the nearby Tilden Park.
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