The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which is the largest urban regional park district in the United States. The administrative office is located in Oakland.

As of 2020, EBRPD spans with 73 parks and over of trails. Some of these parks are wilderness areas; others include a variety of visitor attractions, with opportunities for swimming, boating and camping. The trails are frequently used for non-motorized transportation such as biking, hiking, and horse riding. More than of paved trails (identified as Interpark Regional Trails) through urban areas link the parks together.

History

A destructive grass fire that broke out in Wildcat Canyon blew west into Berkeley on September 17, 1923, and burned down 640 structures, mostly homes. The East Bay Water Company was harshly criticized for its failure to deliver enough water to successfully fight the fire. Much of the problem arose from having a system of small private water companies who obtained water either from their own wells or from runoff, then pumped the water to the water companies' wells, Chabot and Temescal. A state law was passed that enabled citizens of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties to create a special district that could obtain water from the Mokelumne River and pump it directly to customers. The East Bay Municipal District (EBMUD) was formed and approved by the electorate.

In 1930, the Olmsted Brothers and Ansel F. Hall created a "Report on proposed park reservations for East Bay cities, California" The EBRPD was founded in 1934, and acquired its first land two years later, when the East Bay Municipal Utility District sold of its surplus land. The founders of the district included Robert Sibley, a hiking enthusiast, Hollis Thompson, then Berkeley City Manager, and Charles Lee Tilden, among others. William Penn Mott Jr. served as director of the agency from 1962 to 1967, and oversaw a doubling of the system's acreage from 10,500 to 22,000.

In June 2013, EBRPD purchased a tract of land formerly known as Roddy Ranch in east Contra Costa County. The tract lies south of Antioch and west of Brentwood. The cost was reported as $14.24 million. Funding will also be provided by California Wildlife Conservation Board and an unidentified private foundation. The acquisition does not include Roddy Ranch Golf Club or about 240 acres of privately owned land inside the project boundary. The East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy will install gates, fencing and signs around the tract in the coming year, while the sale is in escrow. The new area will likely be named Deer Valley Regional Park.

In 2016, Vargas Plateau Regional Park in Fremont was the first park ever to have been shut down as the result of legal action in the more than 80-year history of EBRPD. During 2014, EBRPD cut park hours on a temporary and interim basis to reduce public access to Mission Peak in Fremont, using a media strategy designed by political consultant George Manross.[https://web.archive.org/web/20141219025141/http://www.ebparks.org/Assets/Agendas+Packets+Minutes/1.+Board+of+Directors+-+General+Meetings/12-16-2014/12-16-2014+-+Board+Meeting+Packet.pdf][https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/05/us/in-climbing-a-california-peak-the-challenge-is-finding-a-place-to-park.html?_r=0]

2020 California Wildfires

The parks in the East Bay Regional Park District were badly affected by the various lightning complex fires plaguing the Bay Area in August 2020. The fires enveloped the Bay Area in a layer of smoke and forced the closures of many national parks within the Bay Area including all parks in the East Bay Regional Parks District.

Notable parks

The parks administered by the EBRPD vary greatly in size and character. Particularly notable are the string of parks along the Berkeley Hills above and east of both Berkeley and Oakland, including Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, Tilden Regional Park, Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve, Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, and Redwood Regional Park.

There are also bay shore parks such as the Point Pinole Regional Shoreline north of Richmond, the Coyote Hills Regional Park near Fremont, the Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline on San Leandro Bay, and the Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline south of the Oakland International Airport.

The district also includes a former farm, a former coal mine, an extinct volcano, and one of the biggest dog-walking parks in the US. Redwood Regional Park contains the largest remaining natural stand of coast redwood in the East Bay.

District parks

  • Anthony Chabot Regional Park
  • Antioch/Oakley Regional Shoreline
  • Ardenwood Historic Farm
  • Big Break Regional Shoreline
  • Bishop Ranch Regional Preserve
  • Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve
  • Briones Regional Park
  • Brooks Island Regional Preserve
  • Browns Island Regional Shoreline
  • Brushy Peak Regional Preserve
  • Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline
  • Castle Rock Regional Recreational Area
  • Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve
  • Contra Loma Regional Park
  • Coyote Hills Regional Park
  • Crockett Hills Regional Park
  • Crown Memorial State Beach (California state park operated by EBRPD)
  • Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area
  • Del Valle Regional Park
  • Diablo Foothills Regional Park
  • Don Castro Regional Recreation Area
  • Dry Creek Pioneer Regional Park
  • Dublin Hills Regional Park
  • Eastshore State Park (California state park operated by EBRPD)
  • Five Canyons Open Space
  • Garin Regional Park
  • Hayward Regional Shoreline
  • Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve
  • Judge John Sutter Regional Shoreline
  • Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area
  • Lake Chabot Regional Park
  • Las Trampas Regional Wilderness
  • Leona Canyon Regional Open Space Preserve
  • Little Hills Picnic Ranch
  • Martin Luther King Jr. Shoreline
  • Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline
  • Mission Peak Regional Preserve
  • Morgan Territory Regional Preserve
  • Ohlone Wilderness
  • Oyster Bay Regional Shoreline
  • Pleasanton Ridge
  • Point Isabel Regional Shoreline
  • Point Pinole Regional Shoreline
  • Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area
  • Radke Martinez Regional Shoreline
  • Redwood Regional Park
  • Ridgelands Regional Park (in development)
  • Robert Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve
  • Roberts Regional Recreation Area
  • Round Valley Regional Preserve
  • Shadow Cliffs Regional Park
  • Sobrante Ridge Regional Preserve
  • Sunol Regional Wilderness
  • Sycamore Valley Regional Open Space Preserve
  • Tassajara Creek Regional Park
  • Temescal Regional Recreational Area
  • Tilden Regional Park
  • Vargas Plateau Regional Park (reopened May 15, 2017)
  • Vasco Caves Regional Preserve
  • Waterbird Regional Preserve
  • Wildcat Canyon Regional Park

Interpark Regional Trails

Interpark Regional Trails connect various Regional Parks. Their routes may take them through other parks, along creeks and channels, or even down streets and sidewalks in urbanized areas. The list below does not include trails that exist inside single parks.

  • Alameda Creek Regional Trail
  • Bay Area Ridge Trail
  • Briones to Las Trampas Regional Trail
  • Calaveras Ridge Trail
  • California Riding and Hiking Trail
  • Contra Costa Canal Regional Trail
  • Delta de Anza Regional Trail
  • Iron Horse Regional Trail
  • Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail
  • Las Trampas to Mount Diablo Trail
  • Marsh Creek Regional Trail
  • Ohlone Wilderness Trail
  • Old Moraga Ranch Trail
  • San Francisco Bay Trail
  • Tassajara Creek/Ridge Trail
  • Wildcat Creek Trail

Planned expansions

Vargas Plateau Regional Park

Around 1995, EBRPD acquired of the Vargas Plateau in Fremont, with of the Bay Area Ridge Trail and of other trails. Subsequently, park use was pushed back. As of 2007, the opening was expected by 2010. In 2010, EBRPD directors were expecting it would open soon. In 2011, EBRPD put the start in 2012. As of January 2015, EBRPD pointed to late 2015; while as of May 2015, the district pointed to spring 2016.

A 2012 settlement agreement between EBRPD and the owners of two large nearby ranches required the construction of improvements to park access roads. EBRPD and the city of Fremont agreed in 2013 to undertake them jointly, using $260,000 of funding by EBRPD and performed by the city. The park opened on May 5, 2016. "The park could remain closed for months or years," until the improvements are completed.

On May 2, 2017, EBRPD announced that it had settled the lawsuit, and that the park would reopen on May 15, 2017. EBRPD said that it agreed to construct a paved shoulder along Vargas Road, and a vehicle turnaround on the upper part of Morrison Canyon Road. It also announced that the City of Fremont had agreed to contribute part of the necessary funds.