The event billed as the Trail of 4 Cities, held on October 10, 2010, came off in grand style. More than 60 hikers met outside of the Rockridge BART Station that morning excited about the prospect of exploring dozens of stairways and hidden walkways in Oakland, Berkeley, Kensington, and El Cerrito. Hike leaders were amazed at the large turnout, but their excellent job at coordinating the event kept the participants moving and intrigued with exploring many neighborhoods.

Paul Rosenbloom of Oakland Urban Paths started us out through Rockridge neighborhoods and up to the vicinity of the Claremont Hotel. If you have only driven through these neighborhoods, you owe it to yourself to get out of your car and explore the many paths on foot. 

After a stop at Peet’s Coffee, Berkeley Path Wanderers’ volunteers Jen English* and Colleen Neff took the lead. We stopped briefly at the International House (I-House) on Piedmont Avenue near the UC Berkeley Campus and made our way to Live Oak Park for our picnic lunches. When we reached the start of Arlington Blvd. above the Solano Tunnel, we were intrigued to learn that this intersection years ago was a streetcar stop and that the nearby pathways were the means by which passengers could easily access public transit.

Next we headed up the Arlington to the Kensington border and met Lorraine Osmundson of the Kensington Improvement Club for a brief tour of their paths. The Chevron Station provided a convenient place for another restroom stop.

We then met Joseph Nichols and Lisa Martinengo of the newly formed El Cerrito Trail Trekkers at the El Cerrito border. We made our way through the hills, stopped at Huber Park for our final break, and then headed downhill to the El Cerrito BART station.

About half of those who had started the hike at Rockridge BART left along the way at places where they could reach other BART or bus stops demonstrating that it’s quite feasible to do the complete hike as a set of section hikes. Those who went the whole way completed 13+ miles taking approximately eight hours (including our four breaks plus lunch).

This was the first all-day hike sponsored by Berkeley Path Wanderers and turned out to be a terrific hike and an excellent way to explore four East Bay cities. All four organizations are community groups that are working to provide and improve public paths and they encourage community interaction and exploration while walking.

Click here to see the GPS trail route (courtesy of Keith Skinner of Berkeley Path Wanderers Assoc.).

*Jen English has walked all the streets and pathways in Berkeley. To read of her story, Walking every street, part 1, click here.