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Sycamore
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Visitors are responsible for knowing and complying
with park rules (Ordinance 38), available online at
http://www.ebparks.org/activities/ord38.
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24
LAFAYETTE
& Hiking
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Regional
Park
Please enjoy our Regional Parks safely, and help us
protect and preserve your parklands by complying
with park rules and regulations.
RULES
Pets must be leashed 200 feet from any trail or park
entrance. Pets must be leashed in parking lots, picnic
areas, developed areas such as lawns and play fields,
and on some trails. They must be under voice control
at all times.
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Treat B
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WELCOME!
SAFETY and ETIQUETTE
• Stay on trails. Taking shortcuts can be dangerous
and causes erosion.
• Wading and/or swimming in undesignated areas
may be dangerous and may harm the watershed.
• Carry and drink plenty of water. Dehydration is a
leading cause of injuries on the trail.
• Be prepared for sudden changes in weather
conditions.
• Trails can be slippery, rocky and steep. Proceed
carefully at your own risk.
• Wildlife may be present on the trails at any time.
Feeding or approaching wildlife is dangerous and
illegal.
• Bicycles are permitted on designated trails only.
Horses have the right-of-way on trails.
• Keep the parks beautiful. Pack out what you pack in.
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POLICE, FIRE, MEDICAL EMERGENCY ............9-1-1
EBRPD HEADQUARTERS ................1-888-EBPARKS
PARK OFFICE ..1-888-EBPARKS, option 3, ext. 4560
WEB SITE .......................................... www.ebparks.org
TDD .......................................................... (510) 633-0460
support nesting red-tailed hawks and great-horned
owls, and provide cover for California quail, wild turkeys, and gray fox.
The Preserve’s steep-sided gullies drain into Sycamore Creek. These intermittent drainages, along with
several ponds located in the Preserve, provide limited
wetland habitat for garter snakes, Pacific tree frogs, and
red-legged frogs. The drainages also support raccoons,
striped skunks, deer, coyotes, and bird species including ruby-crowned kinglets, chestnut-backed chickadees,
vireos, warblers, red-winged blackbirds, and great blue
herons. Raptors seen hunting in the Preserve include the
northern harrier, Cooper’s hawk, and white-tailed kite.
Bl.
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Sycamore Valley Regional Open Space Preserve occupies two major ridges located within a region of rolling
hills and valleys south of Mt. Diablo. Elevations range
from about 600 to 1,000 feet.
The Bay Miwok Tatcan tribe inhabited the Sycamore
Valley when, in 1772, Fr. Juan Crespi with an expedition
led by Captain Pedro Fages, noted the good quality of
the land in the San Ramon Valley and considered it a
good location for a Franciscan mission. The mission was
ultimately located in present-day Fremont, and the San
Ramon valley was utilized as grazing land. By 1850 the
first Anglo-Americans had arrived to farm the valley.
Since the main road between Mission San Jose and the
State Capitol in Benicia ran through the San Ramon
Valley, businesses were encouraged to establish in the
area. Throughout the last half of the 1800s, Sycamore
Valley farmers established the area as a productive
agricultural region. The first American settler in the vicinity of today’s Preserve is recorded as Leonard Eddy
in 1850. But in 1862 the Wood family began a farm and
over five generations came to own and farm most of
what is the Preserve today. By the end of the twentieth century Sycamore Valley land use had converted
to housing. Much of the hilly ridge lands, including the
Preserve, was dedicated for open space preserves.
The 328-acre southern portion of the Preserve known
as the Sherburne Hills unit, located south of Camino
Tassajara, was acquired by the Park District in 1989. In
1998 the District acquired 255 acres north of Camino
Tassajara from the Town of Danville, and an additional
106 acres from Wood Ranch developers, bringing the
Preserve’s northern Short Ridge Unit to 361 acres.
The Sherburne Hills Unit is almost entirely grassland, and the Short Ridge Unit is mostly grassland with
scattered oak savanna with trees consisting of valley
oak, coast live oak, and buckeye. This habitat supports
gopher snakes, racers, Northern Pacific rattlesnakes,
acorn woodpeckers, scrub jays, black-tailed titmouse,
Western bluebirds, Northern orioles, lazuli buntings,
and loggerhead shrikes (which also occur in the southern unit). The mature woodlands of the northern unit
PLEASANT
HILL
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An Agricultural Landscape Preserved
DUBLIN
To Reach Sycamore Valley Regional Open Space
Preserve:
From I-680 in San Ramon, exit at Sycamore Valley Road
and head east. Sycamore Valley Road becomes Camino
Tassajara. Continue on Camino Tassajara to Holbrook
Drive. Turn left on Holbrook Drive and park in the staging area.
Cover photos:
Top: Snow-covered Mt. Diablo, seen from the Sherburn
Hills. Photo by Bob Walker, Collection of the Oakland
Museum of California.
Middle: Hikers on the Sand Hill Trail. Photo by Robin
Mayoff.
Bottom: Western bluebird. Photo by Lee Greengrass.
East Bay Regional Park District
2950 Peralta Oaks Court,
P.O. Box 5381
Oakland, CA 94605-0381
1-888-EBPARKS ebparks.org
Rev. 2/13
Sycamore
Valley
Regional Open Space
Preserve