wildcat canyon

wildcat canyon

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	wildcat canyon
Location:	California - Bay Area
Nearest Town:	Berkley
Directions to Trailhead:	highway 580 to 24 go through Caldicot tunnel in the east bound direction. Get off at fish ranch road or tunnel road. Go to the top of the mountain and you see Tilden park. Thats where it begins.
Trail Description:	Alot of off road if you choose, fat jumps and high speeds. Go for all the off road you can get.
Trail Length:	16.3 - 21.4
Trail Type:	Singletrack & Fire Roads
Skill Level:	Advanced
Submitted By:	Keith Joseph

David from Pinole Date: November 27, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: clark rd. gate. cars do get broken into here. Other recommended trails in the same area: oat hill trail - calistoga
Review: go through gates, the huge hill you see is called no way hill, not many people can ride to the top. you can fallow the fire road to the y in road take the trail to your left down along side the hill. when you come out from the tree tunnel go left to troft then up the hill to your right. when at the top their is some nice single track to a fire road go left on road then right to single track up along side. cross fire road to next up hill going back. from here on its almost all very fast fire road downhill back to the car. when you get to the bottom of no way stay left pay attention as you come off the corner & youll find the short cut to your right. have funn the trip down is about 7 min., not much for all the work to get up but its fun.	Overall Rating:

John from Richmond Annex Date: March 11, 2002 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: Enter off park ave. Take widcat canyton trail through Wildcat Canyon and into Tilden. Once in Tilden take the Bike Loop trail until it deadends into the parking lot. Ride through the pinic area to the left and pick up meadow canyon trail. At near the top of meadow canyon youll come to a 3 way intersection. Take the center singletrack that leads through the trees to Wildcat Canyon Rd. Cross the road and proceed up Seaview trail. The first trailhead on your right is Quarry trail. Follow quarry trail until it joins Seaview. make a left on Seaview and youll slowly begin climbing to the ridge. Once on the top of Seaview theres some great views. ride seaview until you, again reach Wildcat Canyon Rd. make a right and head up to inspration point. Follow nimitz trail to either Hadley Canyon Trail (closed in winter do to the trail becoming total slop and not being worth the effort), Mezel trail or San Pablo trail. All of these trails terminate into wildcat canyon trail. Bcaktrack to your car @ the Park Ave. Gate. Other recommended trails in the same area: Biones, Mt. Diablo
Review: Most of this route is fireroad. Some of the climbs are kinda brutal. singletrack is found on hadley canyon or the side trails that follow almost every fire road. its a good jaunt and best done durring the week or early on weekend mornings. This is a easily accessed and frequently used network of trails. prepare to encounter everything from blockades of hikers across trails, children and dogs off leashes everywhere.	Overall Rating:

James from Sacramento Date: February 22, 2002 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: North from Inspiration on Nimitz and back through the canyon. Other recommended trails in the same area: I haven't ridden any other East Bay trails so I can't say. However, Skyline in Napa and Rockville are two sweet trails that are relatively nearby.
Review: I found this trail listed in a NorCal MTB trail guide. I think they suggested a clockwise route from Inspiration. I can see why, but don't agree. Ride out Nimitz (on pavement) and then take the ridge trail down into Belgium and Wildcat Canyon. I rode it in the fall and the lack of cooling temps got to me at the end of the Ridge. I then took a nice header down into Belgium. NICE!!!! I would say depending on how much climbing, descending and suffering you want to do, this could be a fun trail.	Overall Rating:

Hisup Park from Alamo, CA Date: November 12, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: There are several loops. My favorite starts at Inspiration Point parking lot off of Wildcat Canyon Rd.; take Curran Tr. down, onto Wilcat Gorge Tr., to Loop Road, to Wildcat Creek Rd.; right onto Mezue Tr., and climb back upto Nimitz Rd.; Take Nimitz Rd. back to the parking lot. (See below for complete direction with map and GPS points.) Other recommended trails in the same area: Briones Regional Park, Redwood Park, Lake Chabot, Mt. Diablo Trails, Morgan Territory, Pleasanton Ridge
Review: Some people think that the Tilden Park is the "Crown Jewel" of East Bay Regional Park system, and there is a good reason for it. Visit this place during the spring time when the hills are green and wild flowers bloom, and you will be treated to a unique, transcendental experience. If you are a thrill seeker, there is nothing here but fire trails and paved roads, but the there are some wicked climbs that will test anyone's lungs. Stay away during the wet season if you don't enjoy wallowing in THICK mud. Go to www.macroscape.net/MTB/tilden.htm for a full photo tour of the trails in this area. I placed detailed directions and GPS points there also.	Overall Rating:

ToMaS SaNtiAgO from Richmond,CA Date: November 10, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: I have been riding wildcat canyon trails since i was about 11. Theres a lot of killer hills which stand at at a 80 degree angle and and be a burnden to climb Other recommended trails in the same area: check out tildens varitey of trails. They are wicked!
Review: Last week i took this one trail up to the brioneys but i was like a short cut. So we cut up it (by the way it was a fire trail) and spent a good 2 hours marching up the hill. So anyway once you get to the top you can see skyline on the other side and the reseavor. There are a lot of cows so you have to watch out and if they get in your way just simply get off your bike and scare them a little. Anyway the trail goes on for about another 3 hours and is paved. its a real work out and A LOT OF FUN! So on your way back down the hill just be careful of COW PIES and you should be ok!	Overall Rating:

Gelo from Hercs. Date: October 31, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: Alvarado Staging area off McBryde exit WB on 80 or take macdonald EB on 80. Park at stging area then pedal your a$$ up the hill. Pretty good warm up thru this route but save your energy and water for other singletrack off main Wildcat Crk trl. From Wcat Crk Trail take Havey Trail off to your left thru the cattle gate. follow Havey to the ridge and ride to Berkeley if you choose. This route will give you a great warm up, nice distraction and reward for the climb(s) and then another spin on the ridge to get regulate your heartrate. From stage to ridge - out and back is approx 7.5 to 8 miles in length all the way to Berks is a 26 out and back. Other recommended trails in the same area: kennedy grove, briones
Review: This route is pretty tame on the climb, it just takes a lot out of you since the very first thing that you hit is this ominous paved hill till you hit the dirt. From there you have numerous choices as to which trails to take. My personal fave is Havey as the descent is where it's at. Couple of rocks and roots to stick up just get let you catch some air on the way down, enough to keep you in check and bring you back down to reality when you hit one and realize that you're still airborn when you are supposed to be leaning into a bermless turn. One way will send you over the edge and into a rocky embankment the other is strewn with poison oak and what appears to be blackberry bushes (more thorns that you'd care to meet). The scenery is awesome, nice treelined trails with shade and the ever popular cow and horse pies to give a bit of adventure. Word of advice, forget about them on the way down, just try to stay on the trail. There's also a cattle gate halfway up the trail and a lil' creek crossing that is very very easy to forget about while bombing down. You're just having too much fun coming down this trail so be careful and try to have a visual marker otherwise you'll become very intimate with the cattle gate and the creek on the otherside of it. The ridge ride isn't bad, just kinda boring till you get to Berks and Tilden, then there's more fun. So far, Havey Trail descent is the funnest part of it for me. All levels of riders will enjoy Wildcat Canyon. There is some ped. traffic, barely any equestrian traffic (nice). I've taken beginners to advanced riders thru my out and back and they've all enjoyed it. I'm still kinda new to the area but I'll keep on reviewing as I explore the trails up here some more. So far, fun factor on the descent is a 5 ringer. Nice to be able to get into the big ring, oh yeah, watchout for the "bike" police. I got a warning for going too fast back down to the staging area.	Overall Rating:

Vincent from Richmond Cali Date: March 20, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: You shuld start out at the Alvarado Area, I live really close to there which is about 2 blocks away frum me. When u see the which says "Alvarado Area" make a right and go straight. U'll eventually end up at this sign which says "Wild Cat Canyon" It is A long bike trail that extends about 3-4 miles long. As you go on ull eventually end up at Tilden park and is Fun riding from there. Other recommended trails in the same area: This is the only Trail i've been on
Review: Its Quite fun..But theres this big hill which i have never been able to Ride up..(Cuz Im hella Weak) I only know one person who can ride up that hill. At first there are sum pretty huge hill which will get u tired. But once u see the huge hill. Thats the last big hill ull face for a while. Going up is a Hassel but going down later on..is SWEET! u hit around 25-30 mph depending if u use ur brakes. But after that hill u go straight down frum there. and after a while as u keep going ull encounter another big hill. Which is another hassel to go up but like before when u come down. You better have goggles cuz bugs fly in ur face. When u reach tilden u can keep going and ride a Huge hill which if EXTREMELY fun! Its also pretty cold... There are still many trails to explore over there. Im just a 16 Ridin wit my friends	Overall Rating:

chris from richmond ca Date: February 2, 2001 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: if yuo keep an eye out on the main trail you will see some slick singletrack on your right about 2-3 miles in. Take it as far as you can! it is awesome but watch for the low trees on aa part or two. Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: the regular trail is also alot of fun, but not as nice as the eastbay section of the bay area ridge trail. Take this from clark rd (off san pablo dam rd) up to the trail. turn left and follow into tilden and up to inspiration point. Along there and down to the arlington to moser. then you can get anywhere. back to clark rd is about 22 miles round trip.	Overall Rating:

RockyMtn. Rider from Orinda Date: May 28, 2000 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: I went along the wildcat creek trail(from tilden) and came up belgian trail. Other recommended trails in the same area: Redwood
Review: Don't be stupid like me and walk your bike up those two monster hills. Yes, those are traverses and they take you right to the Nimitz trail. This ride is very hilly, some unclimbable (the monster hills), not tons of fun. You're better off staying in Tilden area, or Redwood across the tunnel.	Overall Rating:

D Schnabel from San Francisco, CA Date: December 4, 1999 Trail Ridden: Every few months
Recommended Route: Start at Lone Oak Parking lot near the Pony Ride. Ride up Meadow Cyn trail to Inspiration Point. Turn right on Wildcat Cyn Road after .25 mile turn left onto Seaview trail, follow trail for about 3 miles then go right on Big Springs trail. Follow this trail back down to the South Park Road, go across parking lot and back onto trail. Follow back up to Seaview Trail, go left and back to Inspiration Point. Follow Nimitz (paved) trial to Curran Trail, ride trail to Havey Cyn trail then up Havey Cyn to Nimitz. Go left on Nimitz to top of hill then on Mizue trail to Wilcat Cyn trail. Follow Wilcat back to Parking lot via Loop trail. Other recommended trails in the same area:
Review: Good climbs sometimes technical on Seaview Trail and Havey Cyn. All fire road or double track. Big Springs descent quite rocky. Curran and Mizue descents fun and fast. This ride is approx 14 miles.	Overall Rating:

Mike from Richmond Date: October 1, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: For mileage climbs, and downhills: start at Alvarado Staging Area heading north and do loops of Wildcat Canyon Trail & San Pablo Ridge Trail (outer Nimitz) and the trails which connect them. For techinical interest and intensity: start at the Seaview Trail near Inspiration Point and climb about Volmer Peak and its' slopes. For the best hit: start at the Alvarado Staging area and take the Wildcat Canyon Trail, up the Wildcat George, Curren Trail and connect to the Seaview Trail to Volmer Peak at 1900 ft. Descend next to South Park Road and connect to the Big Springs trail and the Quarry Trail which dumps you on the road. Take the road back to Inspiration Point and hang with the paved Nimitz Trail until it turns to dirt and go out the San Pablo Ridge Trail. You're talking 20-23 miles here and 2300 ft. elevation. Other recommended trails in the same area: Briones, Redwood; both capable of inflicting pain.
Review: The Berkeley Ridge and the San Pablo Ridge join to the South at Volmer Peak (alt 1905) and Grizzly Peak (1747) in Berkeleys' Tilden Park. Between the two is Big Springs, South Park Road, and Tilden Golf Course, the crown of the Wildcat Canyon watershed which pools to the north at Lake Anza and flows down Wildcat Gorge as the head of Wildcat Creek. The bottom of the Gorge, at about 600 ft altitude, marks the beginning of a gradual decent north through Wildcat Canyon defined by the flow of Wildcat Creek. Wildcat Creek pools again at Jewell Lake, and flows there from a dam, down under a bridge at Rifle Range Road, where it meets Havey Creek at Tildens' northern border with Wildcat Canyon Park. The Canyon opens to civilization at Alvarado Park, some three miles to the North in Richmond. This area is really a combination of Wildcat Canyon and Tilden Park. Legal riding is fireroad, passable by jeep except for the Havey Creek washout inundated by El Nino 97-98. One trail is paved and some trails approach singletrack. Most all of it is double-track stretching from Alvarado Staging Area at 200 ft. elevation to Volmer Peak at 1905 ft. elevation. There are two major trails. The first is the Wildcat Canyon Trail which runs from Alvarado Park and can ascend the Canyon via the Meadow Canyon Trail or via Wildcat Gorge and Curren Trail. The former is the most gradual ascent out of the Canyon and the latter more challenging but often crowded with hikers and dogs. Both are impassible in winter. The second, and longest, trail runs from the top of Volmer Peak and along the full length of the San Pablo Ridge. The Canyon sees its fewest riders in the wet parts of the year as the rolling hills, the canyon Gorge and floor, and the lower slopes of Grizzly Peak are covered in the most tenacious clay in the world. The rugged sloping ridge which leads to Volmer Peak is largely made of rock and provides year around riding. The paved section of the Nimitz Trail which starts at Inspiration point (1100) and goes along the top of San Pablo Ridge for several miles becomes dirt near the top of Mezue Trail. The trails connecting Wildcat Canyon Trail and the Nimitz Trail atop San Pablo Ridge in the north end of the Canyon are 1.5-2 mile, 500 to 700 ft climbs, which, in turn, become booming fireroad decents. The trails marbling the West slopes of Volmer Peak tend to be narrower with tighter turns but shorter overall. In the nicer weather the variety of users is broad and numerous, especially near the Park Entrances in Tilden and Alvarado in Tilden but distance and altitude winnow most of the crowd. This is an Intermediate ride where Beginners can challenge themselves and Advanced riders can get in some solid miles and hone their climbing and downhill skills. Best of all the East Richmond Market on McBryde has a decent selection of post ride goodies.	Overall Rating:

Julian from Berkeley, CA Date: July 25, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a month
Recommended Route: Starting from Inspiration Point, take the dirt trail (not the Nimitz) and go straight for 50 yeards. But don't take the steep right hand turnoff. You'll see a steep trail that looks like it might be illegal on your left side. Take that and go up until you hit the street, cross the street, and go around the gate to the fireroad. I think this trail is called Seaview - take it all the way up for two great views: on one side is SF Bay, and on the other is Briones and the hills. If you continue on the Seaview, you'll eventually get to Volmer Peak, which is where the Lawrence Hall of Science is, around the intersection of Grizzly Peak and Centennial. There are two other trails but I'm not too familiar with them. I think they just connect with Seaview to eventually reach Volmer Peak. Other recommended trails in the same area: None. So far this is the best that I know of around Tilden
Review: The trail is almost all double track/fireroads. Some of it goes through wooded areas that are well-shaded. The only singletrack is that short steep trail that looks illegal (I don't think it is though). Several climbs that look intimidating, but they aren't too bad. Two rocky/loose uphills that require finesse.	Overall Rating:

Christian Evans from Berkeley Date: May 19, 1999 Trail Ridden: Once a week
Recommended Route: Fom Tilden Park's Wildcat Creek (?) climb up the Current trail, pass near Inspiration Point, up to the top of Skyline, back down to Insoiration Point, ride along the Nimitz (paved) to the the dirt trail begins again, ride up and down the rough and steep hills, cimb back up (don't get lost in those hidden single tracks) to the Nimitz and single track down Harvey Canyob, cilmb back up to the left (do not go past the cow gate to the Wildcat canyon's "easy" trail, unless you're too tired, get back on the ridge)to the Nimitz again, ride down Current trail (watch for hikers. Other recommended trails in the same area: Brione Park in Orinda great place to ride
Review: lots of climbing, some rocky stuff that can be ridden fast, some paved riding for recovery or sprint riding, some steep "big grin" downhills in the far end of the ridge in Wildcat. When riding in night, look out for mt. lions, not kidding.	Overall Rating:

Tom from CA Date: April 27, 1999 Trail Ridden: Ridden Once
Recommended Route: Start at Alvarodo Park, at the east end of McBride Ave in Richmond. Ride up to Inspiration Point in Tilden Park (Berkeley). First few miles is paved, gradual uphill ... used to be the access road to Nike-X Missle base. Fire road is OK if dry, otherwise it's sticky clay. Last few miles is a multi-use trail with too many people. Other recommended trails in the same area: Brines is a better workout. Mt. Diablo has a mile or 2 of good single track.
Review: Fairly strenuous, beginner-level ride.	Overall Rating:

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