Captivating Claremont Canyon and Its Stewards

The Claremont Hotel is a familiar landmark, but it also marks the entrance to an East Bay Regional Park: Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve. It’s surprising how many people are unfamiliar with this amazing resource that, quite literally, lies in our backyard.

The 208-acre preserve comprises both sides of upper Claremont Avenue. Panoramic Hill rises steeply, 1,600 feet, on the north to stunning views of the Bay. The wooded Gwin Canyon rises more gently on the south and includes of Claremont Creek. Hiking trails pass through a variety of vegetation, from grasslands and coastal scrub, to stands of live oak, California bay, and eucalyptus. Visitors may spot black-tailed deer, coyote, gray fox, red-tailed hawk, or a garter snake or two. Dozens of varieties of wild flowers bloom every spring, and denizens know where to find chanterelles and other edible mushrooms after winter rains.

Additional areas in the upper canyon are managed by the University of California and the East Bay Municipal Utility District. The City of Oakland owns Garber Park, a 13-acre woodland on the south side, above the hotel. Taken as whole, it is the largest, relatively undeveloped canyon on the western slope of the Oakland-Berkeley hills. 

Jerry Kent, a local treasure himself, has long known the importance of Claremont Canyon and the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD). He has been called a walking encyclopedia of all things related to both. 

In an illustrated presentation at Arts & Culture, on Wednesday, August 6, at 7 p.m., Jerry will explain the history and many attributes of Claremont Canyon as well as the important work of the Claremont Canyon Conservancy (CCC), which formed after the 1991 Oakland Hills Firestorm.

Tickets for this program are $5 for club members and students and $10 for non-members. Please register early so we can be sure to accommodate everyone comfortably. 

Since its founding as a nonprofit, citizen-run organization, the CCC has tried to  ensure the best possible stewardship of the entire canyon. The Conservancy works with canyon stakeholders “to preserve or restore a healthy native ecosystem, reduce wildfire hazards, and foster education and research.”

 Maps of the canyon and its trails will be available the evening of Jerry’s talk.

“More than anyone else I know,” says Jon  Kaufman, CCC president, “Jerry Kent understands how the combination of the vegetation, topography, weather, real estate development, and climate change is affecting us as residents of the East 

Bay hills. He’s also an authority on what we can do to prevent wildfire and when to get out of its way when we can’t.”

Jerry’s relationship with the East Bay hills extends more than a half century. He says he had a “front-row-seat” during the expansion of the Park District, from six parks that totaled 6,000 acres in 1962 to 65 parks and 98,000 acres in 2003, when he retired. (Today there are 73 parks covering 126,809 acres.) He was involved in all aspects of management and formulating policy for the District and still volunteers every Wednesday to organize and preserve its historic records. 

In his retirement, Jerry continues to advocate for expanding parklands, preserving their ecosystems, and making them resistant to wildfires. In addition to the CCC board, Jerry belongs to the Sierra Club Chapter Vegetation Management Task Force, the Regional Parks Association, the EBRPD Retirees Association, and the East Bay Fire Safe Alliance, which advises the East Bay Wildfire Coalition of Governments.

Whether you have hiked in Claremont Canyon for years or merely driven through it but never left your car, you are sure to come away from Jerry’s talk with a new appreciation for the area. Invite your friends and neighbors to join you!

Also check out other Trips & Adventurous Activities in Berkeley, Arts events in Berkeley.