Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve

Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve is a small regional park mainly located in the city of Oakland, California, and administered by the East Bay Regional Park District. The park is named for the canyon in which it's situated, Claremont Canyon, out of which Claremont Creek flows on its way to its confluence with Temescal Creek. Originally, the canyon was named "Harwood's Canyon", then "Telegraph Canyon". The name was changed to Claremont by a developer of the nearby Claremont district.Despite its small size of 205acre, Claremont Canyon Regional Preserve forms an important link in the chain of parks that line the Berkeley Hills. It rises from a height of about 420 ft (130 m) above sea level, just behind the Clark Kerr campus of the University of California, Berkeley to the average 1300 ft (400 m) ridge of the East Bay hills, linking by way of other conserved land belonging to the University and the East Bay Municipal Utility District to other parks such as Tilden Regional Park and Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve. It thus offers direct pedestrian access to the park system, with connections to public transportation, from the lower-lying residential areas of Berkeley and Oakland.Stonewall Panoramic TrailThe Stonewall Panoramic Trail begins at a parking area on Stonewall Road, behind the historic Claremont Hotel. The trail is 1.6mi long and ascends 700feet. The steep path up to the ridge gives splendid views across the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, and beyond to San Francisco Bay, the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco. On clear days, especially in winter, the Farallon Islands, about 44 miles (70 km) away, can be seen beyond the Golden Gate.