In looking at the maps on the EBRPD website, I noticed a new addition in the hills west of Dublin and north of 580, named Dublin Hills Regional Park. It looked like a pretty small area with just one out and back trail, but when I had a free afternoon, I took Darby out there to check it out. We took the 580 frontage road (Dublin Canyon Rd.) out to Rowell Ranch, and right across the road there is an underpass where Shaefer Ranch Road heads into a new development. To the right on Dublin Blvd. is the Donlon Point Staging Area. We parked there and headed up the trail which skirts the hillside above the new houses for nearly a mile. A prominent hill, Donlon Point is a short distance above, but we didn't bother with that. The trail soon reaches the ridge top with great views to the east over Dublin and the valley. We came to a trail intersection with gates and big "No Trespassing" signs. A couple of women had stopped there wondering whether it was OK to continue. I wondered too, but the park map clearly shows the trail going on, so we all decided to ignore the signs. Beyond this point, we left the houses behind, and soon it seemed that we were in beautiful hills far from the city.
We went on up over another hill and down through a pretty little dip with a few big eucalyptus trees. A large bull was grazing on the next hill, so we detoured around him a bit, but he was unconcerned with us. On the far side of that hill, I could see most of the trail going down and up along the ridge and climbing up the flank of the bigger ridge of Wiedemann Hill. Our time was limited, and we had gone far enough to see what it was like, so we headed back.
I decided that this area was definitely worth coming back to. I'd like to explore the trails going down into Donlon Canyon and Martin Canyon, which connect with a City of Dublin open space area.
about 4 mi. - about 400 ft.
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