4-9-13 Dinosaur Ridge

I don't know how or when this place got it's name, but it must have happened since I first visited it about 30 years ago. At that time it was just an unnamed hill, 1160+ ft. elevation on the topo map. However, once on top, it's easy to see that it must have been named for sandstone spine sticking through the grass, looking something like the back of a Stegosaurus.

A year or so ago, I got the idea that a good project for my retirement would be to hike the Bay Area Ridge Trail in sections. This is a trail that is planned to go all the way around the bay following ridges. Right now it is about 60% complete, about 340 miles of trail. Now that I am retired, and I might have time for such a project, I'm doubting that I have the motivation, energy and stamina to do it. I'm thinking "Why get obsessive about hiking the whole trail? Why not just sample a few sections of it?". So on this day, with that idea in mind, I decided to check out my first piece of it.

This trail is on EBMUD watershed land, and to hike any of these trails, you need to get a trail permit, which is easy to do online for a small fee. I left my dog, Darby at home, knowing that dogs are not permitted on these trails. I parked at the Chabot Staging Area which is about a half mile north of Willow Park Golf Course on Redwood Road in Castro Valley. I signed in at the trailhead and started hiking.

The first mile or so goes along a wooded hillside just above a Christmas Tree farm. Near the beginning I kept looking to the right for signs of a trail going up the hillside. Years ago, when I made several hikes in this area working on my book, there was a single-track trail that climbed a spur ridge and led to the fire road along the main ridge. This was at a time when EBMUD had just opened their trails to the public, and had not settled on trail alignments, or really even finished building the trails. I had thought about trying to find the old trail so I could make a loop of my hike, but all I saw where it should have been was dense thickets of poison oak. It was obvious that getting off the trail here would not be fun, so I quickly gave up on that idea.

Past the tree farm, the trail comes out along the edge of a large pasture area, and the trail divides, the Ramage Peak Trail going left, and the Ridge Trail going right. Now you start some serious climbing and gain nearly 1000 ft. in less than a mile. It took me quite a few rest stops to get me up it. But finally I reached the top of the hill, the highest point for quite a distance around, and enjoyed the great views.



The climbing had worn me out pretty good, so I didn't feel like trying to go any further. So after a few photos, I headed back down. Back at the pasture area, I thought about hopping a fence and following the gravel road back. It would have been easier, but I would be risking getting caught by EBMUD employees who use the road to access the dam of the Upper San Leandro Reservoir. I decided to play it safe, and the trail was not that bad anyway, and I was soon back at my car.

4.4 mi. - 1200 ft.