The Berkeley Hills are a range of the
Pacific Coast Ranges
The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although the ...
that overlook the northeast side of the
valley
A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...
that encompasses
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
. They were previously called the "Contra Costa Range/Hills" (from the original Spanish ''Sierra de la Contra Costa''), but with the establishment of
Berkeley
Berkeley most often refers to:
*Berkeley, California, a city in the United States
**University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California
* George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher
Berkeley may also refer ...
and the
University of California
The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, ...
, the current usage was applied by geographers and
gazetteers.
Geology
The Berkeley Hills are bounded by the major
Hayward Fault
The Hayward Fault Zone is a right-lateral strike-slip geologic fault zone capable of generating destructive earthquakes. This fault is about long, situated mainly along the western base of the hills on the east side of San Francisco Bay. It runs ...
along their western base, and the minor
Wildcat fault on their eastern side. The highest peaks are
Grizzly Peak (elevation 1,754 feet/535 m) and
Round Top (elevation 1,761 feet/537 m), an extinct volcano, and
William Rust Summit 1,004 feet (306 m).
Vollmer Peak (elevation 1,905 feet/581 m), although commonly thought to be part of the Berkeley Hills, is actually located on the adjacent
San Pablo Ridge near the point where it meets the Berkeley Hills at the head of Wildcat Canyon. Vollmer Peak was named in honor of the first police chief of the City of Berkeley,
August Vollmer
August "Gus" Vollmer (March 7, 1876 – November 4, 1955) was the first police chief of Berkeley, California, and a leading figure in the development of the field of criminal justice in the United States in the early 20th century. He has been de ...
. It was formerly known as "Bald Peak", and as "Rocky Mound" in the 19th century.
Development
Much of the west slope of the Berkeley Hills has residential neighborhoods of mostly single family homes, except on the land of
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
. Most streets are narrow and tend to follow the contours of the land, although three streets, Marin Avenue, Moeser Lane, and Potrero Avenue, run directly toward the ridgeline. Other roads to the
ridgeline
A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...
wind their way up the canyons. Grizzly Peak and Skyline Boulevards follow the top of the ridge. Many neighborhoods in the Berkeley Hills are home to the more affluent residents of Berkeley and Oakland.
The east slope of the Berkeley Hills is mostly preserved or partially developed
wildland
Wilderness or wildlands (usually in the plural), are natural environments on Earth that have not been significantly modified by human activity or any nonurbanized land not under extensive agricultural cultivation. The term has traditionally re ...
, much of it owned by the
East Bay Regional Park District
The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which ...
and the
East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD). From north to south, the parks are
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park
Wildcat Canyon Regional Park is a East Bay Regional Parks District park bordering the city of Richmond in Contra Costa County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It includes a portion of Wildcat Canyon as well as a portion of the adjoin ...
,
Tilden Regional Park
Charles Lee Tilden Regional Park, also known as Tilden Park or Tilden, [], is a regional park in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area in California. It is between the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo R ...
(includes Vollmer and Grizzly Peaks),
Sibley Volcanic Regional Park (includes Round Top),
Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve
Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve is a regional park and nature reserve in the Oakland Hills, in the eastern East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area) region of the San Francisco Bay Area of California. It is within Alameda and Contra Costa Coun ...
,
Redwood Regional Park
Dr. Aurelia Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park (formerly known as Redwood Regional Park) is a part of the East Bay Regional Parks District (EBRPD) in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is located in the hills east of Oakland, California, Oakland. The park ...
(enfolding
Roberts Regional Recreation Area
Roberts Regional Recreation Area (RRRA) is an area adjacent to Redwood Regional Park located in Alameda County next to Oakland, CA and is part of the East Bay Regional Parks (EBRPD). It is across Skyline Drive from the City of Oakland's Joaquin ...
),
Anthony Chabot Regional Park
Anthony Chabot Regional Park is a regional park in Oakland, Alameda County, California in the United States. It is part of the East Bay Regional Park District system, and covers in the San Leandro Hills adjacent to Oakland, San Leandro and Cas ...
,
Lake Chabot Regional Park
Lake Chabot Regional Park is a regional park located in the southern Berkeley Hills in Alameda County, California. It is part of the East Bay Regional Parks system.
Lake Chabot is a reservoir located in the park. The northern part of the lake a ...
, and
Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area.
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 is situated, Claremont Canyon, ou ...
, and
Temescal Regional Park
Temescal Regional Recreation Area (TRRA), formerly Lake Temescal Regional Park, is a regional park in the Berkeley Hills, in northeastern Oakland, California. The TRRA encompasses , abutting SR 24, SR13, and the interchange connecting the two hig ...
are lower on the western slopes while
Las Trampas Regional Wilderness
Las Trampas Regional Wilderness is a regional park located in Alameda and Contra Costa counties in Northern California. The nearest city is Danville, California. ''Las Trampas'' is Spanish for ''the traps'', or ''the snares''. The park belongs ...
is lower on the eastern slope above Danville.
The Berkeley Hills are pierced by several tunnels. Two are aqueducts of EBMUD; the
Berkeley Hills Tunnel
The Berkeley Hills Tunnel is a tunnel which carries Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) through the Berkeley Hills between Rockridge station and Orinda station.
Design
While the tracks run in the median of California State Route 24 on both sides of t ...
serves the of the
Bay Area Rapid Transit
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which uses ...
(BART) system. The four
bores of the
Caldecott Tunnel
The Caldecott Tunnel is an east–west highway tunnel through the Berkeley Hills between Oakland and Orinda, California. Its four bores carry California State Route 24. Named after Thomas E. Caldecott, former mayor of Berkeley, it opened in 19 ...
carry
State Highway 24 between Oakland and Contra Costa County.
Usage
It is common to hear the term "
Oakland Hills
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
" to refer to that section of the Berkeley Hills that runs along the east side of
Oakland
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
. As a proper name or recognized
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
, it is technically incorrect. When used on maps, the exact south end of the "Berkeley Hills" is unclear, but the maps of the USGS show them stretching well south into the northeastern portion of Oakland. It does not, in any case, correspond to any political boundaries, only to a geographic feature (much as "San Francisco Bay" is not limited to that stretch of the Pacific inlet within the bounds of the City and County of San Francisco). The ridge extends south through Oakland and San Leandro to the
drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...
of
San Leandro Creek
San Leandro Creek ( es, Arroyo de San Leandro) is a year-round natural stream in the hills above Oakland in Alameda County and Contra Costa County of the East Bay in northern California.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-res ...
called Castro Valley, and geologically, continues southward above the line of the Hayward Fault. In the section above East Oakland to Castro Valley, the ridge appears on most maps as the
San Leandro Hills
The San Leandro Hills are a low mountain range of the Southern Inner California Coast Ranges System, located on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay. Geologically, they are a southern continuation of the Berkeley Hills on the north.
They r ...
.
The northern extent of the proper name "Berkeley Hills" is less indefinite; most maps including those of the USGS apply the name along the entire ridge as it runs continuously right up to the mouth of
Wildcat Canyon in
Richmond
Richmond most often refers to:
* Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States
* Richmond, London, a part of London
* Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England
* Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada
* Richmond, California, ...
. The eastern slopes of the Berkeley Hills lie entirely outside of the city of Berkeley within Contra Costa County.
Another common usage is East Bay Hills, but its application to any particular range is unclear. It may refer to all of the ranges east of the Bay, from the Berkeley Hills to the
Diablo Range
The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...
and all the ranges between.
Ecology
The Berkeley Hills are a region of great biological diversity as part of Pacific Coastal Region of California and the
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland.
San Francisco Bay drains water from a ...
ecosystem. Much of the area is covered by grassland which favors the southwest facing slopes. Amongst the north east hills, Baccharis Brushland and Oak Woodland are most prominent with
Coast live oak
''Quercus agrifolia'', the California live oak, or coast live oak, is a highly variable, often evergreen oak tree, a type of live oak, native to the California Floristic Province. It may be shrubby, depending on age and growing location, but is ...
and
California bay laurel
''Umbellularia californica'' is a large hardwood tree native to coastal forests and the Sierra foothills of California, and to coastal forests extending into Oregon. It is endemic to the California Floristic Province. It is the sole species in th ...
as some of the most prolific trees. Past
Eucalyptus
''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as euca ...
tree farming during the early 20th century has also introduced large Eucalyptus groves scattered across the Berkeley Hills.
[Robles, Marcos, and F. S. Chapin. "COMPARISON OF THE INFLUENCE OF TWO EXOTIC COMMUNITIES ON ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES IN THE BERKELEY HILLS." ''Madroño'', vol. 42, no. 3, California Botanical Society, 1995, pp. 349–57]
The area welcomes a wide variety of birds, lack-tailed deer,
coyote
The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...
,
ground squirrel
Ground squirrels are members of the squirrel family of rodents (Sciuridae), which generally live on or in the ground, rather than trees. The term is most often used for the medium-sized ground squirrels, as the larger ones are more commonly known ...
,
striped skunk
The striped skunk (''Mephitis mephitis'') is a skunk of the genus '' Mephitis'' that occurs across much of North America, including southern Canada, the United States, and northern Mexico. It is currently listed as least concern by the IUCN on ac ...
,
western terrestrial garter snake
The western terrestrial garter snake (''Thamnophis elegans'') is a western North American species of colubrid snake. At least five subspecies are currently recognized.
Description
Most western terrestrial garter snakes have a yellow, light oran ...
,
gray fox
The gray fox (''Urocyon cinereoargenteus''), or grey fox, is an omnivorous mammal of the family Canidae, widespread throughout North America and Central America. This species and its only congener, the diminutive island fox (''Urocyon littor ...
,
bobcat
The bobcat (''Lynx rufus''), also known as the red lynx, is a medium-sized cat native to North America. It ranges from southern Canada through most of the contiguous United States to Oaxaca in Mexico. It is listed as Least Concern on the IUC ...
, and
red-tailed hawk
The red-tailed hawk (''Buteo jamaicensis'') is a bird of prey that breeds throughout most of North America, from the interior of Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies. It is one of the most common members with ...
. There are also periodic sightings of mountain lions amongst the Oak Woodland. Four protected species also call the Berkeley Hills their home, the San Francisco tree lupine moth, Alameda whipsnake, Callippe silverspot, and Bay checkerspot. Additionally, the grassland acts as an annual foraging spot for the northern harrier, American kestrel, prairie falcon, and turkey vulture.
Climatic effects
The Berkeley Hills affect the local climate by their elevation. The oceanic
marine layer
A marine layer is an air mass that develops over the surface of a large body of water, such as an ocean or large lake, in the presence of a temperature inversion. The inversion itself is usually initiated by the cooling effect of the water on th ...
, which develops during the summer, bringing
fog
Fog is a visible aerosol consisting of tiny water droplets or ice crystals suspended in the air at or near the Earth's surface. Reprint from Fog can be considered a type of low-lying cloud usually resembling stratus, and is heavily influ ...
and low clouds with it, is usually less than 2,000 feet deep and thus is blocked by the range. This produces a "fog shadow" effect to the east, which is warmer than areas west of the hills. The westerly wind that carries the marine layer through the Golden Gate typically splits its flow as it hits the Berkeley Hills producing a southerly wind from Berkeley northward and a northerly wind in the direction of Oakland.
In winter during spells of
tule fog
Tule fog () is a thick ground fog that settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley areas of California's Central Valley. Tule fog forms from late fall through early spring (California's winter season) after the first significant rai ...
inland, a reverse situation occurs, with the fog usually confined to areas east of the hills, although occasionally, the inland fog pours in from the north, around the hills by way of the
Carquinez Strait
The Carquinez Strait (; Spanish: ''Estrecho de Carquinez'') is a narrow tidal strait in Northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait is lo ...
.
The Berkeley Hills affect rainfall; when the wind is perpendicular to the hills (southwest wind) during a storm, air is forced to rise, cooling and condensing additional moisture, increasing the precipitation on the western slopes and leaving areas east of the hills drier. Especially cold storms occasionally deposit wet snow on the peaks.
In spring and fall, sinking air from aloft combining with inland high pressure periodically sends the
Diablo wind
Diablo wind is a name that has been occasionally used for the hot, dry wind from the northeast that typically occurs in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California, during the spring and fall.
The same wind pattern also affects other parts ...
, a hot, dry, and gusty wind across the ridges of the Berkeley Hills, posing a fire danger, which in the 20th century produced several wildfires, two of which caused major damage to Berkeley and Oakland. (''See''
1923 Berkeley Fire and
1991 Oakland firestorm
:
The Oakland firestorm of 1991 was a large suburban wildland–urban interface conflagration that occurred on the hillsides of northern Oakland, California, and southeastern Berkeley, California, Berkeley over the weekend of October 19–20, ...
).
References
;Notes
;Sources
* ''The California Earthquake of April 18, 1906: Report of the State Earthquake Investigation Commission'',
Andrew C. Lawson, chairman, Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 87, 2 vols. (1908) - Available online a
this USGS webpage
''The Berkeley Hills, a Detail of Coast Range Geology'', Andrew Cowper Lawson and Charles Palache, University of California Press, 1902* Map of Oakland-Berkeley, California State Automobile Association, March 2006 edition
Plant Succession In The Berkeley Hills, California, 1974*''The Berkeley Hills, a detail of Coast Range geology''. Vol. 2. University of California Press, 1902.
Comparison Of The Influence Of Two Exotic Communities On Ecosystem Processes In The Berkeley HillsTopoZone Map
{{Authority control
California Coast Ranges
Hills of California
Mountain ranges of Alameda County, California
Mountain ranges of Contra Costa County, California
Geography of Berkeley, California
Geography of Oakland, California
El Cerrito, California
Mountain ranges of the San Francisco Bay Area
Mountain ranges of Northern California