Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area (CCRRA) is a
regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government.
Definition
A regional park can be a special park distri ...
located in
Castro Valley
Castro Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. At the 2010 census, it was the fifth most populous unincorporated area in California and the twenty-third most populous in the United States. The popula ...
,
Alameda County, California
Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Al ...
. It is part of 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 ...
(EBRPD) system.
["Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area." East Bay Regional Park District.](_blank)
Accessed August 24, 2017.
Aquatic facilities
CCRRA includes a swim lagoon and formerly included a fishing lake that resulted from damming Cull Creek. The swim area has a bathhouse, lawns, sandy beaches, and much shallow water for kids.
Accessed August 25, 2017. EBRPD reports that "The
ecreation area'slagoon won the 1966 Governor's Design Award for Exceptional Distinction for Recreational Development in the category of landscape."
The recreation area is open for swimming seasonally. The swim area is fenced and has a lifeguard on duty when the area is open. No dogs are allowed inside this area.
Reservoir sedimentation issue
In 2014, the San Jose ''Mercury-News'', a local newspaper, reported that the Cull Creek Reservoir Dam would likely be drained soon because it had been judged as seismically unsafe. This hazard was caused by tons of sediment that had deposited since the dam was constructed in 1963.
By 2014, the water layer was estimated to be only deep.
The Alameda County Flood Control Manager, Hank Ackerman, said that the reservoir receives 12,000 to 20,000 cubic yards of silt and debris every year, which is trapped behind the dam. He added that the problem had reached a point where it caused a massive fish kill in August 2013, and that EBRPD had ceased to restock the reservoir with fish.
[Parr, Rebecca. "Castro Valley: Cull Canyon Reservoir likely to be drained." ''Mercury-News''. February 10, 2014.](_blank)
Accessed August 26, 2017.
A temporary solution to the seismic concern was obtained in 2006 when engineers penetrated the concrete spillway with 12-inch pipe that relieved pressure on the dam by lowering the water level in the lake. Ackerman noted that dredging the lake to remove the sediment had been estimated to cost $16 million and require 28,000 round trips with double bottom dump semitrailers to remove the estimated 450,000 cubic yards of sediment. The dam would need to be reinforced after the silt is removed.
Almeda County engineers have proposed to notch the reservoir's weir. This would let water flow downstream,leaving the accumulated sediment behind. Ackerman said that cost would be less than $1 million, and that the seismic threat would be eliminated because the (California) Division of Safety of Dams would no longer consider it a dam if it didn't hold back water.”
Hiking
The
Chabot-to-Garin Regional Trail (part of the
Bay Area Ridge Trail
The Bay Area Ridge Trail (Ridge Trail) is a planned multi-use trail along the hill and mountain ridgelines ringing the San Francisco Bay Area, in Northern California. Currently, have been established. When complete, the trail will connect ov ...
) runs along the east side of the Cull Canyon reservoir. The trail then leads north through property owned by the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD) for to EBMUD's Chabot staging area on Redwood Road. The Willow View Trail leads from this point into
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 Castro ...
.
Notes
References
External links
Cull Canyon Regional Recreation Area official web page
{{East Bay Regional Parks
Parks in Alameda County, California
East Bay Regional Park District