Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council. , is operated by
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 is a multi-use park for joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, picnickers, and people walking dogs. It has access for pedestrians and via public transit, private vehicles, and bikes (although bike-riding within Point Isabel itself is not allowed). It also features a concession offering food for people and grooming for pets. A longtime community organization and nonprofit, Point Isabel Dog Owners and Friends (PIDO), is active in the maintenance and improvement of the park.
Point Isabel was closed from March 31, 2020 to June 1, 2020, as a precaution during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dogs were required to be on-leash during the first week after the reopening but off-leash privileges were restored on June 8, 2020. As throughout East Bay Regional Park District, social distancing measures apply.
History
This now
park was incorporated into 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) in 1975. The
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
operates a large bulk mail facility adjacent to what is now Point Isabel Regional Shoreline. As mitigation for the construction of this large facility on the shoreline, USPS offered to lease what is now Point Isabel Regional Shoreline free of charge to the EBRPD until 2025. The lease came with the condition of free public access.
[Point Isabel text side](_blank)
Point Isbael Regional Shoreline Brochure, East Bay Regional Parks District, retrieved August 26, 2007
Originally 23 acres, Point Isabel officially added the roughly 26 acres of North Point Isabel (sometimes called Battery Point) in 2002 when
McLaughlin Eastshore State Park
McLaughlin Eastshore State Park is a state park and wildlife refuge along the San Francisco Bay shoreline of the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay between the cities of Richmond, California, Richmond, Albany, California, Albany, Berkel ...
(then Eastshore State Park) was created. North Point Isabel is across the narrow Hoffman Channel from Point Isabel proper and accessed via a short footbridge or from the Bay Trail.
![Pointisabel2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Pointisabel2019.jpg)
Both Point Isabel and North Point Isabel, like many parks along the East Bay shoreline, are landfill. For years North Point Isabel was a dumping ground for industrial waste—the "Battery Point" name referred to battery casings—and underwent an intensive cleanup and clay-capping operation in the mid-1980s. Two of the toxins of concern in the area were lead and zinc. The fenced-off area just north of the public restrooms at the Rydin Road end of the park is dirt that was dug more recently when the restrooms were installed. The dirt pile tested positive for high levels of contaminants and was fenced off, planted, and is permanently off-limits. Other small areas of North Point Isabel have been fenced off either because they tested positive for lead or zinc or to prevent further erosion of the clay cap and edges of the landfill.
The park has seen many improvements over the years, including the building of permanent buildings for the Mudpuppy's Tub & Scrub dog wash and adjacent Sit & Stay Café; permanent bathrooms on both ends of the park (Isabel Street and Rydin Road); trail repaving on the Point Isabel side; and parking lot repaving and restriping. The bridge across the Hoffman Channel was reinforced in 2019 to ensure it could hold emergency vehicles on the adjacent Bay Trail (along the Hoffman Marsh). The informal launching area for nonmotorized watercraft (primarily windsurfers and kayaks) was significantly improved around 2018, including shoring up the edges of the landfill, installing a pea gravel area for windsurfers to stage their equipment, a broad, concrete ramp to the water's edge, and paved sidewalks out to the launch area.
Park usage has increased exponentially from an estimated 500,000 human visitors in 2000 to some 1,400,000 10 years later, according to EBRPD estimates. It is used heavily by people walking dogs but also by walkers, joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, birdwatchers, and picnickers.
A few years ago it underwent some US $500,000 worth of capital improvements, including new irrigation systems and turf, fox tail removal, trail repavement, picnic sites and café seating. That was funded by a portion of US $225 million collected by Measure AA (1998)
Point Isabel regularly makes the list of the top best places in the U.S. to walk dogs off-leash. It was named the number one dog park by
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; , stylized as PeTA) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. PETA reports that PETA entities have ...
(PETA) in 2006.
It is named for the natural promontory of
Point Isabel, which was itself named for landowner
Víctor Castro's daughter Isabel.
[El Cerrito Historical Society](_blank)
, Point Isabel, retrieved July 31, 2007 During the Gold Rush, the Castros operated a ferry from Point Isabel to send supplies from their ranch to San Francisco. For many years a pottery company, Tepco, operated near where the water treatment plant is today. Shards of broken pottery are still frequently found along the western shoreliner.
The remains of
Laci Peterson
The ''lac'' repressor (LacI) is a DNA-binding protein that inhibits the expression of genes coding for proteins involved in the metabolism of lactose in bacteria. These genes are repressed when lactose is not available to the cell, ensuring that ...
washed up at Point Isabel in 2003, and those of her unborn son, Connor, were found a short distance north along the shoreline.
Overview
![Zonotrichia querula Point Isabel](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Zonotrichia_querula_Point_Isabel.jpg)
The park is located along the eastern shore of 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 ...
in the East Bay region of the Bay Area
and is administered by
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 ...
. The park consists of two halves of roughly equal size—Point Isabel and North Point Isabel—separated by the narrow Hoffman Channel. Hoffman Channel is the outlet of
Fluvius Innominatus
Fluvius Innominatus (Latin for "unnamed river") or Central Creek
Well.com, retrieved Au ...
creek from its mouth at the edge of its delta, Hoffman Marsh
[Baxter Creek & Fluvius Innominatus Topo, 1995](_blank)
Museum of California, retrieved September 17, 2007 The shoreline of the entire park is lined with boulders, broken concrete blocks, and other
riprap
Riprap (in North American English), also known as rip rap, rip-rap, shot rock, rock armour (in British English) or rubble, is human-placed rock or other material used to protect shoreline structures against scour and water, wave, or ice erosion. ...
.
[Point Isabel map side](_blank)
East Bay Regional Parks District, retrieved August 26, 2007
The northern shore of the park against Hoffman Channel was formerly a sandy beach and has been modified from its original state by leveling and in-filling of the surrounding
mudflats
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...
, tidal flats and other
wetlands
A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...
.
The rest of the peninsula consists of the Bay Trail, a water treatment facility, radio towers, a US Postal Service facility, a
Costco
Costco Wholesale Corporation (doing business as Costco Wholesale and also known simply as Costco) is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box retail stores (warehouse club). As of 2022, Costco i ...
store, and office buildings. The parkland has an elevation of 16–25 feet (5–8 meters).
The park is open between 5 am and 10 pm
PST; admission and parking are free, as stipulated by the lease agreement.
The park is fully wheelchair accessible.
Point Isabel features two businesses aimed at visitors: Mudpuppy's Tub and Scrub, which is a dog grooming retail store and outlet, and the Sit & Stay Café, which offers drinks and sandwiches.
The park offers striking panoramic views of Marin County
mountains
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher th ...
,
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and the
Golden Gate Bridge
The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
.
There are 3.2 miles (5.1 km) of flat trails which are generally wheelchair accessible and stroller friendly.
The
San Francisco Bay Trail
The San Francisco Bay Trail is a bicycle and pedestrian trail that when finished will allow continuous travel around the shoreline of San Francisco Bay. As of 2020, of the trail have been completed. When finished, the trail will be over of p ...
wraps around Point Isabel Regional Shoreline.
The park supplies bags for picking up animal waste. These bags cost the EBRPD about US$34,000 annually, to which the Point Isabel Dog Owners group contributes.
Park rules
The park is open from 5:00 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day unless otherwise posted. Bicycling is not allowed in Point Isabel Regional Shoreline, but bikes can loop around the fenced park on a spur of the Bay Trail. Leashes are optional for dogs throughout the park but dogs must be leashed in the parking lots Dog walkers are limited to three dogs each (although EBRPD issues permits for individuals and professionals to walk up to six dogs apiece). Visitors with dogs must carry a leash for each dog; must clean up their pets' waste; must prevent their dogs from digging; and must immediately fill any holes dug by their pets. Dogs who become aggressive must be leashed immediately. Dogs are allowed to swim in the Bay, in Hoffman Channel at high tide, and in Hoffman Bay (the northern edge of North Point Isabel) at high tide. Dogs may not harass birds at any time; are never allowed in Hoffman Marsh (on the other side of the Bay Trail from Point Isabel); and must not disturb birds feeding in the Hoffman Bay mudflats or Hoffman Channel at low tide.
[About Point Isabel](_blank)
, PIDO, retrieved August 1, 2007
Transportation
The park was served by
AC Transit
AC Transit (Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" ro ...
's 25 bus line, which linked it to the
El Cerrito Plaza BART
El Cerrito Plaza station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in El Cerrito, California, located adjacent to the El Cerrito Plaza shopping center. It primarily serves southern El Cerrito, northern Albany, and Kensington, along with nearb ...
station and
Downtown Berkeley
Downtown Berkeley is the central business district of the city of Berkeley, California, United States, around the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, and extending north to Hearst Avenue, south to Dwight Way, west to Martin Luther Ki ...
. The park is also accessible by car via
I-80
Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one o ...
and
I-580 from the Central Avenue exit. There is parking in two parking lots and additional street parking.
Car break-ins have been an issue at both parking lots. There are bike racks on the Isabel Street end of the park.
The park connects to the San Francisco Bay Trail leading into the
Marina Bay neighborhood northwestwards into Richmond and southwards toward Albany and through
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 ...
to
Emeryville Emeryville may refer to:
* Emeryville, California
Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San ...
.
PIDO
Point Isabel Dog Owners and Friends (PIDO) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with approximately 6,000 members. PIDO was founded in 1985 when Point Isabel was made on-leash-only and by 1987 successfully negotiated off-leash, multi-use status for Point Isabel again. PIDO has worked for more than 30 years to
raise funds for park maintenance, educate park users, and keep the park clean and safe.
(Point Isabel has been noted in the media for its safety, lack of vandalism, and cleanliness.
)
When off-leash access to North Point Isabel was in jeopardy during the creation of what is now McLaughlin Eastshore State Park in 2002, PIDO collected 20,000 signatures to preserve multi-use recreation. When the City of Richmond planned to rezone the Point Isabel promontory some years later to allow a Kohl's department store on Rydin Road and fast-food restaurants, PIDO joined forces with neighborhood groups and environmentalists to preserve and protect the area.
PIDO assists the EBRPD in funding poop bags and promotes their use to visitors. (Self-policing by park-goers and PIDO members has been credited with making the park dog waste-free.
) PIDO maintains two bulletin boards at Point Isabel; two others are dedicated to the use of the EBRPD. PIDO sponsors annual Canine Good Citizen testing and accreditation for dogs; holds regular park cleaning and weed-pulling events; in 2015 held an Easter egg hunt for the first time for dog-friendly kids and kid-friendly dogs; and every year hosts a popular dog costume contest and parade called "Barktoberfest" around Halloween.
Calendar
, PIDO, retrieved August 1, 2007 PIDO helps educate park-goers via ''The PIDO Pointer'', a newsletter published three times a year and distributed to all members as well as being available on the bulletin boards at Point Isabel.
See also
* Point Isabel, the promontory on which the park is situated.
Notes
External links
Point Isabel Regional Shoreline
at the East Bay Regional Parks District website
Mudpuppy's Tub & Scrub and Sit & Stay Café
Trails map
at bay Hiker, report, images
Pbase
photos
Pido.org
Point Isabel Dog Owners and Friends
Point Isabel
commentary at Yelp.com
{{San Francisco Bay watershed
East Bay Regional Park District
Parks in Richmond, California
Dog parks in the United States
San Francisco Bay Trail
Protected areas established in 1975
1975 establishments in California