Round Valley

Will you go on a drive with me?

I'm all for finding nature right outside of our homes.  Great nature walks can happen anywhere.  But sometimes a drive takes us to another world and it's completely worth it.  My trusty companion and I went to scope out Round Valley and I'm in love.  It took us an hour to get there, but let me tell you, it's worth it.

If you take Ygnacio Valley Road from Walnut Creek, you'll drive through the Lime Ridge Open Space.  It's a big swath of open space managed by the City of Walnut Creek.  Just after that you'll see rolling green hills to the north and that's the former Concord Naval Weapons Station.  There's quite a story there which you can read part of here.   And then for most of the drive between Walnut Creek and Round Valley Regional Preserve you'll be able to see Mount Diablo and the immense State Park that includes and surrounds it.  You'll see horses, goats, sheep, and cows.  You'll see a sign for a helicopter pad and you'll pass about a million motorcycles if it's the weekend.

You'll also travel back in time.  The hills are covered in trees, not concrete.  The hustle of the city turns into big wide open spaces.  I feel like it's California of 200+ years ago.

Enough about the drive.

It's a big wide open park with lots of room for running and climbing.  We saw fifty hundred  ground squirrels (my companion's estimate).  Plus a rabbit, many Western Blue Birds, some very loud Acorn Woodpeckers, a bunch of horses and some cows.  We smashed sandstone rocks, peered through a tunnel, and ate lunch in the sun.  We moved slowly.  It was my kind of day.

We're going to attempt an Outside Kids outing at Round Valley this coming Sunday, March 18 at 10:30am.  The weather forecast looks wet, though, and so stay tuned to this blog for a decision on Friday, the 16th.  Details on how these Outside Kids things work can be found under About.


About Round Valley: 
East Bay Regional Park District

Getting There: 
Transit and Trails