Tucked away in the Godlen Eagle gated community, Augustin Bernal Park is truly an eastbay hidden…read moregem. It's a 237 acre part on the east side of the Pleasanton Ridge. Its boundaries include the EBRPD Pleasanton Ridge regional park. It seems the park was gifted to the city around 1971 but its history (and name) date back to the Spanish settler who originally owned the land. This is one of the few shaded hikes I found in the east bay hills that offers really good views and some perfect hiking loops. There's also mountain bike trails with some being only for bikers and equestrian trails as well. The only issue that makes this a less-than-perfect park is the access. This year, they started requiring non-residents of Pleasanton to have a pass which is now on a fee basis; if you're a resdient of Pleasanton then it's no big deal to get in. I know there is a another access point via walking on Longview drive and that used to be no permit required but I have not tried it recently. Technically, one could also hike here from the Pleasanton Ridge regional park via the ridgeline trail too. At the time of this review, it seemed to be 10 dollars for a week pass via https://www.cityofpleasantonca.gov/your-community/parks-trails/ .

Heritage Park is the latest park to open up in San Ramon - located just past the City Center and…read morenestled next to some commercial buildings and a senior living home. It has a nice rope-bases climbing structure for the more athletic and brave 5-12 year olds, but that's about it in terms of playground entertainment. There are nice, curvy walking paths and a small shade structure in the shape of a house. Some major negatives in terms of functionality though, and hence 3 stars: 1. No onsite restrooms as of now. Hard to imagine you would have to drive to City Center or Flourish Cafe (weekdays only) for the closest one. 2. Very limited shade, except for the little house. 3. For those with pets, don't see any doggie bags or nearby garbage cans. Hopefully this is just the initial phase of development. There seems to be enough space to add more amenities to make the park more like Don Biddle on Dublin. Otherwise, I would think families with young children or pets will prefer San Ramon Central Park.

The opening ceremony I accidentally stumbled upon on May 21 2026 was nice, but since then, there's…read moreno reason to come back. I think this is more of an small aesthetic park to fill the space. Not much to do after 1 visit, and after 5 minutes there's nothing to do or see. It looks nice but it's pretty boring. I guess if you're walking in the area it's good to take 1 minute to walk through, but I have no reason to drive here, or even stop the car when driving by.

Started from Dublin and ended up here! Very nice and well kept trail for dog walking or biking,…read moresurprising amount of vegetation and tree for shade throughout. Not a strenuous hike by any means but more a suburban hike where you end up in a San Ramon neighborhood. It's quiet and not too populated which I appreciate!

The Alamo Creek Trail is a peaceful and scenic walk through San Ramon residential area. Officially…read morethe trail begins behind Dougherty Station Community Center and Diablo Valley College and ends near Piccadilly Square Park. Also, the trail has multiple trailhead access points throughout the many residential areas this trail weaves through. The majority of the trail is concrete and eventually becomes an earthen trail starting east of Japonica Way. There are also lovely parks along the way and dog friendly terrain. Always love going on this trail and seeing where it takes me!

This is a this is one of the smaller wilderness parks in the city of Walnut Creek. This particular…read morepark is in divided into several sections. Some of them are very close to the East Bay Mud water treatment plant. I don't believe there are any facilities in this park, and I did not see any drinking water. The trails are well maintained however. And the signs appear to be correct. While this is not one of my favorite parks, it's a decent place to go hiking. I enjoyed my visit.

My daughter's choir was practicing nearby. While I waited for her to finish I decided to take a…read morehike and that's how I arrived at Acalanes Ridge. This is a nice hike near downtown Walnut Creek. Residential parking is easy, as is finding the trailhead. This path seems well-worn by hikers and dog walkers alike. If I find myself in Walnut Creek with time to kill in the future, I'll come here!

We just went last month again and went different direction---we all LOVED it! Great parking lot…read more Water views, horses, birds, ground critters, trails thru meadows, woods, by river, by reservoir, by creek, behind peaceful subdivision w beautiful backyard gardens, tons of dragonflies when we went this time! Love seeing these pics of my kiddo growing up on the same trailhead.

The Upper San Leandro Reservoir was created in 1926 by impounding the San Leandro Creek. The dam…read moreget most of its water from the Mokelumne Aqueduct that brings water from the Sierra Nevada's. The original earthen dam was deemed seismically unsound and a new dam was build just past it in 1977. The water is distributed to local communities by the East Bay Municipal Utility District. There is an extensive public trail system that surrounds the lake, but no fishing or boating is allowed.

One of my favorite place for sunset stroll with my dog. The trail is pretty flat and takes around…read more10 min one way with lovely view of the valley. Along the trail, there are some picnic tables/ benches and a disc golf field. If you wanted to watch sunset at a summit without strenuous hiking, this is the place to go. Parking is easy around the neighborhood.

"Green Rolling Hills with Lots of Cows--Most Friendly but one Looked at me with Menacing Eyes."…read more I parked at the summit, and took the trail north. It's about 3 miles if you go all the way to the driving range at Bridges Golf Course. At that point the trail peters out. It looks like they are constructing a new trailhead there. The trail is open, so don't count on any shade in the summer. It's pretty much green hills, with a compacted dirt trail. Fortunately, it's not rutted. I found the hike mildly interesting, but honestly, nothing special. Near the golf course practice center, I saw a lot of range balls on the ground. I was tempted to take them, but I threw most of them back onto the range. I'm pretty sure I did not hit anyone, but a few times I heard some klunks, followed by shouts. I wasn't sure what that meant. They might have been mad that I still had 2 golf balls in my jacket. I did not notice I had borrowed some golf balls until I was pretty far away. These trails are good for beginner hikers, since there aren't any wild animals around. I'm pretty sure there aren't any rattlesnakes or mountain lions. But if there are, I did not see them. And even if I did see any, I had some golf balls I could throw at them. The only wild animals are herds of cows. And there are lots of them! At one point I had to go way around a huge herd. I'm not really afraid of cows, but one kept looking at me with menacing eyes and did not budge from the trail. I was afraid of that one. Could it be a boy cow? I was afraid to get close to find out, so I honestly don't know if it was a boy or girl cow. But he or she looked mean. The whole time I went around the cows I kept saying pleasant things like, "Hi Susie," or "Hi Betsy, how are you?" I'm pretty sure they knew I was a friendly man. I was surprised they knew English. So over all, a pleasant hike. Nothing really special, but plenty of parking makes this a convenient location. The incline is really not too steep, so most hikers will find this an easy hike. For yelpers who are geocachers, there are plenty of geocaches on this trail. I put out about 8 new ones, so there will be lots to find. Keep in mind that there really aren't any facilities such as restrooms or drinking faucets. On the other hand, it's really not a very long hike. Just watch out for that cow with the mean looking eyes.

I finally decided to visit this park on my way back from traveling up north. I visited last month…read moreat the end of November. I was by myself so I didn't do any big hikes. I did hike about a half mile on the Mary Bowerman Trail to the visitor center. It was a really beautiful portion of the trail. It was canopies with trees covered in moss. The visitor center is really nice, and very warm. Which was good, because at the top of the trail it is windy and cold. The visitor center is the highest point in the park. It had amazing views! There is a small gift shop and museum in the center. Outside are bathrooms. I later drove down the road and visited Rock city. It was really cool! There are different rock formations that have formed due to wind and water. Kids would definitely love this area of the park!

I love the jungle gym, been going here for over 20 years. It's much less crowded than Bellingham…read moreand other nearby parks since it's kind of hidden on an empty road, as the name implies, while Bellingham square is in the middle of a bunch of houses, streets, and schools. This park is behind Hidden Hills Elementary School but it's not actually visible from the school so I guess people don't really know about it or don't want to go out of their way to come here.

I think the name of this park describes the location perfectly - hidden deep in east San Ramon…read moreclose to the hills/trails. There's a small parking lot and a very small playground. I think what is unique about this park is the enormous grassy area. When I came on a weekday, this park was pretty quiet compared to some of the other more popular San Ramon parks. There's a walking path outside of the green area. There's also cows on the other side of the fenced area. My kids enjoyed watching the cows graze from afar. The playground here isn't very exciting compared to other parks. This park feels more private and secluded though. Since it is pretty deep east, I am not sure if it is a place I'll trek out to unless there's a special event going on.