Sobrante Ridge Regional Preserve is a great place to hike on a sunny clear day. It provides for some great hiking and amazing views. The preserve's trails stretch almost 2 1/2 miles that are frequented by hikers and mountain bikers who go to enjoy the panoramic ridgetop views of San Pablo and Richmond Bays, as well as the San Francisco Bay.
Where to start? As good a place as any is to turn onto Clark Road between Appian Way and Valley View Road from San Pablo Dam Road in El Sobrante, and you will arrive at the head of the Clark-Boas Trail that starts just outside The Waldorf School parking lot and heads up to the peak of the preserve.
The 277 acre park is the habitat to many plants and animals, including the extremely rare Alameda Manzanita. There are also herds of cattle grazing among the hills, reminiscent of the herds of Spanish longhorn cattle that freely roamed the hills when the area was part of the Rancho Sobrante land grant given by the Mexican government to Juan Jose Castro in 1840.
The area was formerly known as Cutter Ranch because it belonged to Cutter Laboratories in Berkeley through the 1970s. The lab raised horses and cattle there, using blood from the animals to produce tetanus and diphtheria vaccines.
The Preserve was dedicated to the East Bay Regional Park District by a local construction company in 1985 after developers agreed to limit an adjacent subdivision to the low-lying areas.
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