Joaquin Miller Park

Joaquin Miller Park is a wide open space park owned and managed by Oakland City , California, in the Oakland Hills. It is named after Joaquin Miller, an early California writer and poet who bought the land in the 1880s, named it “The Hights” and lived in the house preserved as the Joaquin Miller House.

The park has a total area of 500acres (2.0km2) of coastal redwoods, live oak and pine trees. Miller himself was planting many of the trees initially. Panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay area are offered at Oakland Hills. The features of the park include miles of hiking , biking and riding trails, an off-leash dog field, an amphitheater, and picnic areas.

Joaquin Miller Park is one of the best examples of the remarkably green landscape of the Oakland Hills with dense redwood groves of second-growth. However, the park is not all redwoods; the landscape is very varied. The park is popular especially the Sequoia Bayview and Sunset Trails at relatively high levels. And while it looks small compared to neighboring regional parks, when you hike it, it feels pretty vast.

The suggested hike blends the most spectacular areas of the park: the Palos Colorados trail is a luxuriant gorge lined with redwood and the Big Trees Trail has a redwood hilltop.

Joaquin Miller Court begins just south of the trendy shopping district of Montclair. The Palos Colorados Trail is one of the best in the park; it climbs up a surprisingly thick, steep gorge lined with small redwoods. The ground and certain trees are covered by masses of invasive ivy and also hinged by the trees. The gorge gets deeper and more picturesque as you go up. Turn left at the first intersection, and climb the steep trail past the foundations of an old house to meet the Sunset Path, a dirt road. Go to the Cinderella Trail on the left.

The Cinderella Trail is a steep, busy trail used mostly by mountain bikers. It climbs to a plateau on a hilltop, where there is a beautiful redwood grove. There’s no ivy here, rendering it an upland grove with a more ordinary feel. The redwoods expand in a wide band that parallels Skyline Boulevard for nearly a mile approximately.

The highest point of the Big Trees Trail is the flat field of Redwoods. The redwoods are small but the cathedral-like appearance of the old alluvial flat is a bit like a redwood grove. It’s very appealing and a unique East Bay view. Unfortunately, the Big Trees Trail passes only a few yards through the flat; it goes down again, leaving behind the unusual grove.

Taking the Sequoia-Bayview Trail to the west. The most famous trail in the park is this broad, level road. There is redwood in the canyons, but the trail is mostly non-redwood.

Turn onto the downhill Sunset Trail into the redwoods. It’s not interesting to go the dirt road, so take the Sinawik Trail. Although it goes along the dirt road and only a few meters away, it’s a lot more interesting to its lush canyon environment.

Back on the Road Palos Colorados. Visit the wonders of the urban wilderness of Oakland!