Parks For The People

OpenRoad.TV's Doug McConnell talks about his upcoming TV special about East Bay Regional Parks

I'm producing a half-hour television special about the spectacular East Bay Regional Park District, the largest and most diverse local park system in the nation. I've visited the East Bay parks many times for personal and professional reasons over the years, and think I know them pretty well. However, working on this television project, I'm reminded of exactly how immense, complex and special the park system truly is. No matter where we live in the Bay Area, we're all very fortunate to have the East Bay parks in our backyard.

The East Bay park district was born during the depths of the Depression, and time and time again for many decades the voters of Alameda and Contra Costa counties have supported the growth and enhancement of the park system. Now we have about one hundred thousand acres stretching from Point Pinole southward to the Sunol-Ohlone Regional Wilderness, and from the shorelines of Oakland and Alameda eastward to the Vasco Caves near the Altamont Pass. There are places for recreation, reflection and restoration. There are picnic grounds and playgrounds, historic sites and wilderness areas and grand open spaces that will be passed forever from one generation to the next.

I have tender memories of playing with my children in Tilden and taking them to experience life on an historic farm at Ardenwood. I've been amazed by butterflies on the wing in Sibley, by the legacy of rainbow trout in Redwood Creek and by the short and frenetic flights of burrowing owls in Quarry Lakes. I've also been surprised by little East Bay parks I knew nothing about. One of them is Middle Harbor, a joint venture with the Port of Oakland. You can spend the day there in the company of big ships and shorebirds coming and going and have stunning vistas of the Bay and the skyline of San Francisco sometimes all to yourself.

As spring starts to shoulder its way into the waning weeks of winter, I encourage you to take advantage of the longer and gradually warmer days to do what I've been doing recently, and see our East Bay parks with fresh eyes. These truly are parks for the people.

Go to Doug McConnell's website, www.OpenRoad.tv , for all the best information about travel in the West.

Posted at 10:02 AM in Doug McConnell’s OpenRoad.TV Tips | Permalink