Black Oak Loop Trail at Kennedy Grove Regional Park

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. My daughter and I decided to celebrate the cooler weather by going to a park that is new to us: Kennedy Grove Regional Recreation Area. We took a loop trail of a little more than 2.25 miles. It was such a nice outing! A really great option for families with young children.

After parking, you will see the beautiful lawn area right away; its green grass is circled by a tall grove of eucalyptus trees and some young redwoods. The eucalyptus trees were planted in 1910. The park was dedicated on October 22, 1967 in honor of President John F. Kennedy. There is a paved trail around the lawn that is just perfect for very young kids to practice riding their bikes. I brought my daughter's balance bike, but she wasn't very interested in riding today. I think that we will be back another day to try this!

From the lawn area, it's easy to pop onto the Laurel Loop Trail that circles the perimeter of the paved path. Take that until you get to the large circular area with a felled eucalyptus tree that has been carved into a bench. Here, go to the right to get on Kennedy Creek Trail, which leads to almost all of the other paths in the park. On this trip, I opted to stay on Kennedy Creek Trail, a mostly well graded fire road, even after it turned into Black Oak Trail. I am very interested in returning for the loop that's made by Upper and Lower Sea Foam Trails; however, that route looks to be too narrow and steep to do in a stroller, and that is what I had with me today for walking with my daughter.

When we got to the intersection with the Black Oak Loop, we went to the right and took the loop in a counter-clockwise direction. It's not on the map, but there is a wonderful area with two picnic tables along the Black Oak Loop. The oaks in this part of the park are really spectacular. There is something cathedral like about how their branches arc. This was my favorite part of the hike, and I would love to come back here again. We completed the loop, then retraced our steps back to the parking area. Along the way back we noticed all kinds of wildflowers, but the one that stuck out the most to me was the birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus, link) There was also an abundance of blackberries ripening. What a wonderful maiden voyage!

In addition to the Sea Foam Loop, I also want to use Kennedy Grove as a jumping off point for hiking along the San Pablo Reservoir, which is managed by the EBMUD. The park is closed today due to COVID-19 shelter-in-place ordinances, but it looks like it will soon be opening in stages.