The Wildcat Creek Marsh and Landfill Loop Trail along the San Pablo Bay in Richmond officially opened on 4/30/2011. Today we hiked the new 2.8 mile loop trail around Garbage Mountain, a 350-acre landfill with a 158-foot tall hill of rubbish and industrial waste. The trail passes the large solar panels of the West County Wastewater District, a power generating plant that runs on decomposing waste, and includes views of the Chevron Richmond Refinery. The bird-watching and Bay views are excellent. If you’re sensitive to bad smells or pollen, you may want to hike elsewhere. More information and a map are available on the City of Richmond’s website.
Important notes about hours and directions:
- The map seems to indicate that the Wildcat Creek Trailhead connects to the Landfill Loop. This trail is a 0.25 mile out and back that does not go through (a connection is slated to be built in the fall of 2011). When you’re driving on Richmond Parkway from either Hwy 80 or Hwy 580, Parr Blvd. is the correct exit for the Landfill Loop Trail.
- The Wildcat Creek Trailhead is part of the East Bay Regional Park District, and is open until 10pm. However, Wildcat Creek Marsh and the Landfill Loop Trail are open 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m., 7 days per week. The gate is locked at 5 p.m.
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- EBRPD Wildcat Creek Trail currently ends at a fence. Eventually this trail will connect to the Landfill Loop.
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- The Wildcat Creek Marsh parking area is confusing. The dump is up the hill. Look for the parking area on your left.
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- Wastewater Treatment Plant solar panels
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- Toxic waste disposal
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- Garbage Mountain
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- Wildcat Creek Marsh and Chevron oil refinery view
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- Marsh and Chevron oil refinery view
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- Aerial survey target
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- Garbage Mountain trail fork: go left to stay long the water. While the views are nice up top, it smells better down below.
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- Picnic area
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- No trespassing: Please do not attempt to summit Garbage Mountain
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- Bay view signage and methane gas relief
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- San Pablo Bay Panorama (sign)
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- San Pablo Bay Panorama (actual)
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- The top of Garbage Mountain
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- Point Pinole is just up the Bay
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- San Pablo Creek Marsh
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- Balloons left from yesterday’s opening ceremony
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- How the gate looked after we cleaned up the balloons
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- The trail back to the parking area
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- Road construction near the parking area
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- The site of yesterday’s ribbon cutting
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- Offices and doublewide
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- Cake box from yesterday’s opening ceremony
Healthy environment – picnic – NO, thanks
Thanks, Seb. The smell wasn’t appetizing for a picnic.
very nice series–I especially like the one with the balloons on the gate
and what are your thoughts on the square crop for these images–I like it, just wondering… (also some of your last images from Paul’s are square)
Hey Dave – The square crops are just for the thumbnails in the gallery. All of the Landfill Loop images were taken with an iPhone. The gate photos are the only square ones — Hipstamatic was used for those.
I almost never crop my night work — I want to be intentional about everything that I put in the frame when I’m taking a photo. Very occasionally I’ll go from 2:3 to 8:10 aspect ratio. I’m not against square — it’s just tough to mix with 2:3 from a design perspective.
Nice series, Joe. I especially like the first few with the fences and the barriers. iphone photos? Are you going for the single use device?
Thanks. No single use device, just packing light. I usually prefer a point-and-shoot to a phone camera unless I need GPS coordinates.