Joaquin Miller Dog Park

Enter Joaquin Miller Park and you'll quickly forget that the hustle and bustle of the city are minutes away from you. The 500-acre park is frequently visited by hikers, equestrians, bicyclists, joggers, and picnicists from all over the Bay Area. Through redwood groves and oak woodlands and across green creeksides and wet meadows, the rustic woodland trails lead you. Dogs are authorized - on leash - in the park and a fenced off-leash dog area is accessible on parkland for both large and small dogs. Park facilities for weddings, picnics, large group meetings, and special activities are open. Come and discover the wonders of the urban wildlands of Oakland! 

 

About

 

Wildlife, Plants, and Fungi

 

The redwoods in Joaquin Miller Park are known to be one of the few redwood forests to survive today in an urban climate. Native Coast Redwoods (sequoia sempervirens), most prominently, grow in the park. Many are in the second or third development after intensive logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the redwoods were used to help build Oakland, San Francisco, and other booming cities of the time. Of the thousands of trees planted under Joaquin Miller's leadership, many still stand today.

 

The park provides a number of representative ecosystems for the central coastal range, hot open hillsides, cool redwoods, oak trees, green creeksides, and wet meadows. The park is home to over 200 native plant species. Along with such non-natives as fennel, acacia, and eucalyptus, there are rare plants like the Oakland star tulip, pallid manzanita, and leatherwood. In the serpentine grasslands, California's state grass, purple needlegrass, and the state flower, the California golden poppy, are common.

 

Gently walking and exploring mysterious animals. This park is home to Towhees, scrub jays, Cooper's hawks, wild turkeys, California quail, lizards, gopher snakes, or maybe even a gray fox, deer, or skunk.

 

Joaquin Miller Park is a delightful place for hiking amid towering redwoods, draped over 500 acres in the Oakland Hills, with expansive views of San Francisco and the Bay. Named after its former owner, noted local writer and poet Joaquin Miller, it is owned by the city of Oakland.

 

How to Get There

Take Hwy from San Francisco, the North, and East Bay. 24 on Hwy. 13 (the Warren Freeway) south to the exit of Joaquin Miller Rd/Lincoln Ave. 580 west to Hwy. 13 north. From South Bay Hwy. AC Transit route 39 serves the park. You can also reach the park at Sequoia Arena from Skyline Blvd.