#1—Claremont: The Uplands
Walk #1—Claremont: The Uplands
Saturday, 21 July 2012
We started at 10 am, and it was hot, 82F.
The Uplands has an impressive entrance off of Claremont Avenue. This is one of two large columns at the gateway mentioned on page 15. Also, the columns are mentioned in Tour No. 23 in the 41 Berkeley Walking Tours book.
Here is a map of the walk (blue color). The blue pin is the start of the walk. You can enlarge it to see the staircases and paths, and switch to other views (eg, satellite) to see the area differently. Street view is also available (“View Walk #1—Claremont: The Uplands in a larger map” needs to be clicked).
We walked along The Uplands and up the Footway (part stairs, part ramp), coming out on Hillcrest Court, with the “Claremont District Governor’s home” at the end of the court.
Here’s a nice house on the same corner.
The house below is for sale for $2.2 million, but it has a great view.
Some smog today in this telephoto shot through the opening to the right of the house.
The housing stock on this walk is old. Here’s one (50 Hillcrest Road) that was built in 1895.
Another staircase, connecting Hillcrest Road with Hillcrest Road. Here’s a house with green doors near Eucalyptus Road. If you don’t see it, you missed a staircase. The freeway can be heard at this point.
The gray line on the map is the Oakland/Berkeley boundary.
When we reached this big brown house (red pin on the map, built 1913) on Eucalyptus, the freeway noise wasn’t annoying any longer. We are in Oakland now.
Here’s the map again.
This is the bottom of the South Crossways, which connects Hillcrest Road (yes, this is the third time the walk is along Hillcrest Road) with Roslyn Court.
There are two signs pointing out that the same house is at two different addresses, one at 99 South Crossways and the other at 19 Roslyn. One of the signs is on the fence in the photo below.
Note that a lot of the stair and ramp pictures show both brilliant sun and deep shade, tough on the camera.
Also, the book on page 16 gives a brief history of Anthony Chabot and the damming of nearby Temescal Creek. There is an error in calling the reservoir Lake Chabot (which is in Castro Valley); the correct name is Lake Temescal.
This is the Chartreuse House on Manor Crest (page 16). Want to bet the green and purple truck across the street is owned by the same people?
It’s a steep climb up Roanoke Road, past a vegetable garden with zucchini, tomatoes, herbs and cucumbers.
Then, back in Berkeley (there is a little sign on the right side of the street), back onto Hillcrest Road, again! Below are the “giant pines” mentioned on page 17 (there is also a good–sized redwood).
Then it’s down “The Crossways.” At the bottom is the park in the middle of the street, and a view of the dome of the nearby Claremont Hotel.
Berkeley’s street signs are brown, and Oakland’s are green.
After a short staircase up the street, we landed on Parkside Drive, on the way to an island park and then it’s up The Cut Off staircase to El Camino Real.
El Camino Real, surprise, surprise, has some nice houses on it, plus views of the Bay. First, a house with Mediterranean landscaping, and then another house on Oak Ridge Road (built 1925) with an attractive dragonfly door knocker.
This is the entrance to the Oak Ridge Path. Our friend, the honking goose, and the other birds are just down by the palm trees (page 19). Also, the view over the fence on the left, and some other sights on the path.
We’ve turned right off of Domingo Avenue (bottom of the path) and are now on Oakvale Avenue. Claremont Creek runs “in the daylight” here. Some of the nicely landscaped houses can be reached via bridges. One house is built over the creek (page 19).
We’re getting near the end, turning left ahead onto Encina Walk. There is a very nice house at the other end of the Walk (not mentioned in the book). It was built in 1909, and is in Tour No. 23 in “41 Berkeley Walking Tours”.
The final pictures show two fine looking houses, just around the corner from the intersection of The Uplands and Claremont Avenue. The second house, built in 1910, is in Tour No. 22 of the 41 Walks book.
This walk is in an area called the Uplands, southwest of Oakland’s Claremont Hotel. Most of the walk is in Berkeley, though.
The book reports 352 steps and 2.5 miles. The step count looks right, but the distance is 2.3 miles (calculated by Google maps).
Next—nearby Claremont Hotel Highlands.
