Roni Gehlke/for Bay Area News Group The East Bay Regional Park District this summer will build a new exhibit inside the Hazel-Atlas Mine, above, at Black Diamond Mines in Antioch. "The new Black Diamond Coal Mine exhibit … will be an immersive experience taking visitors into a recreated 1870s coal mine," said Dave Mason, of the EBPRD.
The incoming Labor Day weekend heat wave will mean fewer options for East Bay regional park lovers who had a visit on their mind.
Wildcat Canyon in Richmond; Briones Regional Park in Martinez, the Black Diamond Mines in Antioch; and the Diablo Foothills in Walnut Creek all will be among the parks closed Sunday and Monday by the East Bay Regional Parks District. The worst of the heat wave is expected to arrive Sunday, when temperatures approach 105 on their way to at least 110 in the hottest places by Monday.
The district said it made the decision after fire officials warned of a high fire risk. Weather officials have not issued any watches or warnings related to fire-friendly conditions, but the high temperatures and long drought have fire officials on alert.
The other parks and regional preserves that also will be closed include:
- Tri-Valley: Sycamore Valley Park (Danville); Bishop Ranch (San Ramon); Las Trampas (San Ramon); Pleasanton Ridge; Shadow Cliffs (Pleasanton); Dublin Hills
- Oakland: Sibley Volcanic Regional Preserve; Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, Reinhardt Redwood; Roberts Regional Park;
- Castro Valley: Five Canyons; Thurgood Marshall; Lake Chabot; and Anthony Chabot park (the campgrounds are open).
- Antioch: Contra Loma; Deer Valley;
- Byron: Vasco Hills; Vasco Caves
- El Sobrante: Kennedy Grove; Sobrante Ridge
- Fremont: Mission Peak; Vargas Plateau
- Livermore: Morgan Territory; Brushy Peak
- Martinez: Waterbird, Nejedly Staging Area at Carquinez Strait
- Sunol: Sunol Regional Park; Ohlone
- Berkeley: Botanic Garden
- Brentwood: Round Valley
- Clayton: Clayton Ranch
- Crockett: Crockett Hills
- Orinda: Tilden Park
Some parks will remain open on those two days. Those parks are located along the shoreline and include:
- Fremont: Ardenwood Historic Farm; Coyote Hills; Dumbarton Quarry Campground
- Richmond: Miller Knox; Point Isabel; Point Pinole;
- Oakland: Judge John Sutter Regional Shoreline; Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Park;
- Oakley: Antioch-Oakley shoreline; Big Break;
- Alameda: Crown Beach
- Bay Point Regional Park
- Berkeley: McLauglin East Shore State Park
- Hayward Shoreline;
- Martinez: Carquinez Strait
- San Leandro: Oyster Bay
Swimming facilities at Cull Canyon and Quarry Lakes in Fremont; Lake Temescal in the Oakland Hills; the Don Castro Recreation Area in Hayward; and Lake Del Valle near Livermore also will be open, according to the regional parks district.
Originally published at Rick Hurd