Location: County: Alameda. Nearest City: Livermore.
Campsites, facilities: There are 150 sites for tents
or RVs, 21 with partial hookups. Piped water, fire grills, and
picnic tables are provided. A sanitary disposal station, flush
toilets, hot showers, a full marina, and a boat launch are available.
Pets are permitted.
Reservations, fees: Reservations are required; phone
1-510-562-2267 ($4 reservation fee); $14-$17 per night, $1 pet
fee.
Contact: Phone the East Bay Regional Park District
at 1-510-635-0135 extension 2200, or Del Valle Park at 1-925-373-0332.
Operating hours, seasons: Call park for information.
Directions: On Interstate 580, drive to Livermore and
the North Livermore Avenue exit. Turn south and drive on North/South
Livermore Road (this will turn into Tesla Road) to Mines Road.
Turn right and drive south for three miles to Del Valle Road.
Turn right and drive for three miles to the entrance to the park.
Weather, clothing: The weather can cool in fall and
winter and warm in spring and summer.
Trip notes: Of the 50 parks in the East Bay Regional
Park District, it is Del Valle that provides the highest variety
of recreation at the highest quality levels. Del Valle Reservoir
is the centerpiece, a long narrow lake that fills a canyon, providing
a good boat launch for powerboating and fishing for trout, striped
bass, and catfish. The sites are somewhat exposed due to the
grassland habitat, but they fill anyway on most weekends and
three-day holidays. A trailhead south of the lake provides access
to the Ohlone Wilderness Trail, and for the well conditioned
there is the 5.5-mile butt-kicker of a climb to Murietta Falls,
gaining 1,600 feet in 1.5 miles. Murietta Falls is the Bay Area's
highest waterfall, 100 feet tall, though its thin, silvery cascade
rarely evokes much emotional response after such an intense climb.
© 2001, Miwok Lodge 439, Order of the
Arrow, Santa Clara County Council Inc., BSA
Revision 1.2
