Huckleberry Botanic Regional Preserve, on a quiet hillside in the Berkeley Hills, is a naturalist’s dream. The self-guided 1.7-mile Huckleberry Interpretive Loop Trail winds through the preserve’s shady forest, through an abundance of plants, and up to vistas of Mount Diablo. Twenty-one interpretive panels explain plant features along the way. Another highlight? The plants bloom year-round, so there is always something to look out for, like huckleberries in late summer.
Lower Huckleberry Loop Trail
Let’s grab a map at the trailhead and head southeast. Under oak and bay trees, fuzzy thimbleberry leaves lean toward the dirt path. In 300 feet, reach a junction for the Lower Huckleberry Loop Trail and the Upper Huckleberry Loop Trail. A seasoned hiker I ran into recommended doing the loop clockwise, so, let’s bear left onto the Lower Huckleberry Loop Trail.
Turning left, descend a stairway onto a well-worn, narrow path, beginning your clockwise loop. The hillside tumbles down the trail in a big green cascade. Shady, leafy, greenery like California hazelnut and huckleberry shrubs surrounds you. Just shy of 1300 feet in elevation and due east of the Golden Gate Bridge, early morning fog rolls over the hills. Beautiful light filters through the trees. It’s an idyllic scene.
Rounding a switchback of huckleberry, a little spur leads to a bench with a modest overlook of the ravine you’re hiking into. Bird song is active, with gentle thrashing and chirping from Black-capped Chickadees and Spotted Towhees. Soon Interpretive panels appear in reverse order, starting at number 21 for a Pacific Madrone with flaky reddish bark. A combination of location, fog, and geology creates unique growth conditions for the diverse plants in the preserve. The preserve’s rock layers were once part of the ocean floor, uplifted and eroded roughly 12 million years ago.
Skyline National Trail
At the 0.4-mile mark, bear right to stay on the Lower Huckleberry Loop Trail; the lower left trail leads to Sibley Preserve. Huckleberry Preserve was originally bought to link Reinhart Redwood Park with Sibley Preserve and close a gap in the Skyline National Trail, a 31-mile recreation trail between Lake Chabot and Wildcat Canyon.
Beyond this junction, the Lower Huckleberry Loop Trail gently ascends underneath curving bay trees. The forest is beginning to feel a bit airier, a bit sunnier. You may hear the shhh sounds of San Leandro Creek as the trail that is closest to it at this point. The trail curves around creases in the hillside with streams, similar to the New Almaden Trail at Almaden Quicksilver County Park in San Jose. Interpretive panel 18 describes common ferns you see on the trail, like bracken ferns.
Reaching a Y-junction at 1.0 miles, turn right to ascend the Loop Connector Trail toward the Upper Huckleberry Loop Trail. The left-hand Skyline National Trail leads toward Skyline Boulevard and Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park. You can add another 0.75 miles to your loop by taking this left trail 0.4 miles and then turning right on the Upper Pinehurst Trail back to the Upper Loop.
Upper Huckleberry Loop Trail
After climbing a series of wooden staircases, merge onto the Upper Huckleberry Loop Trail. Then, in about 70 feet, turn right to explore a spur trail with views. The trail ascends a rocky knoll to an exposed top with manzanita. To the north is a view of Round Top in Sibley Preserve. To the east is a vista of Mount Diablo. On a clear day, you can see their four major peaks: Eagle Peak, Mount Olympus, North Peak, and Mount Diablo Summit.
Retrace your steps to the Upper Huckleberry Loop Trail and continue northwest. On your left, the hillside reaches up above you and again tumbles down below. After 0.25 miles, turn right to explore another unsigned spur toward interpretive panels 9, 10, and 11. Manzanita, huckleberry, and canyon live oak pepper the mostly shady out-cropping.
Retrace your steps once again to the Upper Loop through a sunny stretch of trail, the sunniest yet. Hummingbirds dive among pallid manzanita, a rare shrub with light gray-green leaves and reddish bark. Just beyond it, a quiet bench provides one more glimpse over the hills. Close your loop back at the junction for the Lower Huckleberry Loop Trail, and follow the feeder trail back to the trailhead. Two picnic tables make a nice spot for a post-stroll rest.
Tags: Berkeley Hills, east bay, geology, Huckleberry Preserve, Mount Diablo, plants, shade, shaded hikes, vista
