Oakland Urban Paths is very excited to announce its Fall 2011 walk schedule with a Saturday walk in October (This Saturday, 10/15!), November and December.

Check out our nifty brochure with all the details that you can send to your friends, or read on below:

October 15th: Sausal/Peralta watershed wander (4:00-5:30) and Anza Trail lecture (6:00)pm
Come for the walk, stay for the lecture.
Walk starts at 4:00 pm, historic lecture on Women and Children of the Anza Trail starts at 6:00 pm at the Peralta Hacienda. We’ll finish the walk with enough time to pick up a burrito or pupusa on Foothill Ave. Snacks and drinks will also be available at the lecture.
Meet at Peralta Hacienda House,  2465 34th Avenue. There is ample parking on Coolidge or Hyde.
More info on the lecture at www.peraltahacienda.org

November 12th: Secret Stairs, Fire and BART (10 am–Noon)
Check out stairs, Vicente Creek and a special BART stairway along the Oakland/Berkeley borderlands.
Meet at 10am at the Peet’s at 2916 Domingo (in Berkeley, just barely). Walk includes some hills, be ready to climb.

December 10th: Walk and Shop (10 am-1 pm)
Get in some holiday shopping on foot in Oakland. Meet at the park area on Lakeshore (east side of street) between Longridge and Mandana. We’ll walk to Piedmont, take a break to hit the stores and walk back via stairs and paths.

We’re out there…

Please join us this Sunday (August 21st) to walk some of Oakland’s steepest and woodsiest stairs.

We’ll meet at 10am in front of the Montclair Library and return to the same location before noon, giving you plenty of time to make it to Art and Soul’s heavy-hitting Main Stage afternoon set.

This walk includes uphill walking, please wear sturdy shoes.

Oakland Urban Paths Walk
Sunday, August 21st
Meet at Montclair Library at 10am

Please join us this Friday night at Pegasus Books on Solano Avenue to hear Charles Fleming speak about his new book, Secret Stairs of the East Bay.

Fleming’s book is an excellent compendium that puts you right where we want you, on the paths and stairs of Oakland. Representatives from other local paths, stairs and walking groups will be in attendance.

Secret Stairs of the East Bay Book Talk
THIS Friday (August 5th) at 7:30pm

Pegasus Books
1855 Solano Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94707
(510) 525-6888

Thanks to all who joined us on this great walk and to Ken Katz for the great pics on Flickr!

Join Oakland Urban Paths for the First Annual Walk & Shop on Saturday, December 11th.

On December 11th from 10-1PM, Oakland Urban Paths will be leading its first annual Walk & Shop through three Business Districts and surrounding neighborhoods of Crocker Highlands, Grand-Lake, and Piedmont Avenue via the historic stairways and pathways that once served the Key Route Street Car. Join us or take the walk yourself with our map if you miss it.

Participants will have an opportunity to shop at the many businesses along Lakeshore Avenue, Grand Avenue, and Piedmont Avenue.

Meet at the park area on Lakeshore (east side of street) between Longridge and Mandana at 9:45 a.m. on December 11th to join in the holiday fun. We plan to leave promptly at 10:00.

We plan to arrive at Piedmont ave, via the Morcom Amphitheater of Roses, by 11:15 for a look around some of the stores. We’ll reconvene at 11:45 at the Key System Plaque near the corner of 41st and Piedmont (by the Longs Drugs parking lot) and follow Glen Echo Creek back towards Grand Avenue.

Want to help spread the word? Please share our brochure.

Oakland Urban Paths T-Shirts now available for sale. $15 each.

We will be selling them at the upcoming EBBC/WOBO Holiday party. If you can’t wait, drop us a line and we’ll work out an order.

Friday, December 3, 2010
7-11pm
Humanist Hall, Oakland

On October 10th, Oakland Urban Paths teamed up with the Berkeley Path Wanderers, Kensington Improvement Club and El Cerrito Trail Trekkers to take a long walk.

The October sun shined and the stairs provided plenty of cardio-opportunities. 65 walkers showed up to start the day at 9am and nearly 8 hours later, 25 of us finished in El Cerrito.

You can take a virtual journey on the everytrail map below or by clicking on the link, you can also read an article written by Susan Alcorn who joined us for the entire walk.

Trail of 4 Cities

There are two great upcoming opportunities to meet fellow Oakland paths and walking enthusiasts, we look forward to seeing you on the stairs! Come out to say hi, check out our new shirts and tell us about your favorite stairs! We’re looking for residents like you who live near stairs, or like walking on them to share your stories and help out with clean up and improvement projects.

Rockridge Out and About

This Sunday, September 26th, we’ll have a booth with Walk Oakland Bike (WOBO) , in front of Hank and Frank Bikes.

We’ll be selling our spiffy new shirts and taking a tour of some of Rockridge’s finest stairs and paths.

At 2:00, Paul and Bruce will be leading a 2 hour hike through through the Rockridge hills.

The 2 hour walk will depart from the Rockridge BART station at the NE corner of Keith and College across the street from Cactus. Some hills, you need to be in decent shape for the walk.

Trail of Four Cities

10/10 All day walk departs from Rockridge BART, 9am.

On October 10th, join your fellow east bay walkers for an all day walk along the trail of four cities (Oakland, Berkeley, Kensington and El Cerrito). This multi-city walk will showcase 4 separate path systems and the volunteer groups that support them, including the Oakland Urban Paths, Berkeley Pathwanderers, Kensington Improvement Club and the El Ccrrito Trail Trekkers.

After walking through some of North Oakland’s paths (the same ones that we’ll tour on 9/26),we will  hook up with Jen English and Colleen Neff of the Berkeley Path Wanderers in the area of Ashby and Domingo for the Berkeley leg of the trip.  We’ll have lunch near the UC campus and say goodbye to anyone who wishes to make their way to the the downtown Berkeley BART station.  We’ll then head to Kensington where Lorraine Osmundson of the Kensington Improvement Club will lead us over some of Kensington’s paths.  We’ll then head north to El Cerrito to be intercepted by Joseph Nichols of the newly formed El Cerrito Trail Trekkers, who will cover some of the paths currently being restored by that organization.  From there, we will make our way down to the El Cerrito BART station.

The event is one of many local activities that are part of an international day of low-carbon activity. What a better way to celebrate than taking a walk?

We will have rest stops but please bring water, lunch/snacks, and comfortable shoes. No dogs, please.

Walk departs 9am sharp from the Rockridge BART station (NE Corner of Keith and College) and will end at the El Cerrito BART.

For more information, Contact us or keithskinner.public@gmail.com

On May 1st, Oakland Urban Paths and WOBO hosted a variety of Jane’s Walks. The walks were very well attended, with nearly 100 walkers participating. Some walkers even double-dipped, participating in both morning and afternoon walks.

Click on the links below to access the maps generated for each walk and check out the paths, stairs, views and architecture for yourself. Let us know what you think of the maps and if you find them helpful. If you have ideas for other walking routes, we’d love to hear about them!

Crocker Highlands/Grand-Lake Stair Walk

Lake Merritt, Roses and Glen Echo Creek

The Oakmore Stairs

An Advocate’s Walk

Coming up on May 1st and 2nd, Oakland will play host to a crush (6!) of free walking tours as part of the Jane’s Walk event. Jane’s Walks inspire citizens to get to know their city and each other by getting out and walking.  Jacobs famously declared that walkable, diverse and mixed-use neighborhoods are the hallmark of a  healthy city and its people.

You can read more about the Oakland walks here.

Four of the walks start at 10:00 am on Saturday, 5/1, so interested folks will have to make some choices. An afternoon walk starting at 2:00 pm will wrap up at the Grand Tavern! A Sunday walk goes long distance, starting at the MacArthur BART station and wrapping up near Lake Merritt and the 19th street BART stop.

We’re looking forward to seeing you during this exciting walking weekend. If you can’t make it, but are interested in further events, drop us a line and we’ll add you to our mailing list.