Berkeley Historical Society and Museum - Spring Walking Tours

June 11 - Pearls on a Greenway led by John Steere

This walk explores the history of West Berkeley and the Santa Fe right of way, and we will experience parks that have been created over the past 45 years since the city of Berkeley purchased it from the Santa Fe railroad.  It will initiate along the Ohlone Greenway where it crosses Codornices Creek.  We will then walk south along the Westbrae portion of it and learn about the three community gardens, including the Peralta and Karl Linn gardens, created there in the 1990s.  Then on to Cedar Rose park, the West Street greenway portion, and Strawberry Creek Park, which has the nation's first daylighted creek.  It will cover the history preceding the parks, the unusual development, and the future new park in the gap between Strawberry Creek and the Spiral Gardens which constitutes the remaining Santa Fe right of way.  This walk is one-way, flat, and about a mile with numerous stops.

Tours begin at 10:00 am and last approximately 2 hours.  Advance reservations are required - to purchase tickets, please contact the Berkeley Historical Society and Museum at (510) 848-0181.