Causeway in Dimond Canyon

Donate

Last winter, a large bay tree slid down the hillside and landed smack dab in the middle of the Dimond Canyon Trail. We were able to move the trail around the still-living tree, but a lot of impermeable soil, aka muck, now plagued the area. With any rain at all, about 30 feet of trail turned into a mud pit.

You can see above that a trail user laid out some plywood to help navigate through the affected area, but in early February we engaged Oakland Public Works staff to plan a more permanent fix. The plan was simple: build about 30 feet of causeway, or raised trail, to improve the route. A bridge was included in the design to allow any rain runoff to make its way to nearby Sausal Creek.

With approval in place from a Public Works Supervisor, we teamed up with Friends of Sausal Creek (FOSC) to finalize the logistics and pick a work day. Oakland Trails would fund this project, procuring and prepping all the needed materials, then meet up with FOSC’s monthly trail crew to install it.

We picked up the materials, about $900 worth of redwood, deck screws, and rebar, then staged the project at my home in Oakland. There, my brother and I drilled out the holes for the rebar and pre-built the bridge.


On the morning of the workday, we delivered the materials to the Dimond Canyon Trailhead, staging it all near the four yards of gravel provided by the City of Oakland.

Having met up with the FOSC trail crew, we hand-carried the timbers and the pre-built bridge to the site, then began framing out the causeway.

Once the frame was secure, we started filling it with gravel, tamping in the crusher as we went along.


After completing the project, we were lucky to get some good rain to test the drainage. We were pleased to see it working as planned.

Special thanks to Friends of Sausal Creek, Ashby Lumber, La Farine Bakery, and Oakland Public Works for partnering with us on this project.

Please donate to our stewardship programs.

Press Release: Feb 6, 2018

Donate

OAKLAND TRAILS LAUNCHES A NEW DOCUMENTARY FILM PROJECT CELEBRATING THE EAST BAY REDWOODS


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 6th, 2018

OAKLAND, CA – OAKLAND TRAILS is proud to announce the launch of its second documentary film, Old Survivor: Celebrating the East Bay Redwoods. The project is now in pre-production with filming to begin in March, 2018.

“We are thrilled to follow up the success of our first film, Trailhead, with a celebration of Oakland’s amazing redwoods,” said Stan Dodson, film producer and founder of Oakland Trails. Trailhead, released in October 2015, has since been screened in over 60 venues around the San Francisco Bay Area, and can be streamed online at https://OaklandTrails.org/watch/.

The upcoming film will feature iconic “Old Survivor,” the East Bay’s only remaining old-growth redwood, as the centerpiece to tell the story of the East Bay’s historic, ecologically-amazing, and now-protected redwood forest. Featuring stories from Save the Redwoods League, City of Oakland Parks, and the East Bay Regional Park District, the film will promote outdoor recreation and open space networks, encourage stewardship, celebrate local history, and educate the viewer about forest ecology, connecting people to the redwoods in their own backyard.

Oakland Trails is working with filmmaker Emily Fraser, who co-produced Trailhead. Runtime is anticipated to be approximately 20 minutes.

The Premiere Event will be held at the Chabot Space & Science Center on the evening of Tuesday, October 9, 2018, and will simultaneously serve as Save the Redwoods League’s Centennial Celebration in Oakland. Local partners and community groups will be invited to table at the reception, where 1,200+ attendees are expected over the course of the evening.

Corporate sponsorships are still available. To learn more, visit the film website at https://oaklandtrails.org/old-survivor/.

For more information, contact:

Jennifer Goundas Diiullo, Communications Director                                                        

Phone: 510-842-3676

Email: [email protected]

Download a pdf of this press release HERE.