The Lafayette &endash; Moraga Regional Trail From Richard Katz's
Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
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Chapter newlafmo
The Lafayette &endash; Moraga Regional Trail: Sacramento Northern
The Lafayette &endash; Moraga Regional Trail is built on the roadbed of the former Sacramento Northern Railroad. The zigs and zags and sharp ups and downs in the first part of the trail mostly result from the ripping out of bridges. Therefore we will not start this trail at the Park District's official "staging area", but at a place a mile up the path. There is still a good four miles of trail, and at least two miles for beginners.
The East Bay Regional Park District keeps this trail up. We don't think about them much, but the EBRPD is a remarkable organization. They have had integrated work crews for decades now, free (at least so it appears to outsiders) of racism and sexism. Their police take a hard line on drugs, drinking and gang activity in the parks. Their workers have consensus meetings to make sure that everybody's concerns are being heard, and that everybody is pulling in the same direction. A remarkable organization indeed. It is a testament to the organization's right thinking that as rights of way like this one have become available, the EBRPD has seen fit to take the longitudinal space under its wing. They treat unconventional spaces like these trails with the same respect for Nature as they treat their more conventional park spaces that have the usual groves of trees and babbling brooks.
How to Get There by Car from Highway 24:
From State Highway 24, eastbound or westbound, take the"Orinda - Moraga" exit.
From the eastbound side (the folks who just came out of the Caldecott Tunnel), make a right at the bottom of the offramp, following the signs for Moraga. For a very short stretch you will be on Camino Pablo, then you bear right onto Moraga Way. Don't bear too far right, though, or you will end up on Camino Encinas. Moraga Way is the one that looks more like a highway.
From the westbound side (the folks who are coming from Walnut Creek or Sacramento or New York City, via Interstate 680) make a left at the bottom of the offramp, following the signs for Orinda-Moraga; do not head right to "Orinda Village". You are now heading south on Camino Pablo; if you stay in the middle lane past the stop light after the freeway underpass, you will be heading south on Moraga Way.
Go south about four miles on Moraga Way. It's very pleasant, bucolic, and ritzy. After you pass Andrews Drive on your right, and then a firehouse, slow down to a crawl and look for a shopping center on your right. The street that forms the left side of the parking lot of the shopping center, and is essentially incorporated into the shopping center, is School Street. Make a left onto School Street, and drive to the end. You're there. Trust me.
What It's Like:
For us, the trail starts at Moraga Ranch, a collection of old red wooden buildings on the west side of School Street in the Town of Moraga. On the right, you will see a shopping center with a Safeway and a Macalou's (very popular department store in these parts). This is the only place to buy anything along this trail. Put on your skates and head northeast on the wide concrete trail.
As you go through an old orchard the concrete is soon superseded by asphalt. From here on, you are forced to take notice of California's geological instability: Along almost the entire length of this trail, there are longitudinal cracks in the asphalt. In at least one instance, one side of the crack has subsided over three inches from the other side. In California, you can't go around closing trails just because of a little geologic instability. After all, the Cal Bears play football in a stadium that has concrete displaced six inches vertically along the Hayward Fault. Just be careful that one of those fissures doesn't reach up and grab one of your blades and wrestle you precipitously to the ground.
The trail crosses Moraga Road (not Moraga Way) and continues on through Moraga Commons. The trail makes an abrupt left and then a right going through the Commons; avoid the playground, and try to find the East Bay Regional Park District bulletin board. Pick up a copy of the EBRPD trail map. You will be skating parallel to St. Mary's Road, following a Par Course, and going decidedly uphill.
The trail is clearly marked with distances from either end. About one mile from Moraga Ranch, you will see St. Mary's College on your right, across the road. Just a few hundred feet more, and you will find a lovely picnic area, just before you get to Rheem Boulevard. It's very scenic, and usually deserted; a good place to eat the lunch stuff you bought at the Safeway.
If you turn back here you'll avoid the traffic further on and keep the prevailing wind at your back. If you decide to go on, you'll see that after you cross Rheem Boulevard, the trail goes decidely downhill, both literally and figuratively &endash;&endash; the longitudinal cracks are much in evidence here. It's a one mile stretch uninterrupted by automobile crosstraffic, until you get to South Lucille Lane, just inside the Lafayette city limits. Families with young children should definitely turn around here.
After this point, you do a lot of starting and stopping at intersections. The most serious of these is where the trail crosses St. Mary's Road, just after the Lafayette Community Center. Beware of the high speed automobiles.
The rest of the trail is like a little whistlestop tour of the backyards of Lafayette. You end up actually skating in the street at Brookdale Court. One mile from the end of the trail, there is no path per se, and you are skating through the yard of the Moraga Pumping Plant of the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Forewarned is forearmed; have faith, and you will emerge at the other end of the pumping plant glad that you bought this book.
The trail ends at the Olympic Boulevard Staging Area, the official name for the two parking lots at the corner of Olympic Boulevard and Pleasant Hill Road. The trail appears to continue after the first little parking lot but it only takes you to the second parking lot.
On your second trip to this trail, you might want to get off Highway 24 at the Pleasant Hill Road exit and start skating the trail from here, heading back to Moraga Ranch. (Directions: South on Pleasant Hill Road, right on Olympic Boulevard to Reliez Station Road.)
Places to Eat:
Stop in at the Cookhouse Cafe at Moraga Ranch, right at the beginning of this trail. Skaters are welcome! However, this charming little establishment has a lovely waxed wooden floor. You could dance on it, and you can eat off it, but it's so polished, it's a real challenge to skate on it. Sunday hours are limited to 9-12. Just right for skating. Telephone 510 376 3477.
Public Transportation:
The easiest way to get to the Lafayette-Moraga Regional Trail is from the Lafayette BART station. Take the County Connection 123 line to St. Mary's College, and start skating in the middle of the trail.
Telephone 510-676-7500 for County Connection information.
You can also take the 106 line from BART to Moraga.
Ratings:
Path Surface = ** (longitudinal cracks)
Public Transit Access = ****
Surroundings = * (crosstraffic)
Level of Difficulty = MEDIUM
Overall Rating = **
Length = about four miles one way
Other trails to check out in the neighborhood:
The Contra Costa Canal
in translation from railroading to recreation
Note from the Author: Haven't put in links to the other chapters yet.
From Richard Katz's Skating Unrinked book, published in paperback by HarperCollinsWest in 1994. Or was it '95? If you are not reading this on a screen, stop reading and head to www.Amazon.com. Thanx. Richard Katz = katz@frogojt.com. email
Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
If you want to go back to the Table of Contents of Skating Unrinked, Back to TOC