Point Pinole: A Dynamite Skating 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
If you didn't really want to read a rollerskating trails book: Back to Richard Katz's Homepage
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Chapter pinole
Point Pinole: A Dynamite Skating Trail
Before Hercules and Pinole became the fastest growing twin cities in the United States, this promontory on San Francisco Bay's shoreline was a little company town that manufactured explosives. As 73 year old Bill Thatcher told reporter Ed Kountz for the West County Times, December 7, 1993, "Every time there was an explosion, our house jumped a little further out of shape. It began to look like a cardboard box that was losing its shape."
The skating trail in East Bay Regional Park District's Pinole Point Regional Park run over two miles through the former Giant Powder Works. The trail has some ups and downs that make it a bit of a challenge for beginners. It's fun to try to decipher the lay of the land here, that is, to try to infer the operation of the former dynamite plant from the surviving landscaping. Generally, a flat gravel path was the narrow gauge railroad (which was shipped off to Disneyland); the elegance of the palm trees signify company offices; the hedgerows of eucalyptus trees were planted to force the explosion up, instead of out; and the general expansiveness of the layout was tokeep the product segregated in different "houses" at various stages of manufacture, spread over a matter of acres. The craters -- well, they speak for themselves.
After you exit the freeway on the way to Point Pinole, there is no place to go for food or drink. If you want to pick something up, the last stop is in Point Richmond, around the bend from the bottom of the offramp from Interstate-580.
How to Get There by Car from Interstate 580:
Just before (westbound) or after (eastbound) the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, take the Castro Street exit. At the bottom of the offramp, turn north onto Castro Street. You will know you are going the right way if you pass the huge refinery complex of Chevron U.S.A. Watch for the sharp right turn after the railroad tracks. Continue on to the first left turn, onto Richmond Parkway. (Note: This is a new road, only partially completed.) Take Richmond Parkway north and follow it as it curves right just after the new water reclamation plant. You are now heading east on the former Parr Boulevard. After you cross the Santa Fe railroad tracks, take a left on Giant Highway. Go north on Giant, past the Richmond Country Club and Parchester Village, until you see the sign for "Point Pinole Regional Shoreline" on your left. Turn left, go down a winding approach road, and park in the lot. On warm weekends they charge for parking.
What It's Like:
They have a serious iron gate at the the western end of the parking lot that keeps the cars off the trail. From the moment you get your skates on and head through the turnstile, you won't have to worry about your kids getting run over or ploughing into parked cars. After taking a turn or two just for fun around the circular drive on the other side of the gate, head up the slight incline that parallels the railroad tracks, on either of the two paths to your right. Skate left at the top of the rise and cross a railroad bridge. The trail at this point is a single lane road called Pinole Point Road and goes generally north.
After you pass the children's playground and two picnic areas, there is about a mile of flat trail, then a right curve, a left curve, and a fairly steep downhill. This must have been one of those protected areas, maybe good for nitroglycerine packaging. You will come to a roundabout that looks remarkably like a bus stop; the Park Service runs a tram out here for older folks who want to go fishing. The fishing pier, on the other side of the bus stop area, is a nice long skate in itself, and the engineers took the time and trouble to specify rubber expansion joints in the crosswise direction so you can skate all the way down it with no problem. In-lines might catch a divot on the lengthwise joints, though, so avoid the crack running down the center. There's plenty of room to turn around at the end. This pier is a marvelous place to go to see what the park looks like from sea level a half mile out to sea. Just watch out for the anglers and their monofilament.
Places to Eat:
No concessions are made to food in the park here. You could have stopped in Point Richmond on the way. If you want to grab a quick meal after you skate, head back out to Giant Highway and go left, past the jail, and follow what is now Atlas Road past Marwais Steel and UPS to the intersection with San Pablo Avenue. Take a left on San Pablo, and after about a mile you see Tara Hills shopping center. On the far side of the parking lot, there is a Mexican restaurant called Taqueria Morelia #2 that is real tasty and reasonably priced. (Taqueria Morelia #1 is a cantina down in Oakland, on East 14th Street near High Street, and it's just as good.)
Public Transportation:
AC Transit's 78 bus line stops at the Park on its way to the West County Jail. You can catch the 78 at Richmond BART. And you can get to Richmond BART from AMTRAK just by crossing under the tracks!
Ratings:
Path Surface = ***
Public Transit Access = ****
Surroundings = *****
Level of Difficulty = Not quite EASY (a grade or two)
Overall Rating = ****
Length = about two and a half miles one way
Other trails to check out in the neighborhood:
Miller - Knox Park in Point Richmond
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