True to its name, Contra Costa County lies on the opposite coast from San Francisco. The County is bounded by San Francisco Bay on the west and by the sloughs, canals and marshes of the Sacramento River Delta to the north and east. In its interior, sprawling Mount Diablo dominates the surrounding hills, ridges and valleys.

Morgan Territory Regional Preserve offers distant views of Mount Diablo.

Like many other communities in the San Francisco Bay Region, Contra Costa County has been a leader in open space preservation, primarily through the East Bay Regional Parks District. In addition to these local initiatives, the State of California and the National Park System has also been hard at work here, preserving wilderness within a teeming megalopolis.

In 1928, the East Bay Municipal Utility District declared that 10,000 acres of land it owned in the East Bay hills was surplus. Farsighted community leaders recognized that this was a golden opportunity to preserve land. In 1934, in the depths of the Great Depression, voters approved creation of the East Bay Regional Parks District by a two to one margin. Two years later, the District bought its first parcel from the Utility District. Since then, the boundaries of the Parks District expanded, encompassing most of Contra Costa County in 1964 and finally incorporating all of Contra Costa and Alameda counties by 1992.

Today, the Parks District manages over 97,000 acres of land in 65 parks and preserves with more than 1,150 miles of trails. Seven of these parks link to form a green backdrop to the cities on the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay from Richmond and Berkeley to Oakland and San Leandro. In this chain, Redwood Park protects stands of redwoods that sprouted after the original forest was hauled away in the 1850s. Some of the old-growth trees were so tall that they were used to guide ships entering the Golden Gate, 16 miles away. San Leandro Creek in Redwood Park also has the distinction of being named as the original home of the pure strain of native rainbow trout. Further east, the Parks District maintains the 6,200-acre Black Diamond Mines Regional Preserve that protects natural features while allowing visitors to learn about the area’s history of silica sand and coal mining.

In addition to saving hills and valleys, the Parks District safeguards shorebird and waterfowl habitat with at least 20 preserves on or near San Francisco Bay and the waterways of the Sacramento River Delta. Of the 1,150 miles of trails created by the Parks District, 250 miles are paved, including the 24-mile Iron Horse Trail which uses an abandoned railroad right of way between the cities of Concord and Dublin. Ultimately, the Iron Horse Trail will be extended nine more miles east to the City of Livermore, linking 12 cities in two counties.

Mount Diablo State Park and adjacent public lands now comprise over 89,000 acres thanks largely to the efforts of the non-profit organization Save Mount Diablo. At an elevation of 3,849 feet, Mount Diablo is the most prominent topographic feature in Contra Costa County, offering spectacular views to those who drive, hike or bike to the summit to visit the historic tower built by the California Conservation Corps in the 1930s. Mount Diablo’s rugged terrain is home to more than 100 animal species and 650 plant species. It also attracts over one million human visitors a year, including hikers and mountain bicyclists lured by an extensive trail system.

Contra Costa County does not have as much federally-owned open space as some other counties in the San Francisco region. But the National Park Service maintains the Rosie the Riveter National Historic Park in the City of Richmond as well as two national historic sites. One site near the City of Danville preserves the home of playwright Eugene O’Neill. The other, in the City of Martinez, preserves the Victorian home of John Muir, the naturalist, writer and Sierra Club founder who is credited as the Father of the National Park Service and emblematic of the environmental ethic often associated with the San Francisco Region.