Indian Rock Park, Berkeley

Today we visited a beautiful spot here in Berkeley that, up until a few days ago, was completely unknown to me. This spot that I speak of is Indian Rock Park in the hills of North Berkeley.

This rocky outcrop perched in the Berkeley Hills is a popular spot for rock climbing, picnics, family outings, and, surprisingly, dog walking! There were at least three dogs up on top of the rocks the whole time we were there.



For those of us who are a little less adventurous and don't wish to try out their rock climbing skills to reach the top, there is a staircase carved into the rock. An amazing view over Berkeley, the Bay and San Francisco greets visitors as they reach the top. It was a pretty clear day today so we were treated to a wonderful view. I imagine that sunsets over the Bay must be beautiful to take in from Indian Rock.

As you can probably tell from the photos it was pretty windy up on the rocks today!

 

At first the girls, particularly Ava, were a little scared at being up on the high rocks. Ava kept asking to go back down to the bottom almost as soon as we arrived there. The funny thing is that after we did go back down the carved staircase, Ava proceeded to climb up the rock on her own - without the use of the staircase. She made it all the way to the top and was pretty proud of herself. She then did this a few more times. So much for being scared of heights! Lola attempted to follow Ava up the rock but didn't make it quite as far.

The girls then set off to explore other rocks in the park area. They found another staircase to use part way up but mostly they just scrambled up and down the rocks without the use of said staircase.

We then ventured across the road where there were yet more rocks just begging to be climbed.

Our visit to Indian Rock Park today was Mathilde's first outing in the Ergo carrier and I'm pleased to say that she spent pretty much the entire time sleeping. This was my view every time I looked down. So cute!

I have since discovered that Berkeley has a series of these rock parks around this particular area. We will definitely have to head out again another weekend to check out a few of the others.

You can find out more about Indian Rock Park and the other rock parks in Berkeley here.