McLaughlin Eastshore State Seashore — Attraction in Berkeley

With as populated as the Bay Area is, it can be more challenging than some might think to get a taste of nature without leaving the city. This takes me the Emeryville/Berkeley area where I had the opportunity in visiting "McLaughlin Eastshore State Park". There is no actual street address here but it is where University Ave. & W. Frontage Rd. meet. It is also about 1/2 mile from I-80 so it is quite easy to get to when traveling my car.

I had come here during the evening of Saturday 6/23/2022 at around 7:45pm. The weather was a comfortable 64°F while being crystal clear with no clouds in sight as well as no Bay Area fog for that matter. What makes this state park convenient is that they offer a sizable parking lot (which is free of charge) as well as several trash bins and a few porta potties within a mere 50 yards from the bay water and trails.

The hours of operation are from 5am to 10pm seven days a week. Since this is a protected open space preserve area, the park actually extends 8.5 miles along the East Bay shoreline from the Bay Bridge to Richmond, This includes tidelands along the waterfronts of Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, and Richmond. Since I-80 is a very heavily traveled highway, you can witness joggers, cyclists, and walkers exercising from a distance if you look close enough.

Since I arrive right before dusk to check out the sunset, I luckily parked a stones throw from the water, rocks, and sandy beach area. Since this area stretches a very long distance, it never seems super crowded as opposed to a way more densely popular park or bike trail. And if you arrive during the time I did, you can witness some of the most awesome sunsets in all of the Bay Area.

With the good things about this park, you also need to consider the not-so good things as well. On any given day, you will spot quite a few homeless people (in tents, sitting in cars, and even just sleeping on the streets). It is the grim reality of many that hit hard times. But for the most part, many people here are courteous and keep to themselves. I felt safe during my visit and was able to soak in some of that fresh bay air while enjoying a perfect sunset. With that said and done, I am going to give "McLaughlin Eastshore State Park" an above average...

Was a beautiful place , even though the morning was first overshadowed by storm clouds for it had rained most of the night well into early morning. There was still a beauty to it and the atmosphere that shined thru all the grey in the sky , in fact the longer my boyfriend and I sat back and took in all the surrounding area we noticed the weather ( the reason we were there for earlier in am hours we had to get off freeway for we couldn't see anything as the rain tumbled down and skewed our vision to the point of not being able to see. ) didn't seem to affect any of the people jogging around the water even some sort of band was there to put on some kind of show looking like they were untouched by the now drizzle that was finishing out the storm from earlier but I suppose the show must go on lol!! All in all was a very nice place to take in the beauty of the bay what started out as a must fueled by anxiety brought on by a passing storm turned into a very beautiful experience my s/o and myself will treasure as a memory instead of as something we had to take in because of weather issues . We both recommend this place as somewhere to take in one day when you are bored at home and need to run your kids or pets to tire them out as you enjoy a walk or run around on the provided path and a place you can meditate and leave the stresses of the days that came before win win please enjoy . Oh and it appears as long as you have your dog on a leash you can bring your family fido along as well see a really nice get away right in the heart of the hustle...

...there's the magic of the San Francisco bay... to see and feel all around me.

the wind i feel coming from across the Pacific has blown into her through the stately quiet structure that shimmers like spider web in the sun, stretches with delicate strength across the opening between a jewel encrusted peninsula and a bucolic fog-kissed headland where a dark sleeping mountain dreams in her green dark peace... the Golden Gate.

and to the right, looking south...

a string of pearls glides lightly across the water litfing gradually out of a forest of metal and human engineered mathematical machinery to be held aloft forever against the gales of the sky and the shudders of the land by a shining white tower and then gently placed on the shoulder of an island, a Buena Vista she is, this threshold, the crossings of humanity stroke her skin as they come and go around the clock across the...