When, in 2008, Betty Olds retired from serving District 6 on the Berkeley City Council after 16 years, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that the council “will lose its crankiest, wittiest, and often most rational member.” Six years later, the path that connects Sterling and Whitaker avenues in North Berkeley (previously known as Twain Path, #68 on the BPWA map) was renamed the Betty Olds Path in her honor. The children’s room at the North Branch of the Berkeley Public Library also bears her name.
On the easternmost edge of Berkeley, close to the border with Tilden Park, wanderers will find Scott Newhall Path following the contour of Hill Road. To younger walkers, this name will probably mean nothing. But to anyone who was living in the Bay Area in the ‘60s and ‘70s, it will ring a deeply familiar bell.
Like Berkeley, the Kensington community just to the north has a set of walking paths, created when the area was subdivided in 1910. But while Berkeley’s paths are owned by the city, due to an historic anomaly Kensington’s paths are not officially publicly owned.
Berkeley’s paths and stairways take walkers along some of the city’s prettiest neighborhoods and streets. But there’s one that might well surpass all the others in terms of history and architectural interest: If you’re looking for a path to share with visitors to demonstrate the richness of Berkeley’s culture, look no further than Rose Walk.
Indian Rock is one of many volcanic rhyolite rock outcroppings found across the Bay Area that are estimated to have occurred between nine and eleven million years ago. Anyone who has climbed the steep steps in its face has also seen the depressions of mortar holes still evident here, especially in the aptly named Mortar Rock, where the Ohlone people used the bedrock as a grinding surface for food and medicine.
With the recent uptick in pedestrians and bikers being hit by cars, we’d like to remind everyone to be as safe as possible while walking in Berkeley. Drivers are more distracted than ever so walkers need to be proactively defensive pedestrians. This time of year with shorter hours of daylight presents additional risks.
Whether it’s by donating, volunteering on path maintenance days, or cheering us on social media, your support for the paths continues to sustain us. If you value the paths as a local source of inspiration and restoration during these times, I hope you will support our group’s work into the new year and beyond.
Berkeley Path Wanderers Association’s intrepid team of path builders is putting the finishing touches on Hilgard Path, a dirt path winding through oaks and redwoods in the North Berkeley Hills between two historic, landmarked homes.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I am a junior at College-Prep, the same school that Jacob, a previous board member, went to.
How did you become interested in Berkeley's paths?
A few years ago I started taking walks throughout the Berkeley hills, trying to find all the different hidden paths. A friend of mine told me about BPWA and it sounded just like what I'd been interested in exploring.
What do you hope to achieve as a BPWA board member?
I am really excited to join the board and work on making the Berkeley paths even better and learning more about them!
In the photo above, Petra takes a break from walking Angel, Honey, and Piper at Pt. Isabel.
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I have lived in Berkeley on and off since 2002. I’m originally from Chicago and have also lived in the Washington, D.C., area. Workwise I’ve mostly been in the nonprofit and government world. Currently I work for the City of San Francisco.
How did you become interested in Berkeley's paths?
I discovered the paths while wandering around North Berkeley with a friend who lived nearby, so I was beyond thrilled when I stumbled upon the book Secret Stairs East Bay by Charles Fleming. Over the course of the next few years we did all of the walks in that book at least once.
What do you hope to achieve as a BPWA board member?
I’m looking forward to learning more about how BPWA works and helping to spread the news about the great work it does.
