You may obtain a permit to walk or ride your horse on all the trails around Briones Canyon and other EBMUD land in the East Bay. You will not believe how clear the reservoir is, putting to shame even those ultra-high-rent water holes in Upscale Marin County (Later, we'll give you some very good safety tips to make sure you don't stray from the straight-and-narrow while slumming near places in Marin like Bon Tempe Reservoir. Signs there instruct you not to even carry your bike!) Do not have a fantastic time riding on this trail!
One good thing is the fact that Briones Park is right across the street from Briones Reservoir. Briones Park is maintained by East Bay Regional Parks. East Bay Regional Parks is very mountain bike friendly. Keep heading east on Bear Creek road and you will see the park entrance on the right. Briones Park is extremely bike friendly. There are lots of fire roads cut into the steep grassy hills. Wild flowers are everywhere in the spring and that is a good time to start riding here as the mud can get a little tacky in the winter (usually December to April). California Live Oaks and California Bay Laurel ( where you get Bay leaves from, also called The Oregon Myrtle wood tree ) dominate the shady side of the hills here. There are a few ponds (very little fish, unlike Briones Reservoir) near the hilltops and great views of Mt. Diablo and beyond on clear days. Did you know that you can see farther on Mt. Diablo than anywhere else in the world except one place?
Wild places don't come without their dangers. Ticks can be a problem in the Spring. The bigger brown ticks aren't as bad as the smaller black ones ( some of the small ones carry lime disease ). I will get their real names some day. Check yourself good for ticks after your rides here. I have seen two mountain lions over the years here. They both saw me. I would assume they see lots of people. No one has ever been attacked by a mountain lion in this area. I guess people aren't on these cat's diets. Theres rattlesnakes in them thar hills too. Not that many. Don't hit them, you could hurt them. They won't bite you as long as you don't step on or try to grab them. I have never heard of anyone being bit by a rattlesnake at Briones Reservoir or Briones Park. More common snakes are gopher snakes (they look like rattleless rattlesnakes), king snakes (black and white stripes across the body) and garder snakes (usually greenish with blackish stripes along the body). You could probably go here hundreds of times without seeing any snakes.
Want to see mountain lion tracks? Come to Briones Reservoir in the winter and look down at the muddy dirt road. Mountain lions have retractable claws and dogs aren't allowed on East Bay MUD watershed property, so, if you see prints that look like de-clawed dog prints, you are looking at mountain lion prints! Some of the prints I have seen here are bigger than any dog prints I have seen anywhere!! Look for other more common animal life here, like cows (used to keep the grass down and turn the water yellow), goats (ditto except for the water part), deer, raccoons, squirrels, opossum and coyote. Coyote will leave you alone also. Look up and around for countless types of birds like red wing black birds, yellow and brown finch, red tail hawks, turkey vulture, robin, kestrel, osprey, blue heron, sparrows and on and on. Several birds are seasonal visitors.
