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Knowland Park's Layout Knowland Park runs roughly from east to west, from Interstate 580 to Skyline Road, in southeast Oakland. It is really two parks, eastern and western sections, divided by Golf Links Road. The Oakland Zoo and Arboretum occupies the Park's western lowlands. At the west end of the park, Golf Links runs to its north, with housing on the north side of the road. At Elysian Fields, it turns into the park, and has steep, heavily wooded hills on either side, until it leaves the park and joins Grass Valley, which runs to the south of the park, and has housing on its south side. It is not really practical to move directly between the two sections, by crossing Golf Links, due to the topography and vegetation. Also Arroyo Viejo creek flows alont Golf Links road for its entire length in the park, and its steep, narrow, wooded banks and bed make crossing very difficult. The Park's topography varies from low flatland on the west, to hills up to 750 feet above sea level at the east. There are both western and eastern highlands, from which spectacular views of the Bay and several bridges can be seen. Both parts offer good hiking, wildlife watching, and natural drainage.
Getting Into Knowland Park Entry into the western section can be had in two areas, from Golf Links Road on the north, and from Malcolm Avenue on the south. From Golf Links, there are several entrances, but all are narrow trails with no nearby parking, except for a fire road shown on maps as Venetia Road; there's a small space off the road at Venetia. Expect steep climbs from any of these entrances.
Malcolm Ave. can be reached either from 106th at I-580, at its west end, or from Caloden, off Golf Links, at its east end. There are numerous short dead-end streets off the north side of Malcolm, and each has a small parking area and a fire-road gate that can easily be walked around. Streets toward the east are in the highlands, and provide the easiest access; they are Fallbrook, Elvessa, Ettrick, Lochard, and Cameron. Toward the west, the land slopes downhill. Entry into the eastern section is very easy, from Skyline Blvd. about a quarter mile north of the sharp curve where it joins Grass Valley. Look for a large water tank on a knoll belonging to EBMUD. There are parking areas on either side of the knoll, as well as several small spots along Skyline. A fire road runs along the west side of Skyline for the full north-to-south length of the east side of the park, and beyond, to Keller Ave., where there is more parking.
Hiking Trails
The Zoo's Plans The loss of this area of rare beauty would be too great a price to pay for an expanded Zoo. |
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Maps of Knowland Park Maps of Knowland Park are hard to find; the city of Oakland Parks and Recreation Department does not offer any. We understand the Bay Area Orienteering Club has some for sale. However, satellite images and maps can be found at maps.google.com, and some low- resolution topographic maps can be found on the City's geographic information system. We have collected a number of these images, below. |
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Knowland Park and surrounding neighborhoods; |
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JPEG contour map, from City of Oakland resources. |
 JPEG contour photo, from City of Oakland resources. |
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PDF document of (rotated) view of map overlaid with planned expansion. |
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