Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
273
Berkeley Marina (east of the A dventure playground).
&
510/981-6720.
www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/marina/
marinaexp/naturecenter.html.
Sat 9am-5pm; Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, unless classes ar e in session, in which
case it opens at 1pm. F ree admission.
To get there:
By car: Take I-80 to Powell St. Make a left under the
freeway and a right onto Frontage Rd. Follow Frontage Rd. to University Ave. Take a left onto University
and follow the signs for the marina.
Tilden Park
All ages.
This 2,077-acre woodland park, which opened in the Berkeley
hills in 1936, is home to numer ous hiking and horseback riding trails, sev eral picnic
areas, and fields for playing F risbee or just r unning around. For those needing mental
stimulation, the
Environmental Education Center,
open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am
to 5pm,
has a man-made canyon cavern that shows various species of wildlife that can be
found around the par k. Microscopes are available for getting a close-up look at the life
within the park's lakes and ponds.
Just beyond the education center is the
Little Farm,
open daily from 8:30am to 4pm,
where kids can pet sheep , donkeys, cows, and other animals. Tilden Park is famous for
the
Steam Train,
a scaled-down version of a real steam train that travels around the edge
of the park through a miniature town, over bridges, and through tunnels (
&
510/548-
6100;
www.redwoodvalleyrailway.com; open 11am-6pm daily in summer and weekends
and holidays during the school y ear, except Thanksgiving and Christmas; rides $2 each
or 5 for $8, kids under 2 free). The
Herschell-Spillman Merry-Go-Round
is an antique
carousel with featur es like hand-car ved wooden fr ogs, lions, and giraffes (
&
510/524-
6773;
open 11am-5pm daily in summer and w eekends and holidays during the school
year; rides $2 per person, regardless of age). The carousel closes for the month of Novem-
ber until the day after Thanksgiving, when it r eopens nightly fr om 5:30 to 8:30pm
through December 23. Families visiting in the warm w eather months can spend the after-
noon swimming and sunning at
Lake Anza,
right in the center of the par k. You can park
nearby or hike to the lake ar ea, where the facilities include changing r ooms, showers, and,
in the summer, lifeguards. There is a small snack bar open during the summer as w ell.
Another interesting area is
Jewel Lake,
a marshy w etland with lots of animals and
birds, including ducks, squirr els, and tur tles. Watch out for the poison oak. I f you are
around after a rain, y ou might see some California ne wts. Jewel Lake is not open for
swimming.
For families inter ested in learning mor e about California's flowers and plant life, the
Regional Parks Botanic Garden
in Tilden Park is a lo vely place to explor e (visit www.
nativeplants.org for mor e information). I t's open daily fr om 8:30am to 5pm, ex cept
major holidays.
&
510/562-7275.
www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden. Daily 5am-10pm.
To get there:
By car: Take I-80 t o
the Buchanan St. exit. Go east and stay to the right; Buchanan turns into Marin Ave. Follow Marin to Griz-
zly Peak Blvd. and make a left. Turn right on Wildcat Canyon Rd., then left on Canon Dr. into the park.
11
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT BERKELEY (UCB)
The attractive campus tucked into the woodsy B erkeley hillside has produced 20 Nobel
Prize winners and continues to be one of the finest institutions of higher learning in the
United States. Its
Visitor Information Center
(
&
510/642-5215;
www.berkeley.edu/
visitors) is located at 101 U niversity Hall, 220 U niversity Ave., at Oxfor d Street. Free
campus tours are available at 10am Monday through Saturday, departing from the center,
and at 1pm on S undays, departing from Sather Tower. Perhaps the best r eason to visit
the campus with kids is the Lawr ence Hall of Science (see below).
