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Description
Located in Tilden Regional Park, Vollmer Peak is part of a large swathe of protected park land that stretches along the East Bay hills. This birding place offers a wide variety of bird species, as well as stunning views from the roughly 1,900 foot peak, of the San Francisco and San Pablo bays, iconic bridges, Mount Diablo, San Pablo and Briones reservoirs, and more. On a few occasions, Vollmer Peak has received snowfall, which is very rare in the Bay Area.
Beginning in the mixed conifer forest and coastal scrub habitat near the Tilden Steam Trains, the main trail climbs through a mix of habitats to the peak, where an array of communications towers are placed. A network of trails offer various routes to the peak and connect to miles of trails to the North and South. While it takes some climbing to get to the top, the paved Seaview Trail ascends relatively gradually.
During migration, migrating birds are drawn to the forested peak, and can also be seen passing by, while in Winter, Vollmer Peak attracts flocks of irrupting finches like Pine Siskins with small numbers of Red Crossbills, which can be detected in irruption years if you're lucky and listening for their calls. This is a good place to see White-throated Swifts and if you're lucky in September / October, migrating Vaux's Swifts can sometimes be seen winging swiftly by. In the right season, certain montane and forest birds like Golden-crowned Kinglet, Hermit Warbler and Pacific Wren that are uncommon or sparsely distributed elsewhere, can sometimes be seen here more easily. During the Summer, Olive-sided Flycatcher, Western Wood-Pewee, Orange-crowned Warbler and Wilson's Warbler all breed here. Vollmer peak is a good raptor viewing area - with Golden Eagles occasionally making an appearance, and water birds like cormorants and others sometimes pass by in transit between the bay and lakes further inland. The rule about Vollmer Peak during migration is that you never know what might show up!
Vollmer Peak is notable especially for rare or infrequently seen birds that have shown up here (montane and interior species in particular, as well as vagrants) , including: Common Poorwill, Ferruginous Hawk, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Lewis's Woodpecker, Prairie Falcon, Hammond's Flycatcher, Clark's Nutcracker, Rock Wren, Townsend's Solitaire, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finch, Cassin's Finch, Lawrence's Goldfinch, Green-tailed Towhee and Hooded Warbler.
Details
Access
Accessible by car, from 2 parking lots near the Tilden Steam Trains (which has it's own separate parking). Driving to Vollmer Peak takes 15-20 minutes from Highway 80 at Ashby Ave in Berkeley or 6 minutes from Highway 24 at Fish Ranch Rd in Orinda. There are 2 parking areas, one upper unpaved lot, and a lower lot that serves as overflow when the area is busy. Note: this can be a very busy area on weekends, with the parking lots sometimes filling up from hikers, dog walkers, picnickers and visitors to the neighboring steam trains. If the upper dirt lot is full, look for parking along the lower parking area (near the East Bay Regional Park District Fire Department Station).
Important: do not leave valuables, purses or backpacks visible through car windows when parking here.