Attractions and Places To See around El Sobrante - Top 20

Point Isabel Regional Shoreline Park is a multi-use park for for joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, picnickers, and dog walkers. Spanning 50 acres, this park was formerly a landfill but underwent a clay-capping operation in the 1980s, transforming it into a secure and environmentally safe public space.

Sather Tower is easily one of UC Berkeley's most famous symbols. As the third tallest bell and clock tower in the world, the tower offers incredible views of the bay area.

Sather Gate, the University of California, Berkeley's famous Beaux Arts south portal was donated by Jane K. Sather in memory of her late husband, banker Peder Sather, and completed in 1910. Designed by John Galen Howard in French baroque style, it is topped by a star with the campus motto, Fiat Lux (let there be light). Inlaid in the gate's columns are eight marble bas-relief panels sculpted by Bay Area artist Melvin Earl Cumming that depict male and female nudes representing the eight fields of learning: letters, mining, medicine, law, electricity, agriculture, architecture and art. In 1910, however, the nudes embarrassed many students, which concerned Mrs. Sather, and the panels were promptly taken down. But in 1977, the panels were found, some under the bleachers at Edwards Stadium and others at the Amador Marble Company in Oakland, and reattached to the granite columns. https://www.visitberkeley.com/directory/sather-gate

Sather Tower (funded and ordered shortly before her death by campus benefactor Jane Saher in 1911, completed in 1914), known to most as the Campanile, is perhaps UC Berkeley's most famous symbol. Visible for miles, it stands 307 feet tall and is the third tallest bell and clock-tower in the world. An elevator ride to the observation platform at the 200-foot level provides visitors with a spectacular view of the entire Bay Area and of the campus. Sather Tower, was modeled after the tower that stands in the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. The Campanile houses a 61-bell carillon. There are 38 stairs from the top of the elevator up to the observation platform. https://campanile.berkeley.edu

A must-go for dog owners. Maybe to busy for a leisurely walk without a furry friend.

The bay trail either runs straight along Rydin Road or loops around the water first. Restrooms and drinking water fountains at this dogpark.

Iconic university gate with bronze metal work

Point Isabel Regional Shoreline in Richmond, California, is an award-winning, multi-use park for joggers, windsurfers, kayakers, photographers, picnickers, and people walking dogs. It has easy access for pedestrians and via bike, public transit, and free car parking. A concession offers food for people and grooming for pets. A longtime community organization and nonprofit, Point Isabel Dog Owners and Friends (PIDO), is active in the maintenance and improvement of the park. This 50-acre (200,000 m2) park was incorporated into the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) in 1975. As mitigation for the construction of the large United States Postal Service facility on the shoreline, USPS offered to lease what is now Point Isabel Regional Shoreline free of charge to the EBRPD until 2025. The lease came with the condition of free public access. Originally 23 acres, Point Isabel officially added North Point Isabel (sometimes called Battery Point) in 2002 when McLaughlin Eastshore State Park was created. North Point Isabel is across the narrow Hoffman Channel from Point Isabel and accessed via a short footbridge from the Bay Trail. Both Point Isabel and North Point Isabel, like many parks along the East Bay shoreline, are landfill. For years North Point Isabel was a dumping ground for industrial waste—the "Battery Point" name referred to battery casings—and underwent an intensive cleanup and clay-capping operation in the 1980s, though the toxins lead and zinc continue to be of concern. Park usage has increased exponentially from an estimated 500,000 human visitors in 2000 to more than 1,400,000 last year. The natural promontory of Point Isabel was named for landowner Víctor Castro's daughter Isabel. During the Gold Rush, the Castros operated a ferry from Point Isabel to send supplies from their ranch to San Francisco. www.ebparks.org/parks/pt_isabel https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Isabel_Regional_Shoreline