Sycamore Valley Open Space Regional Preserve

Sycamore Valley Open Space Regional Preserve covers two ridges in the rolling hills south of Mount Diablo near Danville, at elevations from about 600 to 1,000 feet. The southern Sherburne Hills unit, acquired in 1989, is almost all grassland, while the northern Short Ridge unit, assembled in 1998, mixes grassland with oak savanna of valley oak, coast live oak, and buckeye. Its mature woodlands shelter nesting red-tailed hawks and great horned owls, wild turkeys, quail, and gray foxes, and western bluebirds, lazuli buntings, and loggerhead shrikes use the open slopes. Seasonal creeks and ponds draining to Sycamore Creek support Pacific tree frogs and red-legged frogs.

The Bay Miwok Tatcan people lived in the valley when a Spanish expedition passed through in 1772 and considered it for a mission. The San Ramon Valley later became grazing land and then farmland; starting in 1862, five generations of the Wood family farmed most of what is now the preserve, before the surrounding valley turned to housing and the ridges were set aside as open space.

The trails are steep and generally not suitable for wheelchairs. The staging area is on Holbrook Drive off Camino Tassajara (from I-680, exit at Sycamore Valley Road and head east). The nearby Sycamore Valley Park lot on Sherburne Hills Road has accessible restrooms, drinking fountains, and parking.