Inspiration Point

Inspiration Point is gorgeous, and just right for a speedy bike ride up Spruce and into the lovely tree-​shrouded roads.
Parking gets crowded around lunch, so plan either to park on the road or get there early. Lots of cyclists stop here to take in a quick view or water, and families drop in for a picnic lunch on the benches overlooking the scenery.
The good: beautiful scenery.
The bad: the beautiful view is being eaten up by the beautiful foliage. We can’t have it all.

Love this place! I come here a couple of times a year to go for a long run to clear my head. Awesome on a clear day or a foggy gray day. Not easy to get to the main staging area by car. But not the trails fault.

Love this for a nice hard bike ride. Used to ride every Tuesday an Fridays, and got better each ride. The long hill on the end of the ride to the bench is really a test.

Awesome place for a bike ride! There’s ample parking in the parking lot, and we biked for about 1.5 hours. Almost all of the road is paved which is nice for road bikes. Beautiful views all around during the hilly ride of surrounding towns and mountains and we passed by several cows munching on grass. We offroaded a bit down a bumpy dirt road after opening a gate (I don’t think it was restricted area??) for a few minutes which was quite an adventure. It wasn’t too crowded on a Saturday morning so it was a pretty peaceful and pleasant bike ride!

Truly an inspiration. The vast scene of hills and mountains is an amazing sight. Many people drive up to hike the many trails Tilden provides. However the drive from Shattuck to Inspiration point is quite scary so be careful. It’s literally a gigantic mountain which you’d have to slowly gas your way up on.
The area is a great for walking dogs!

Sometimes I take a roll of the dice and pick a park and a trail to amble around for an afternoon. Super glad I did the Nimitz Trail at Tilden Regional Park. Good God, one of the East Bay’s most AMAZING features are all the freaking parks and trails here. When I leave I am seriously going to be missing it so, so much. All the more reason to come back…
Again, if one wants solitude (which is what I was definitely seeking), you gotta come here during the week. This trail isn’t super hilly — a nice, mega gradual rolling climb — mostly flat. Wonderful.

Great place to visit! Great view of hills and the reservoirs. Walking and biking trails are nice. Parking available. Should also check out Lake Anza in that area.

Inspiration Point is one of the more popular (crowded) attraction here in Tilden Park. Weekends it can be difficult to find parking in the lot and there will be many cars just parked all along the small shoulders of Wildcat Canyon Rd. But the hassle is worth it. Either that or try to come early or later in the afternoon past 4pm. This is a trailhead for several trails. One is across the street and is a dirt trail, but what most seem to come for is the paved Nimitz trail that leaves the parking area. There are picnic tables in the center grassy area of the parking lot, but most just seem to use there as a resting stop after returning from a hike. There are more scenic table locations in the park other than in the middle of a parking lot. The other use for Inspiration Point, is at night, when it turns in to a parking spot for make out sessions, steaming windows and all. Sometimes you find remnants of these activities on the ground!
The Nimitz Way Trail is a super nice 4.1 mile paved trail open to hikers and bicycles, no horses … uuh for obvious reasons. The start of the trail has restroom facilities, not the best smelling, but will do if you really need. The trail has mile markers, so you know how far you’ve traveled from the parking area and can figure how much you have to go to get back. The pavement is pretty good most of the way. I like doing this trail on roller blades, but you better know how to skate well, because there are downhill stretches as well as up hill and you’ll be sharing the trail with the hikers and doggies. Doggies are suppose to be on leash, but you know how that goes a lot of the time. The trail is pretty crowded with walkers and doggies for the first 2 miles. It gets less and less crowded as you go further out since the walkers rarely do over 4 miles. To the end and back is 8.2 miles, so not too many walkers out there, just bike riders. You will come across the old Nike Missile sites (launching pads) from the old days when we needed to protect the Bay from invaders. Glad we don’t have live missiles in the Berkeley Hills anymore! This trail can be quite windy, but usually not too hot. A dirt trail descends from Inspiration Point down the canyon, if you want to avoid the pavement. Check it out, just be ready for crowds on weekends.

Inspiration Point is a lookout point at Tilden Regional Park that also has a parking lot and serves as a staging area for the park’s most popular trail, Nimitz Way. The point is located on the eastern edge of the park, which is northeast of San Francisco and Oakland, in northeast Berkeley close to Orinda. This is a great place to stop and take in the beautiful, panoramic views of the rolling East Bay hills and Mount Diablo to the east.
Entry to Tilden Regional Park is free and there is no cost to park at Inspiration Point. There are about 40 parking spaces available.
Inspiration Point itself has a small lookout platform with informational placards and a few benches. It’s nice — ideal for pictures and for stopping to relax and enjoy the scenery. The parking lot surrounds a woodsy area with a handful of picnic tables. The access point for Nimitz Way also has a tiny picnic area as well as men’s and women’s restrooms.
Nimitz Way is a wide, paved, four-​mile-​long walking/​hiking trail that starts at Inspiration Point and goes north, along the ridge line, through Wildcat Canyon Regional Park, and ends at El Sobrante. The trail has excellent views of the Bay Area both east and west of the hills. Facing westward, you can see San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Nimitz Way is very easy to walk and is bicycle and stroller-​friendly. It’s excellent for beginners because the inclines are relatively shallow.
Inspiration Point has access to another, more adventurous and less traveled trailed: Inspiration Trail. This trail is not paved. Only hikers and horses are allowed on this trail. Bikers are not allowed. This trail sort of parallels Nimitz Way for over a half-​mile before meeting back up again with Nimitz Way. After that point, the two trails permanently diverge: Nimitz to the north and Inspiration to the east.
Whether you’re planning a multi-​hour hike or a quick visit through, Inspiration Point is a terrific stop.

Always a challenging course whether you are a runner, walker or hiker. No shade nor water station so come prepared.

Lovely views right from the parking lot. The Nimitz trail is well paved and stroller as well as road bike friendly. The trail offers views of Mt Diablo on one side and Golden Gate Bridge on the other side.

Super easy hike and well kept area. I got here early around 9 AM on a Saturday morning. There were plenty of parking spots and we only ran into a couple people on the trail up to the point. The trail is very well kept and there are plenty of signs throughout. There are so many trails I stuck to the one to get us to the 360 view at top. The incline was not bad and I would consider this more of a walk than a hike. Once at top I could see how the fog could really ruin this view. We were lucky and could see pretty far into the city. There was still plenty of fog that we couldn’t see the entire city but it was still beautiful. The lake views are also nice. On the way back down there were a ton more people. Large groups and families were on their way up the trail. Once in the parking lot I quickly saw what other reviewers were talking about the place was full. This was probably around 11AM.
I will definitely come back here and try some of the other trails!

Ahh. Good old Inspiration Point. I half expected that I would discover the meaning of life or be inspired to change the course of my life when I reached it, but alas that did not happen. Still this is a great area to relax and enjoy the sight that echoes out in front of you.
It was pretty dry and windy when I went, but I can only imagine how beautiful the sights would to behold in the spring when everything is green and lush and full of animals fighting for food to prepare for the upcoming Winter.
Overall, a nice visit, but I just wasn’t knocked off my horse with inspiration like I planned. Maybe next time.

I will never get enough of the view from Inspiration Point. There is a great network of trails that start here from easy, short out-​and-​backs to longer more strenous loops. One favorite is the 6.3 mile loop from Inspiration Point to Meadows Canyon Trail to Wildcat Creek Trail. The hike takes about 3 hours with about 1,000 feet of elevation. You can find the details on Bay Area Hiker:

The point itself is not very inspiring. The view isn’t the best.
The hike was relatively easy and great for kids. Woodsy. Dry trails. There is also a bathroom at the entrance (very stinky as it’s basically a hole in the ground).
It was a nice relaxing hike where we got to commune with nature in the crisp Bay air. Sure, check it out once! I’m not sure I’d do this hike again though — it just wasn’t very inspiring. Ready to check out other hikes on my next trip back up to the Bay!

Just to clarify-​Inspiration Point is the parking area and scenic look-​out that marks an entrance to the paved Nimitz Trail. Because I usually start some Tilden Area hikes from this lot but haven’t written any Tilden reviews, yet, I figured I’d start here.
Inspiration Point itself is pretty easy to get to if you’re coming from east of the Caldecott. Simply take 24 East, exit at Orinda and bear right towards San Pablo Dam Rd. After about 2 miles if you make a right, you can head towards one of the Briones staging areas and then if you turn left on to Wildcat Canyon Road, you’ll head towards Inspiration Point.
The parking area tends to fill up quickly but on a Saturday late afternoon, around 4, there were plentiful spots.
Once on the paved Nimitz trail glorious views abound of the San Pablo area resevoir, Mt. Diablo and then the bay itself, all the way to the Golden Gate and Marin, weather pending. I’ve done this walk many times, sometimes veering off down to the left in to the Tilden Nature Area, but being I was solo and it was later in the day, my most recent walk kept me on the paved path.
There are regular mile markers, every ¼ of a mile, for those of you keeping track and the trail varies in sun and shade, so plan accordingly. There are stretches of wide open sunny spaces then you’ll go around the bend and it will be shady and windy.
Because I was flying solo on my most recent walk (notice I don’t say «hike») I kept to the main path until around 1.75 miles and then turned left toward the Peace Grove and up on the short trail that takes you to Wildcat Peak. Once on the peak there are wonderful 360 degree views of the bay, Briones and Mt. Diablo. I even caught the bucolic site of cows off in the distance looking down towards the San Pablo Resevoir.
I decided to go back the way I came and felt rather safe doing that walk alone, especially as it crept close to 6 – 6:30. If it were earlier in the day, or I had company, I might have continued on the Nimitz trail which eventually takes you to Wildcat Canyon through cattle gates. Another option is to actually hike down in to the Tilden Nature Area, link up to the Visitor’s Center and then head back up. I’ve done both in the past and look forward to it again.
All in all, 5 stars for nature, friendly folks on the trail and good opportunity for bird watching if that’s your thing too!
The Unilocal 100 Challenge

While it is an interesting hike up … Inspiration Point to me. wasn’t very inspiring! I guess all future hikers should know that inspiration pt is actually at the parking lot that you can reach via the Curran Trail BEFORE the nice paved path that is Nimitz Way (which will be on the left, if you’re facing the view of Inspiration Point).
Also, there are multiple trails leading up to that parking lot. The Curran trail I believe is the quickest one (0.67 miles — ish?). The starting point is close to the merry-​go-​round.
HOWEVER — you should continue along Nimitz Way and eventually take a left somewhere (look at a map), and find yourself at Wildcat peak, because THAT place has great views. Before the peak, there are nice fields where you can sit and have lunch too while looking at the bay. Now THAT was an inspiring moment of my hike.

On a clear day, this is a great place to take a hike. The drive over the first time might get a bit confusing without a gps or smartphone.
There is a parking lot that fits a good amount of cars and it’s free. The hike itself is great, the majority of the path is paved so it’s easy and you aren’t scared of weird things of nature biting at your feet or jumping out of the bushes. It’s pretty easy to miss the turn off when you go up to inspiration point so make sure to read the signs. Once to make the turn to the left, there is a dirt walking path that takes you up to inspiration point. It gets pretty steep (nice workout), but doesn’t last that long… and the end is totally worth the workout.
On a clear day, you can see the golden gate bridge, Mount Tam, and the city. Do this and you won’t regret it!

Inspiration Point certainly isn’t bashful when it comes to boasting about its potential to inspire. With views of Mt. Tam, San Francisco, and Mt. Diablo, the vista point is certainly one which inspires me to get moving.
On a sunny day, the paved trail leading to the point can feel like a highway of sorts, with runners, cyclists, and pooches zooming by. The off in the woods effect is diminished, but is replaced by a collective of sorts, of all walks of life. There is no shortage of dogs with ear to ear grins, trotting along with newly discovered sticks.
The point itself is a easy destination to get to, a reasonable climb off the otherwise flat trail. It clearly inspires many visitors, judging by how many people were there during my last visit with dog in tow. If you think that the vista from Grizzly Peak is impressive, you must check out Inspiration Point.

Love this trail — for walking/​running, hiking, dogwalking, or bicycling (long 10mi+ paved pathway good even for road bikes… mountain bike not required).
Best part are the views of the Contra Costa valley and of the Golden Gate Bridge and East Bay Area. Pretty easy drive to get here through Tilden Park… just be careful of the road cyclists.