North on Euclid From Marin

Difficulty:  Moderate, many uphill roads

Time: 1 hour

Start at Euclid Ave and Marin Ave.   Head north on Euclid until you reach Rock Walk on the west side of Euclid.  

Rock Walk

Take this downhill to Rock Ln and turn left.   When you get to Cragmont Ave, turn right.  Follow it until you reach Poplar Path on the left (slightly before Poplar St) .  Take it downhill (37 steps plus ramps) to Spruce St.   

Poplar path

Turn right on Spruce and go for a few blocks.

Nice Front Display on Spruce Street

When you reach Acacia Walk just past Alamo Ave on the right, take it uphill (about 60 steps plus long ramp) back to Cragmont and turn left.  

Start of Acacia Walk

Continuation of Acacia Walk

You shortly reach Acacia Steps on the left.  

Acacia Steps

Take this downhill (66 steps plus ramp) back to Spruce and turn right.  Follow Spruce uphill past Grizzly Peak Blvd to Woodmont Ave.  Turn right and take Woodmont about 3 blocks uphill to Rosemont Ave and turn right.  At Creston Rd turn left and go to John Muir Path on the right.  

John Muir Path

Take this to Grizzly Peak Blvd. Cross the street and take Keeler Ave a few blocks to Marin Ave.  Turn right on Marin and go downhill 3 blocks back to the starting point at Euclid.

Updated on 12/30/2021

Upper and Lower Halkin Walk

Difficulty:  Moderate, some long uphill steps and streets

Time: 1 hour

This hike takes you on Lower Halkin Walk, one of the newest paths completed by the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association. 

The hike begins at Marin Ave and Hilldale Ave.  Head north on Hilldale, past Poplar St, until you come to Upper Halkin Walk.  

Upper Halkin Walk

Take this downhill to Euclid Ave.  Cross Euclid and continue downhill on Lower Halkin Walk (145 steps) to Cragmont Ave.

Lower Halkin Walk-Top

Go left a short way to Halkin Ln and take this downhill to Spruce St.  Cross the street and go left a short way to AltaVista Path.  

AltaVista path

Take this downhill to Santa Barbara Rd and turn right.  When you reach the first fork in the road between Santa Barbara and Northampton Ave (no street signs), take the left hand road (Santa Barbara).  When you get to Florida Ave. turn right.  Take this to the end where you come to Florida Walk.  Take this uphill (32 steps plus long ramp) to Michigan Ave.   

Florida Walk

Turn right and take Michigan to Spruce St.  Cross the street and go right on Spruce until you reach Acacia Steps.  

Acacia Steps

Take this uphill (about 90 steps) to Cragmont Ave, cross the street and and turn right.  When you get to Halkin Ln, cross the street and take Lower Halkin Walk uphill  to Euclid Ave.  

Lower Halkin Walk-View From Bottom

Cross Euclid and continue uphill on Upper Halkin Walk to Hilldale.  Turn right and go to the starting point at Marin Ave. 

Updated on 6/16/2026

Ye Olde School Path

Difficulty:  Easy to Hard based on which route option taken

Time: ½ hour to 2 hours based on route option

 

There are 3 hikes in this post, varying on where you start and where you end.  The LONG HIKE takes about 2 hours, The MEDIUM HIKE about 1 1/4 hours and the SHORT HIKE aboutn 1/2 hour.  I indicate starting and ending points for each of the 3 hikes.

For the LONG HIKE, start at Marin Ave and Hilldale Ave, heading north on Hilldale.  When you get to Grizzly Peak Blvd, turn left and head to the Summit Reservoir at the junction of Spruce and Grizzly.  For the MEDIUM HIKE and SHORT HIKE, you can start Spruce and Grizzly.  

Summit Reservoir

Continue north on Grizzly past the reservoir until you come to the end at Kenyon Ave.  This is the start of Ye Olde School Path.  Follow this scenic dirt path, with views of Tilden Park on your right, until it merges with Ye Olde School Trail.  Continue on the path until you reach Kensington Hilltop Elementary School.  NOTE:  For the SHORT HIKE, just go back on the path to the starting point at Spruce and Grizzly.   

Start of Ye Olde School Path

Tilden Park

Go left along the chain link fence at the edge of the school to the front at Highland Blvd.  Take Highland to Kenyon Ave and take Kenyon to Westminster Ave.  Turn right on Westminster and left on St. Albans Rd.  At the end of St Albans on the left side of the road take Public Path 6.  Take this unmarked dirt path back to Kenyon Ave.  

Public path 6

Turn right on Kenyon and right when you reach Wellesley Ave.  Turn left at Cambridge Ave and go to end of the block at Beloit Ave where you reach unmarked Public Path 9 (renamed to Beloit Path) on the right (west) side of the road.  

Public Path 9

Take this downhill (about 80 steps) to Stanford Ave and turn left.  At Yale Ave turn left and at Vassar Ave turn right.  Vassar is a long hilly up and down street.  Take it to the end at Spruce St. NOTE: For the MEDIUM HIKE you just turn left on Spruce and walk back to the starting point at Grizzly Peak.  For the LONG HIKE, continue below.

Turn right on Spruce and go around Dorothy Bolte Park until you get to Acacia Steps on the left (east) side of Spruce.  

Acacia Steps

Take this uphill (about 85 steps) to Cragmont Ave and turn right.  In a short distance you get to Acacia Walk.  

Acacia Walk

Take this downhill (about 35 steps plus dirt path) back to Spruce and turn left.  Shortly after passing Halkin Ln, you get to Altavista Path on the right (west) side of the street.  

Altavista Path

Altavista Path

This has a special meaning to me since I used to work at Alta Vista, one of the original search engines before Google and Bing.  Take Alta Vista Path downhill (95 steps) to Santa Barbara Rd and turn left.  At Montrose turn left, taking you back to Spruce.  Turn right at Spruce and at Regal Rd turn left, taking you to Cragmont.  Turn left on Cragmont and then right on Rock Ln.  When you come to Rock Walk on the right, take it uphill (30 steps) to Euclid Ave. 

Rock Walk

Turn left on Euclid and turn right on Poplar St.  When it ends at Hilldale turn right.  Take Hilldale back to the starting point at Marin.

Down Marin From Hilldale

Difficulty:  Hard, many up and down paths and roads

Time: 1 ¼ hours

Starting at Hilldale Ave and Euclid Ave, head downhill on Marin, past Spruce St,  until you come to Santa Barbara Rd.   Turn right, make an immediate left onto Indian Rock Ave and take this to San Luis Rd.  Turn right and go several  blocks and you will see Upton Lane on the left.  

Upton Lane

Take it downhill (40 steps) to San Diego Rd.   Turn right and follow San Diego Rd to Southampton Ave and turn right.  Follow Southampton, passing Turnbridge Lane on the left until you get to Chester Lane on the left.  

Chester Lane

Take this uphill (ramp) to San Luis Rd and turn left.  Continue for about 400 yards until you get to Santa Barbara Path on the right.  

Santa Barbara Path

Take it uphill (17 steps plus ramps) to Santa Barbara Rd and turn left.   Follow Santa Barbara Rd to The Arlington and turn right.  Go a short way before you come to Boynton Walk on the right.  

Boynton Walk

Take it uphill (35 steps) to Boynton Ave .  Cross to the east side of the street and go left until you see Maryland Walk on the right.  

Maryland Walk

Take it uphill (about 70 steps) to Vermont Ave.  Turn right and in a few yards make a left onto Maryland Ave.  Follow Maryland past Michigan Ave until you reach Kentucky Ave.  Make a right, go a short way and then take Holmes Path on the left uphill (12 steps) to Vassar Ave. 

Holmes Path

Turn right on Vassar and take it to Spruce St.  Cross to the east side of Spruce and go right a short way, past Dorthy M Bolte Park to Acacia Steps.  

Dorothy M Bolte Park

Acacia Steps

Take it  uphill (90 steps) to Cragmont Ave.  Turn left on Cragmont and go about 150 yards and come to North Path on the right.  

North Path

Take this uphill (70 steps) to Euclid Ave.  Cross the street and head right for about 350 to 400 yards until you come to Upper Halkin Walk.

Upper Halkin Walk

Upper Halkin  Walk

Take it uphill (about 165 steps) to Hilldale Ave.  Turn right and got to the starting point at Marin Ave.