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Photo: Dicklyon, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
This park is closer to Livermore than Pleasanton but is still well under an hour's drive from anywhere in either city. At the center of this EBRPD park is Lake Del Valle, but there are several beautiful rock formations in the park as well. There are scores of miles of trails in the park that go through the hills and mountains surrounding Lake Del Valle, and the park works as a gateway to the Ohlone Trail, which leads in the direction of one of the Bay Area's most popular climbs, Mission Peak.
Del Valle Regional Park is a part of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) in an unincorporated region of Alameda County, California, 10 miles (16 km) south of the city of Livermore. The park covers 4,316 acres.
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Another first-class country club, this time in the wine country in eastern Pleasanton. It is in a gated community.
Callippe Golf Course
Callippe Preserve is known to most Pleasantonians as a golf course; however, there is a nearly 4-mile (6-km) trail around the golf course and local ranching areas. The trail can get muddy in winter, though, and is not easy to find. But it does give those from outside of Pleasanton an idea of the local flora and countryside in general.
A golf course, restaurant, and hiking destination in the south of Pleasanton. In the Happy Valley region, the countryside is beautiful. You can also hike in the region.
The park was once part of the quarry, but the excavated land is now Shadow Cliffs Lake. It includes a couple miles of trails around the lake and a popular lakeside beach. However, be prepared for the strong barbecue odors encountered around the grills near the lake.
This large wilderness area is a popular, fairly easy-to-reach park south of Pleasanton. Several trails lead from the park's trailheads into the mountain ranges around the park. There is a Sunol Regional Wilderness visitor center near Geary Road. Sunol Wilderness is connected to Del Valle Regional Park and Mission Peak via the Ohlone Regional Wilderness Trail.
This regional park features the mountainous ranching country of the Diablo Range in California. The park has miles of rugged country, including oak forests and grasslands. The highest ridges are about 2,100 feet (640 m); most of the ridges are at least 1,000 feet (300 m).