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Photo: Mx. Granger, CC0 via Wikimedia Commons
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.
Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area is a regional park on the border of Pleasanton and Livermore, California, that is part of the East Bay Regional Parks (EBRP) system. Its lake, once a gravel pit, has a sandy beach and is used for swimming, fishing, and recreational boating. The park once featured water slides, which were closed in 2011 and have since been taken down, and are planned to be replaced by an Interpretive Center. The park is also a popular picnic ground.
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Kottinger's Barn, built in 1852, was once a jail that bandits frequently "visited". The building's thick walls and barred windows are an interesting contrast to the small shop and potted plants which now exist at the location.
There is a statue in this small park at the northern end of downtown. A path goes to the Arroyo del Valle creek that runs alongside the park.
Along with the historic buildings in commercial district of downtown Pleasanton, there are several blocks of well-maintained older homes which are accessible along Neal Street to the south of downtown. Particularly around Lighthouse Baptist Church, there are several homes dating back to the 1800s. Many of these buildings have nice gardens, along avenues of tall trees. The area has a lot of steep hills, similar to that of San Francisco, so walking around the area could be strenuous to some.
Before being rerouted to the northwest of downtown Pleasanton, the railroad used to run right through the downtown area. You can still see the railroad crossing signs on West Angela Street, for example, in the Farmer's Market. Some of the railroad tracks are still visible near the Firehouse Theater, and a longer section of abandoned railroad can be seen along Sunol Boulevard to the south of downtown Pleasanton.
Opened in 2010, the Firehouse Arts Center is the City of Pleasanton's historic 1929 Fire House One renovated and expanded into an arts center featuring the 230-seat Firehouse Theater, Harrington Gallery of fine arts, two large arts classrooms, and a grand lobby for receptions and events. The transformed facility also offers a pedestrian connection from Main Street to the expanded Lions Wayside Park.