Going subterranean

Near this location, the South Fork of Strawberry Creek takes its first major trip below ground. At this elevation, the creek is forced through two pipes that shunt the water under the Strawberry Canyon Pool, the rugby field, and Memorial Stadium. Small reservoirs were once constructed here to hold water for the growing Berkeley campus, and long before that, the Huichin band of the Ohlone established seasonal camps along the length of the creek, from the headwaters to the permanent residences on the shore of San Francisco Bay. The Huichin people gathered mollusks, berries, and acorns, and they fished for salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss). As you descend to the bottom of Strawberry Canyon—or Strawberry Valley, as it is called on the old maps—reflect on the changes that this landscape has endured.