Walking Waterhoods: Temescal Creek — Claremont

Enjoy the flora and fauna on this brief walk through Claremont

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Walking Waterhoods: Temescal Creek — Claremont

Berkeley, California 94703, United States

Created By: Wholly H2O

Tour Information

Claremont was named by real estate developer Duncan Taggert (also spelled Taggart) in 1879. Along this section of the Temescal Creek, you will learn about early developers, the racially-motivated birth of single-family housing ordinances. Enjoy the great variety of flora and fauna found in this neighborhood, where you can walk along the flowing creek as it meanders through peoples front yards along the street.


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What You'll See on the Tour

Look out for the striped skunk along your path. An adaptable watershed resident that does well in human environments, striped skunks eat a variety of plants and animals, but their diet consists mostly of insects. Lawns and landscaped areas... Read more
If you look closely along the creek, you might spot the California slender salamander, the San Francisco Bay Area's most common salamander. They are active on the ground surface from fall to spring then seek out burrows to hibernate in dur... Read more
Here you will find an interpretive sign: Have you ever wondered about the pile of gray rocks set close to the sidewalk at the second curve in the road? Look more closely and you will see that they form a kind of a room or grotto. This garde... Read more
California scrub jays inhabit scrublands, oak woodlands, and backyards. They eat mostly insects and fruits during the summer, and move on to a variety of nuts and seeds in winter. They will bury food throughout their territory and can remem... Read more
It is unfortunate that it is so rare to see Temescal Creek winding through a neighborhood. Much of the creek here has a constructed stream bed, with efforts to constrain the movement of the creek from side to side and reduce erosion. Once a... Read more
Duncan McDuffie built the Claremont subdivison in 1905 using Frederick Law Olmstead's philosophy of urban design for undeveloped land. (His own house was constructed at 156 Tunnel Road, Claremont, Berkeley, CA) His ideas centered around the... Read more
You might be surprised to discover that single-family zoning, a racist practice meant to restrict lower income and BIPOC people from owning property in white neighborhoods, was devised in 1916 in the very town in which you are standing, Ber... Read more
The anise swallowtail butterfly can be found near its favorite food plants in gardens and on hilltops in the upper parts of the Temescal Creek Watershed. Its primary food sources are members of the carrot family, fennels, and some plants in... Read more
The Belladonna lily is mostly cultivated as an ornamental flower but really adds to the brown landscape of late summer in the Bay Area. This flower blooms in August thru September. It can be found in many locations in the hills of Temescal ... Read more
Cow parsnip is a common plant in the Temescal Creek Watershed. Native Americans used to remove the outer skin of cow parsnip and use it as a food source, dermatological aid, straws, and a yellow dye.
This view of Temescal Creek, seen from Brookside Avenue, holds many native plants like California buckeye, cow parsnip, and coast live oak. California Buckeye (Aesculus californica) is a plant native to Oregon and California. The Ohlone Tri... Read more

 

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