Above: At El Cerrito Plaza, volunteers added plants, built trails, installed furniture, and more. Below: Albany's and El Cerrito's Creekside Parks. F5C volunteers have transformed a tangle of weeds into a welcoming urban oasis.

View larger map What Lives on Albany Hill and Cerrito Creek? Share your photos and observations! Historic maps of Cerrito Creek History of Cerrito Creek and Albany Hill List of native plants along Cerrito Creek, Talbot to Kains Wikipedia article on Cerrito Creek Scroll down for two slide shows, two minutes each

Cerrito Creek

Friends of Five Creeks has worked along lower Cerrito Creek since the group was founded in 1996. Our aims are:

• A well-maintained, unpolluted creek in a natural corridor that welcomes people and wildlife.
• Revitalization of the regionally important natural area of creek and adjacent Albany Hill.
• A creekside pedestrian-bicycle greenway from the Ohlone Greenway (trail on the BART right of way) to the Bay Trail. At our urging, the cities of Albany and El Cerrito adopted a plan that is becoming reality, segment by segment.
• Long-term, freeing the remaining segments of the creek below San Pablo from burial in pipes. El Cerrito's General Plan and zoning call for this.
• Measures to deal with how sea-level rise and increased storms will affect the creek and neighboring areas, particularly the low-lying filled tidal marsh north of Albany Hill, a FEMA flood-hazard zone. Information and ideas here.

• At the short stretch of aboveground creek at the Ohlone Greenway, in 2000 we removed blackberries and ivy that were choking the short stretch of aboveground creek, planted natives, and installed seating rocks. As part of building apartments in the southeast corner of the El Cerrito Plaza parking lot, more of the creek was freed from a pipe and planted with natives in 2017-18. The apartment project now maintains the reach down to Evelyn. 
• Between Talbot and Kains Streets, the creek was a largely a degraded ditch edged by parking. Friends of Five Creeks advocated for restoration as part of remodeling of adjacent El Cerrito Plaza. In 2003-4, a state grant paid for moving the parking lot away from the creek, excavating a new channel with adjacent trail, and planting natives. Friends of Five Creeks contributed amenities such as signs and litter cans, built trails, and did fill-in planting and maintenance until the City of El Cerrito gradually took over, in 2017-18. With maintenance needs greatly reduced, our volunteers work here only occasionally.
• West of San Pablo Avenue downstream to Pierce Street, almost a half mile of creek was mostly choked by flood-causing blackberries and other invasives. In 2001, when Friends of Five Creeks volunteers began replacing them with varied natives. Thousands of volunteers and hundreds of work parties did this hard work over 17 years. We also built the trail along Pacific East Mall, removed blackberries and cape ivy choking the historic willow grove near Middle Creek, pulled tall weeds that had taken over the grassy meadows on lower Albany Hill, fixed eroded trails on Albany Hill, and rebuilt safety fences. We donated signs, a table, and benches, and worked with the City of El Cerrito to create a safe, popular creekside trail. With maintenance much easier, the cities of Albany and El Cerrito now take most of the responsibility. We continue to volunteer, lead walks, install temporary signs and displays, and do citizen science

See two slide shows -- two minutes each: