The Tilden Trinity

The Tilden Trinity

I am so relieved & excited to finally announce the reopening of all of Tilden Park in Berkeley. While Tilden has been open the whole pandemic for folks who want to take a walk through nature, the rest of it has been totally closed down (despite it all being outside). Just recently they have finally reopened the Little Farm, the steam trains, & merry go round or what I call the Tilden Trinity.

The steam trains are open weekends 11am-6pm. You do not need reservations for this, I repeat you do not need reservations for this. Just walk up & buy your tickets. Rides are $3.50 a ticket, or $14 for 5 rides. Tip: the line gets long, so go as soon as they open or towards the end. You should bring layers, it gets nippy up in the trees. Also the line moves faster than it looks like it will, just fyi- don’t be intimidated by it.

The Merry Go Round is open Friday through Sunday 11-5pm. You also do not need to buy tickets in advanced for this, just walk up. Our tickets were 7 for $22, so probably about $3.50 a piece as well. There is a food & ice cream stand where you buy the tickets. Also some benches, grass, & decent bathrooms.

The Little Farm does require that you buy tickets in advance & good luck getting them! Took me like 30 tries, buuut I’ve heard they’ve been releasing more recently. The tickets can be found on the East Bay Regional Parks district page under activities. A select amount of Tickets are released on Tuesday, Thursday, & Sunday at 10 am, so get on & get in the queue. Once you get to actually go visit, make sure to bring several bunches of celery for all your furry friends. The cows eat a lot & the bunches go fast! Other animals on the farm include: bunnies, geese, ducks, chickens, pigs, & sheep. But the 4 cows there remain our favorites! After your visit you can hook a right below the farm & take a hidden bridge path to Jewel Lake (or what’s left of it). The path is fun to walk on though. In the Little Farm parking lot there is a small playground that you can hang at to burn off some extra energy for your kids.

Tilden of course has many wonderful hiking trails but my favorite to take the kids is Lake Anza. Lake Anza is about a 2 minute drive from the merry go round. It has a big parking lot in front of a grassy field, that’s nice to picnic on. Then take the stairs from the grassy area to the Lake. Theres a path that goes the full way around the lake. It’s not the easiest or the smoothest path (watch the footwork) but it is one of the prettiest around! We even got a treat last time & saw some cute ducklings with their mama on the lake. So go enjoy Berkeley hills gem: Tilden Park!