A lichen-covered oak branch framing the blue water of Lake Del Valle surrounded by golden California summer hills

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Del Valle: Golden Hills, Blue Water

California·June 22, 2025·2 min read

South of Livermore, a 750-acre reservoir wedged between dry summer hills. June is when the grass turns gold and the contrast with the water gets unreasonable.

Del Valle Regional Park sits about ten miles south of Livermore, in the canyon that holds Arroyo del Valle and its dammed reservoir. The lake is narrow — about five miles long and never more than a half mile wide — wedged between two ridges of typical East Bay oak grassland.

By late June the contrast does most of the work. The grass on the hills has dried to a deep gold, the oaks are still dark green, and the water sits between them as an unreasonable blue.

A weathered oak branch covered in yellow and grey lichen frames a view of Lake Del Valle with golden hills — The view through an oak branch on the ridge trail. The lichen is the giveaway that this oak has been standing here for a long time.

A wide view of Lake Del Valle from a hillside, golden hills with scattered oaks on both sides of a long narrow lake — The full view of the lake from the ridge above. The dam is just out of frame to the left.

The park has a real trail network — Ohlone Wilderness Trail starts here and runs east toward Sunol Regional Wilderness. We did a shorter ridge loop above the water, mostly to find the views and not to commit to anything serious in the heat.

A gravel road descending into a wide grassy valley with scattered oaks and a clear blue sky — The fire road back down to the lakeshore. No shade for the entire descent.

A solo oak tree on a dry summer hillside, with more oaks scattered on the slope and a dirt road in the foreground — The view from the trail. Oaks like punctuation on the hillside.

Tips

Get there early. By 11am in summer there is no shade and no breeze.
Bring more water than you think. The park has water at the marina but nothing on the ridge trails.
Swimming, kayaking, fishing. The lake has all three; the marina rents boats and there's a designated swim beach.
Best season is paradoxically when it's hottest. The gold-vs-blue contrast peaks in June through August. April and May are greener but less photogenic.

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