Trail user with wheelchair on wheelchair-friendly trail

ADA Accessibility

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Many Regional Parks have barrier-free parking spaces, picnic areas, restrooms, drinking fountains, trails, and visitor centers. Roberts Regional Recreation Area has a barrier-free, wheelchair-accessible children's play area. The District works continuously to develop accessible facilities within its parks as part of its policy of responding to the outdoor recreation needs of everyone living in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Please refer to our Public Transit page for numerous resources in assisting you in your travels to the Regional Parks.

More resources:

Camping

Our Family and Group campgrounds offer ADA Accessible campsites. Many have tent or RV hook-up sites and may include tables, drinking fountains, and bathrooms.  For more info, visit our camping page.

Trail Access

Beach, Pool Access

Beach wheelchairs are available at the following swimming lakes and beaches:

Beach wheelchairs, intended to provide a means for wheelchair users to travel across the beach, are available for free on a first-come, first-serve basis. They are not intended to enter the water. To reserve a chair, call the park office prior to visiting. A staff member will bring the chair out to the beach. It takes approximately 15 minutes to prepare the chair. Staff will give a brief orientation of the chair's use and arrange a time for the chair to be returned.  

Pool Access

The following swim facilities are accessible to swimmers with disabilities:

Each facility has an accessible pool lift, restrooms, changing rooms, and drinking fountains. Visit Park page for more info about other accessible facilities.

Playground Access

Roberts Regional Recreation Area in the Oakland hills is home to the only specially designed barrier-free playground in the Bay Area and one of the largest playgrounds of its kind in the state.

Fishing Pier & Dock Access

In 2006, Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area in Fremont unveiled a new $1.5 million accessible fishing pier. The pier juts far into Horseshoe Lake, one of Quarry's three lakes, to provide superb fishing opportunities or just an opportunity to get out onto the water. The fishing lakes are regularly stocked with rainbow trout and channel catfish.

Temescal Regional Recreation Area includes a wheelchair-accessible fishing dock and picnic table - located on East Shore Trail. Learn more about the ADA Fishing Dock at Temescal and the Lee family who raised major funds for its construction.

Recreation Programs

Many of the Park District's recreation programs are accessible. Every two months, the District's activity guide Regional in Nature lists dozens of programs ranging from outdoor photography, introduction to fishing, nature study programs, children's summer day camps, and much more. A PDF version of the guide can be downloaded online by visiting the Activity Program Guide webpage or can be requested via mail by calling 1-888-EBPARKS or 1-888-327-2757 (press option 5, then 2, then 1). When registering for a program, be sure to indicate any special need requirements.

Parks Express: Low-Cost Transportation

Parks Express is a program that provides low-cost transportation for low-income schools and groups -- serving children from low-income families, seniors, or people with disabilities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties -- to come to the Regional Parks. For more info, call Parks Express at (510) 544-2205.

If you would like to coordinate a Naturalist Educational Program, contact the Visitor Center directly for more information on programs offered, application procedures, and deadlines. See a list of our Visitor Centers. 

For accessible public transportation to the parks, visit the 511.org public transit website or call 511 for the most current transit information. (TDD (hearing impaired line)/TTY: 800-448-9790; ParaTransit: (510) 287-5000)

Telephone Access

For persons with hearing impairment, please use the Telecommunications Relay Service at 711.

Use of Other Power-driven Mobility Devices

The Park District is pleased to increase recreational opportunities for people with mobility disabilities by allowing the use of other power-driven mobility devices ("OPDMD") in areas where they can be operated safely, without posing risk of serious harm to natural and cultural resources, and in conformity with federal land management laws and regulations.

In order to ensure that OPDMD operation does not pose significant safety risks nor fundamentally alter the nature of services, programs, and activities provided by the Park District, all OPDMDs operated in regional parklands must meet the standards below.

This policy applies only to OPDMD (non-wheelchair) usage. In accordance with federal law, wheelchairs and manually-powered mobility aids, such as walkers, crutches, canes, braces, and other similar devices are permitted anywhere in the Park District where pedestrian travel is allowed.

Website Accessibility 

East Bay Regional Park District is committed to ensuring digital accessibility for people with disabilities. We continue to make changes to improve the user experience for everyone and apply the relevant accessibility standards.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA.

Wherever possible, East Bay Regional Park District will aim to adhere to level AA of the WCAG 2.1 guidelines, which states that sites should be:

  • Perceivable - Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive.
  • Operable - User interface components and navigation must be operable.
  • Understandable - Information and the operation of user interface must be understandable.
  • Robust - Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies.

We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of the East Bay Regional Park District website. If you have experienced any accessibility barriers while using any part of ebparks.org, please let us know:

E-mail: webmaster@ebparks.org

Web Accessibility Resources

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