Joaquin Miller Park

3300 Joaquin Miller Road, Oakland, California 94602, United States

Joaquin Miller Park is a large open-air park in the Oakland Hills owned and operated by the City of Oakland , California. It is named after the early California writer and poet Joaquin Miller, who bought the land in the 1880s, named it "The Hights," and lived in a house preserved as the Joaquin Miller House.

The 500 acre park (2.0 km2) is heavily forested with coast redwoods, coast living oaks and pines. Many of the trees had originally been planted by Miller himself. The Oakland Hills location offers panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay area. Park features include miles of hiking , biking and horseback riding trails, an off-leash dog area, an amphitheater and a picnic area.

Redwoods in Joaquin Miller Park are considered to be one of the few Redwood forests to thrive in urban settings today. Most notably, native coastal redwoods (sequoia sempervirens) grow throughout the park. Many are in second or third growth after major logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when redwoods were used to help build Oakland, San Francisco, and other booming cities of the time. Of the thousands of trees planted under the leadership of Joaquin Miller, many still stand today.

Redwoods in Joaquin Miller Park are considered to be one of the few Redwood forests to thrive in urban settings today. Most notably, native coastal redwoods (sequoia sempervirens) grow throughout the park. Many are in second or third growth after major logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when redwoods were used to help build Oakland, San Francisco, and other booming cities of the time. Many still remain today among the thousands of trees planted under the leadership of Joaquin Miller.

Walk gently and discover the elusive fauna. Towhees, scrub jays, Cooper hawks, wild turkeys, California quail, lizards, gopher snakes, or maybe even a gray fox, deer or skunk, all live in this park.

Joaquin Miller Park features the 2,000-seater Woodminster Amphitheater and Cascade, an outdoor amphitheater regularly used to stage amateur and professional musicals and plays. For many years, the Oakland Recreation Department has been producing popular musical comedies there, three per summer, mostly with amateur performers. Starting in 1967, the production of the summer musicals has been taken over by the current management.