You can see Brooks Island from the Richmond shoreline, but you can't just go there. The East Bay Regional Park District allows access only on guided tours with advance registration.
How to get on the island
The district says it normally runs six to 10 tours a year, depending on weather and tides. There are two kinds:
- Tandem kayaking trips along the shoreline, run by the district's outdoor recreation staff
- A narrated boat ride with Dolphin Charters
Both include a naturalist-guided two-mile hike around the island. The district's calendar currently lists Brooks Island kayaking trips on Sunday, Nov. 15, Saturday, Dec. 12, and Sunday, Dec. 13, each at 9:30 a.m. Registration is through EBParks.org/Register. The island is not wheelchair accessible, and facilities are minimal.
Why it's protected
The district calls the island a marvelous bird sanctuary. More than 18 species nest there, including Caspian terns and black-crowned night herons. It also has native coastal grassland in a relatively undisturbed state, a salt marsh and northern coastal scrub. A caretaker lives on the island.
History
The island's peak, Jefferds Hill, rises 160 feet. Wikipedia says the island holds remains of several shellmounds left by Native Americans, most likely Ohlone, and excavations in the 1960s dated the oldest material to about 1,700 to 2,000 years ago. The park district says the island was later used for grazing, oyster-raising and quarrying, and has been called Isla de Carmen, Rocky Island, Bird Island and Sheep Island. The district bought it in 1968, and Wikipedia says it opened to tours in 1988.