Brea Reservoir parkrun - California is now up to three parkruns!

For a few years, there was only one parkrun in the state of California - Byxbee parkrun in Palo Alto. parkrun tourists vacationing in the LA area wanting to get a parkrun in would often make a quick trip to the San Francisco area just to participate in the Byxbee parkrun. Then, in November of 2024, the Ryan Bonaminio parkrun opened in Riverside. Suddenly, LA parkrun tourists had a much closer option. And now those LA parkrun tourists have a second, but fairly different option - the Brea Reservoir parkrun in Fullerton! 

On Saturday, a group of us from Byxbee headed down to Fullerton to attend the inaugural Brea Reservoir event. First, here are some basic details.

A bit about Brea Reservoir

Leave your ski boat at home. There is an excellent chance you will never see water in the reservoir - the Brea Dam was created in 1940 to control potential flooding of Brea Creek. [edit: I've been told that "Brea" is not Greek for "Dinosaur Death" - it's Spanish] You will (probably) be able to see Brea Creek, but you will have to look pretty hard - the course does not come close to it (I suspect in summer, having the option to jump in that creek would be very attractive, although it might also be mostly dried up by then).

From the top of the dam, looking at Brea Creek and the dam's spillway control.

What there are, though, are a LOT of wild trails criss-crossing the bottom of the reservoir that are popular with hikers and especially mountain bikers - this is a pretty epic park right in the middle of an urban area. (We saw several mountain bikers while on the course - not really an issue, but they seemed a bit surprised to see so many of us out there.)

Parking Options

Ideally you can ride your bike or manage to get to the event some other way than driving, but lots of you will be driving. There is some reasonably close free parking and some even closer paid parking (at the Providence St Jude Medical Center that's next door). 

A hacked up map of the start/finish area.

Drive to the Fullerton Community Nursery School on Youth Way and park in its lot - there is a gate that gives you a bit of a shortcut to the trail, although there will be a bit of a scramble to get up the rocks to the trail on top of the dam. (There was parkrun signage here that made it all pretty obvious.) If you don't feel up to scrambling up the rocks, you can walk back out on Youth Way and get on the trail that way. This is not a huge lot, although it was pretty empty at 7:05 AM when we got there. Theoretically, you could park in the YMCA lot that's next door, but since that lot is actually in use on Saturdays by the YMCA, you should likely only use it as a last resort. (By the time we finished, both lots were packed and YMCA people were stressing a bit to find parking.)

There is closer paid parking (the first 30 minutes are free, so if you're fast, you may not have to pay!) - it costs $5 to park for up to four hours (even I can finish the event in under four hours). If you are a tourist or you get there a bit late, this may be your best option - no rock scrambling at all!

If you are getting dropped off, get dropped near the entrance to the paid parking at the roundabout on East Valencia Mesa Drive - it looks reasonably obvious when you are there. (Note that the paid parking is also used by the tennis courts that you will see there as well.)

The Course

The course is an out-and-back in a very lopsided T shape. The trail along the top of the dam that's the base of the T, the right (short) bit of the T, and the first bit of the left (long) bit of the T are all paved. All of the rest of the course though is dirt. Reasonably smooth dirt that could be fun if it happens to be a wet day (which is pretty unlikely). It's a little worrying that there are a lot of trail offshoots along the way, but the course is well marked with marshals placed at key areas. 

Map that the RD used to explain the course.

The only thing that wasn't obvious to me was that short out-and-back bit of trail - you run that bit twice; right after going over the dam AND on your return from the long out-and-back.

My attempt to make that short out-and-back look more complicated than it really is.

An important point - the course is not flat. You don't need to be a mountain goat - many runners will find the climbs very runnable while some will power-hike them. Not many will set 5K PRs on this course though.

According to my app, there was a bit under 300 feet of climbing.

I really liked this course, but then I'm a trail runner at heart. I like dirt trail. I don't mind hills since they give me built-in walk breaks. And I have been known to enjoy slipping around in the mud if necessary.

Pictures from the event

Both LA-area parkruns wisely start at 7:30 AM - it warms up really fast here most of the year. Plus being that early can help with parking. 

We were all first timers today! Vic the RD explaining the course - we all payed attention!

"How many of you are first timers?"

Heading out across the dam towards the brave volunteer controlling the runner traffic at the top of the T.

The close turnaround - touch the gate!

"Which way do I go?" The short out-and-back is done (for now) - now to do the long out-and-back.

At this point we start heading downhill. After a short bit, the pavement gives way to a dirt trail.

Brian the Wonder Dog has no trouble understanding the trail signs.

"Which way do I go?" Another brave marshal telling us where to go.

The lead runner charging back already!

Second place runner - Byxbee's own Darryl!

Marshal/photographer helping us stay on course. (Trust me, that's not the easiest job!) One fun thing to point out in these shots - there is shade on large chunks of the trail!

Byxbee Jenny heading back! (That's Byxbee Aidan whose back you see - his main job was to keep me from getting lost and to keep Brian the Wonder Dog entertained.)

Byxbee Robert (one of two Byxbee Roberts out here) heading back.

The second Byxbee Robert heading back.

The far turnaround, the end of the long out-and-back. Sadly, no gate to touch. Nicely though, this bit of trail is lined with this white fence - even I can't get off trail here! (I could miss the sign and cones, but that seems like too much work.)

The tail walkers, Mrs Notthat and Byxbee Lucie, were not far behind us! 

"Which way do I go?" It was fun seeing all the marshals again on our way back.

"Which way do I go?"

This was a perfect example of why marshals are wildly underpaid. I did my standard "which way do I go" bit and he pointed, I got my picture, we laughed, and I walked right past him and the cones and the sign, completely oblivious that I was going off course. To be fair, the main trail does go straight here, but to get the distance to work out, we were supposed to turn onto a side trail here. Both him and Aidan stared at me like I was a moron (they were not wrong). 

Sheesh.

"Now which way do I go?" Back on top of the dam, but we still need to do that short out-and-back a second time.

"Again? NOW which way do I go?" Done with that short out-and-back and now to charge the finish line.

Before heading across the dam to the finish, I took a peek to see how far ahead of the tail walkers we were. This picture shows a bit of the climb back up the dam.

The finish! Finally!

And with the tail walkers crossing the line, event number one is officially over!

This was a lot of fun! The weather was perfect, the trails were great, and the volunteers were very enthusiastic. A HUGE thanks to Vic for putting this event together - I'm sure as word gets out, it's going to become popular with both the locals and the tourists wanting to do a local parkrun.

All the Byxbee-related people at this first event.

Choosing an LA-area parkrun

So let's say you are in the LA area and see that there are two parkruns, and are struggling to decide which one to run. there are a few things that they both provide:

• 7:30 AM starts - this can be tough if you are used to a 9:00 AM start. Trust me, most of the year it's for the better.
• Friendly volunteers - this goes without saying! Both events will make you feel welcome. 

And that may be about it. Now for the differences:

• Ryan Bonaminio (RyBo) is a very straightforward double out-and-back, all paved and all pretty much flat. It's in a neighborhood park that's surrounded by housing and businesses. It's a park you would love to have in your neighborhood. 
• Brea Reservoir is not so straightforward, but is interesting and challenging (not flat and not all paved). It's a single out-and-back (with that one bit you do twice) with a number of marshals to help you out.
• If you like flat and paved, RyBo is the one. If you don't mind challenges (dirt and hills) and like variety and feeling like you are in the woods a bit, Brea Reservoir is for you. 
• If it's raining (which is generally not allowed on parkrun days, especially in LA) and stomping in the mud isn't your thing, go to RyBo. If stomping in the mud IS your thing, oh boy will you love Brea. 
• RyBo does have nice, obvious toilets fairly near the start/finish. For Brea, the closest toilets are in the YMCA - a fun thing is that the director of that YMCA participated in the parkrun event and is a supporter. 

And that's about it. Here is a link to a thing I wrote about Ryan Bonaminio parkrun and to a thing I wrote about Byxbee parkrun. (And if you can't get enough, here's a thing I wrote about the Jan Alfano parkrun in Arizona.)

Hopefully it won't be long and we'll add one or two more parkruns in Northern California - gotta keep the NorCal/SoCal rivalry going!

That's it - move along…